Naucissa, Arete, and King Alcinous, along with their land, the Phaeacians' city, represent the first sense of family, and peace, that Odysseus has seen in a very long time. Not only does this place remind him of home, but I refreshes him with interaction between numerous people. He once again becomes assimilated to every day life, as opposed to the bizarre life he has lived over the past years. It marks the beginning of his journey home in numerous ways. He is promised, by King Alcinous, a safe passage back to his land: "And on his way no pain or hardship suffered, not till he sets foot on native ground again." It also mark the beginning of his journey because of the previously discussed assimilation back to a normal life. Most importantly though, it marks somewhat of a turning point for Odysseus. In the past years, he has not know peace. Even after fighting the brutal Trojan War, he still encountered many violent scenarios: Watching giants eat people, then stabbing the giants only eye with a scorching dagger, and even going on to steal from, and continue to taunt that giant; Having numerous other huge men toss boulders at his ship where ever he roams; having his crew turn mutinous; watching men turned into pigs; threatening a nymph, with a word up to her neck; watching one of his ship mate fall of a roof. Through all this violence, much of it which he instigates in some way, he seems selfish. For instance, when exploring on the island of Aeaea, he decides he will stop wondering himself, and send some of his men instead: "feed the men, the send them out for scouting." They could just leave this seemingly dangerous island, but instead he risks his ship mates, instead of just leaving or risking his own life. This is very selfish of him. Last time he went on an island he was nearly eaten by the cyclops; last time he sent his own men off on another island (at Artacia), they were eaten by giants. He is not going to risk him self this time, instead he sends his crew for almost certain doom, at the cost of perhaps finding a bit of food. He does turn around and save his crew from the nymph on Aeaea, but only through yet more violence. When Odysseus is in the Phaeacians' city, seeing all of the peace, and reflecting on his past, he realizes how retched his past has been, and how violence often brought no good things. He cries while hearing songs about the Trojan war, he truly regrets decisions that he has made in the past, and not only dreams of peace, and his own homeland, where he can be peaceful. It truly represents the beginning of Odysseus' journey home, because he has learned of peace through seeing it him self, and through reflection of his own violent life. He is now allowed the passage home because of this.
4. Book 9 with its Cyclops is one of the most famous episodes of 'The Odyssey.' What do the Cyclops represent? How does what he represents indicate a kind of "starting point" for Odysseus's trials on his journey? Why the need for these trials? How do you interpret Odysseus's statement that he is "Nobody"?
I believe that the Cyclops represents violence and hatred between two types of people, simply because they are different. In a way, he represents prejudice. This represents the starting point for the trials Odysseus will face, because the acts of violence he faces when he encounters the Cyclops (both the Cyclops eating his shipmates, and subsequently, Odysseus stabbing the Cyclops' eye out) will plague Odysseus for years to come. Because of this encounter with the Cyclops, and the way Odysseus reacts to violence with only more violence, Odysseus is cursed by the Cyclops' father, the God of Earthquakes. The God of Earthquakes causes all of the terrible experiences that Odysseus faces staring after his encounter with the Cyclops. The purpose of these trials are to make Odysseus find peace, to make him more like a God, and lass like a dumb, violent human. When Odysseus claims that he is nobody, this is representative of how, although he may be famous to many, he still his not famous for necessarily righteous reasons. In fact, as far as perfection goes, when compared to the Gods, he is nobody.
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