who opened the bag of winds that blew the ship far off course, just as they were about to get home?

by Adeline Sipes 7 min read

Odysseus did as he was told, and ten days later, he spotted his homeland of Ithaca. He decided to take a short rest as they sailed smoothly toward shore, but while he did so, his crew in their jealousy opened the Bag of Winds, thinking that it was a sack of gold and silver that Odysseus was keeping for himself.Jan 20, 2022

How did Odysseus get the bag of the winds?

The Odyssey. 1 2. The Achaeans sail from the land of the Cyclopes to the home of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. Aeolus presents Odysseus with a bag containing all of the winds, and he stirs up a westerly wind to guide Odysseus and his crew home.

What happened to the two giant ships that sank into the hurricane?

One terrible night in 2015, two giant ships sailed into a hurricane—a new breed of superstorm that, thanks to climate change, had defied all expectations and would soon cause the deadliest American maritime disaster in decades. The only hope for those aboard?

How did they pick their way inside the storm?

They picked their way inside the storm by flying between these bands until they got to the “search box,” the area where El Faro was most likely to be. But the storm was hampering the radar.

What was the name of the ship that was disguised?

In the fjord the grey German auxiliary Schiff 33 was disguised as the black-hulled Soviet cargo ship Petschura with hammer and sickle markings. They emerged from the fjord on 22 June en route to the Denmark Strait.

Who opened the bag of wind in the Odyssey?

AeolusIn the Odyssey Aeolus gave Odysseus a favourable wind and a bag in which the unfavourable winds were confined. Odysseus' companions opened the bag; the winds escaped and drove them back to the island. Although he appears as a human in Homer, Aeolus later was described as a minor god.

Who provided Odysseus a bag winds that the men opened and threw them off course?

Aeolus presents Odysseus with a bag containing all of the winds, and he stirs up a westerly wind to guide Odysseus and his crew home. Within ten days, they are in sight of Ithaca, but Odysseus's shipmates, who think that Aeolus has secretly given Odysseus a fortune in gold and silver, tear the bag open.

Who blew Odysseus off course?

Coast of Thrace: Odysseus and his men destroy and plunder Ismarus, city of the Cicones, but are eventually driven away with losses. 3. Lotus-eaters: Blown off course, Odysseus' fleet lands on shores of North Africa or the island of Jerba, possible locations for the drugged natives. 4.

Who was King Aeolus in the Odyssey?

AIOLOS (Aeolus) was the divine keeper of the winds and king of the mythical, floating island of Aiolia (Aeolia). He kept the violent Storm-Winds locked safely away inside the cavernous interior of his isle, releasing them only at the command of greatest gods to wreak devastation upon the world.

Why does the crew open the bag of winds?

When Odysseus falls asleep, what does his crew do? They get jealous because they think the bag Aeolus gives him is filled with gold. They open up the bag and winds from all different directions take his ship away from Ithaca and back to Aeolia.

When the crew opened the bag of wind and blew the ship all the way back to Aeolus's island How did the king respond to Odysseus's request for further aid?

There was a terrible storm that blew them all the way back to Aeolus' island. The king asked them why they had returned and when Odysseus explained requesting more help, he responded "Take yourself out of this island, creeping thing-/... Your voyage here was cursed by heaven!" Book 10, lines 82-5.

Who made it home after the fall of Troy?

After the Trojan defeat, the Greeks heroes slowly made their way home. Odysseus took 10 years to make the arduous and often-interrupted journey home to Ithaca recounted in the “Odyssey.” Helen, whose two successive Trojan husbands were killed during the war, returned to Sparta to reign with Menelaus.

How does Odysseus get blown off course?

When trying to get home, Odysseus and his men's ship gets blown off course because of a big storm. After being thrown around, all over sea for nine days, they finally found land. The land that they found might not have been the best option for them, since it already took so much time to get home.

How long did it take Ulysses to get home?

ten yearsBut due to some celebrated doings (and undoings), Odysseus wound up logging several thousand sea miles along the way. He got home, to be sure, but the journey took ten years.

Who was the ugliest god?

HephaestusHephaestus. Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera. Sometimes it is said that Hera alone produced him and that he has no father. He is the only god to be physically ugly.

What is the bag of winds?

Noun. bag of wind (plural bags of wind) (informal) A windbag; a tiresomely talkative person.

What does Aeolus look like?

Appearance. Aeolus wears a business suit that looks like the sky. It is mostly blue, but has clouds that move along the fabric and change shape or can become rain clouds. He looks about sixty years old with white hair and a ton of makeup.

Where did Odysseus' journey take place?

The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey (excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of his wanderings) have been said to take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithakē (modern Greek: Ιθάκη ). The wanderings of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacians' own island of Scheria, pose more fundamental problems, if geography is to be applied: scholars, both ancient and modern, are divided as to whether or not any of the places visited by Odysseus (after Ismaros and before his return to Ithaca) are real. Both antiquated and contemporary scholars have attempted to map Odysseus' journey, but now largely agree that the landscapes, especially of the Apologia (Books 9 to 11), include too many mythological aspects as features to be uncontroversially mappable. Classicist Peter T. Struck created an interactive map which plots Odysseus' travels, including his near homecoming which was thwarted by the bag of wind.

Who translated the Odyssey?

The poet George Chapman finished the first complete English translation of the Odyssey in 1614, which was set in rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter. Emily Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, noted that, as late as the first decade of the 21st century, almost all of the most prominent translators of Greek and Roman literature had been men. She called her experience of translating Homer one of "intimate alienation." Wilson writes that this has affected the popular conception of characters and events of the Odyssey, inflecting the story with connotations not present in the original text: "For instance, in the scene where Telemachus oversees the hanging of the slaves who have been sleeping with the suitors, most translations introduce derogatory language ("sluts" or "whores") [...] The original Greek does not label these slaves with derogatory language." In the original Greek, the word used is hai, the feminine article, equivalent to "those female people".

