Dichotomy In The Odyssey

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The Odyssey is a story of tension between Odysseus and Poseidon, mortal and god, as Poseidon uses the oceans to enact his power and rage against Odysseus. Despite the fact that they sustain elements of life like trade and travel, the seas in the Odyssey actually demonstrate the dichotomy between man and nature. The oceans expose power dynamics between god and man, and illustrate man’s lack of control over nature, creating danger and conflict.
The oceans of the Odyssey are fearsome because they exist outside of human-dominated territory like Sparta and Pylos. Thus removed from these areas, the seas are, to an extent, unknowable and ever changing. In an epic where the sacred rights of the stranger are essential to these human communities, the …show more content…
The storms become even greater than an illustration of Poseidon’s rage, and transform into an illustration of nature’s power over humans, combatting human ego. Killing Ajax, sinking the Phaeacian’s boat, Poseidon seems motivated by reminding humans of the frailty of their existences and the limits of their power by using nature for his acts of violence. Ajax’s death structurally comes earlier on in the epic, and acts as a lesson in mortal humility. In a few lines, Ajax changes from bragging “In the teeth of the gods […] I have escaped / the ocean’s sheer abyss!” (140) to sinking to a watery demise. Direct speech gives Ajax voice, his triumphant tone highlighted by the exclamation mark, but he is quickly silenced by Poseidon’s punishment. The concluding line “And so he died, / having drunk his fill of brine” (140) gives the jocular impression of a man drinking his fill of wine, but in this situation the phrase “his fill of” implies a necessary, even natural act of revenge by the ocean to reinforce its identity as uncontrolled by man. Ajax’s story becomes a lesson in paying proper respect to nature and the gods who control …show more content…
In a society of kingdoms and conquerors, the seas are unconquerable, impervious to human invasion and colonization. During the storm’s destruction of Odysseus’ ship, the simile “as a windstorm blasting piles of dry parched chaff, / scattering flying husks—so the long planks of his boat were scattered far and wide” (163) at “high harvest” (162) highlights nature’s violent powers. At first glance, the comparison of wind blowing crops away seems disproportionately harmless compared to the wave breaking Odysseus’ ship. However, it underscores the immense ease with which the waves destroy the boat, reducing it to nothing more than light “husks.” As an agricultural metaphor, it is important to note the significance of crops as humans trying to harness nature for their own gains. The wind strips away the harvest from humans and refutes human attempts at colonizing nature. The ship, too, is made from nature. A human construction dependent on nature for raw materials, ships represent a complete transformation of nature by man, in which wood is processed and harnessed for a purpose that wouldn’t exist in nature without human intervention. When the wave destroys the ship, it reclaims the boat’s oars as nature’s products and acts as retaliation against invasion of the ocean’s domain. It is a reminder that human inventions and products ultimately belong to nature, and are only lent to humans. Nature is not the
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