What are the omens in the Odyssey?

Omens occur frequently throughout the Odyssey. Within the epic poem, they frequently involve birds. According to Thornton, most crucial is who receives each omen and in what way it manifests. For instance, bird omens are shown to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and the suitors. Telemachus and Penelope receive their omens as well in the form of words, sneezes, and dreams. However, Odysseus is the only character who receives thunder or lightning as an omen. She highlights this as crucial because lightning, as a symbol of Zeus, represents the kingship of Odysseus. Odysseus is associated with Zeus throughout both the Iliad and the Odyssey.

How did the Homeric texts influence the Iliad?

The Odyssey and the Iliad formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society. That curriculum was adopted by Western humanists, meaning the text was so much a part of the cultural fabric that it became irrelevant whether an individual had read it. As such, the influence of the Odyssey has reverberated through over a millennium of writing. The poem topped a poll of experts by BBC Culture to find literature's most enduring narrative. It is widely regarded by western literary critics as a timeless classic, and remains one of the oldest works of extant literature commonly read by Western audiences.

How many lines are there in the Odyssey?

The Odyssey is 12,109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, also called Homeric hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks and storytelling. The 24 books correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet; the division was likely made after the poem's composition by someone other than Homer, but is generally accepted.

Why does Athena visit Telemachus?

Then, disguised as a chieftain named Mentes, Athena visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father. He offers her hospitality and they observe the suitors dining rowdily while Phemius, the bard, performs a narrative poem for them.

What is the theme of Homecoming?

Homecoming (Ancient Greek: νόστος, nostos) is a central theme of the Odyssey. Anna Bonafazi of the University of Cologne writes that, in Homer, nostos is "return home from Troy, by sea".

How did the Grissom ship sink?

After splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean, his craft sank when the hatch blew open prematurely and it filled with water. Grissom narrowly escaped drowning and insisted until his death in a 1967 Apollo launch pad fire that he did nothing to cause the hatch to blow.

What mission did Grissom pilot?

Grissom would later pilot the Gemini III orbital mission. There's a touch of mystery, too. Before he shares the flight crew information – which he cautions his mother to "keep it under your hat" – Grissom drops a hint that someone may be listening in.

What does Lowell Grissom say about his brother?

Lowell Grissom said the letter reveals a side of his brother away from the space program. He writes his wife, Betty, is "getting pretty fed up" with him being away from home so much, and interrupts the letter midway through to take the family bowling.

Where is the letter from the Mercury astronauts being auctioned?

The letter is being auctioned online by RR Auction of Amherst, New Hampshire , which got it from Grissom's brother, Lowell. "Those original seven Mercury astronauts were extremely competitive people," Lowell Grissom said this week. "If one was picked over another, they all thought it should be them.

When did the Grissom flight end?

When he wrote to his mother, Grissom was still stinging from his Liberty Bell 7 flight on 21 July 1961, that ended with a blown hatch, a sunken space capsule and accusations that the former Air Force fighter pilot had panicked.

Who was the second American to make a suborbital flight?

Grissom was the second American to make a suborbital flight. His craft sank into the Atlantic – he insisted until his death that he did nothing to cause the hatch to blow. Photo: AP Photograph: AP

When was Gus Grissom's letter to his mother up for auction?

Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 16.47 EST. 6. 6. In October 1961, Gus Grissom glumly confided to his mother in a letter that is now up for auction that he and his fellow Mercury 7 astronauts resented John Glenn after he was picked to be the first American to orbit the Earth.

What did Johnson say about the Gulf of Tonkin incident?

In private, Johnson himself expressed doubts about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, reportedly telling a State Department official that “those dumb, stupid sailors were just shooting at flying fish!”. He also questioned the idea of being in Vietnam at all.

What happened in 1943?

The Harlem Riot of 1943 begins. 6 Times the Olympics Were Boycotted. 8 Facts About Ancient Egypt's Hieroglyphic Writing. Throughout these hectic few days, the Johnson administration asserted that the destroyers had been on routine patrol in international waters.

What aircraft carrier did the Maddox use?

With the help of F-8 Crusader jets dispatched from a nearby aircraft carrier, the Maddox badly damaged at least one of the North Vietnamese boats while emerging completely unscathed, except for a single bullet that lodged in its superstructure.

Did the second attack on the Turner Joy happen?

Another problem: the second attack almost certainly never occurred. Instead, it’s believed that the crewmembers of the Maddox mistook their own sonar’s pings off the rudder for North Vietnamese torpedoes. In the confusion, the Maddox nearly even fired at the Turner Joy.

What was the name of the ship that was a Trafalgar?

It was decided that Pinguin should adopt the identity of the Wilhelmsen cargo-liner Trafalgar. On 31 August the transformation took place at a remote spot. Pinguin drifted for five days until 5 September. Pinguin then launched its seaplane to survey the area but it crashed on take off. The plane burst into flames and sank. The crew were in the water. The ship's only radio telephone was on the plane. It operated on a wavelength undetectable to Allied shipping. Pinguin ' s technicians needed calm weather to assemble the second aircraft that was stowed below in a crate. Pinguin had lost the ability to silence enemy radios by tearing away their aerials, meaning that future enemy ships that sent signals would have to be fired on, increasing the chance of crews being killed. By 10 September work was completed on Pinguin and it had a black hull with a white band all the way around, white upperworks and a black funnel with two light-blue bands.

What happened on July 31st?

On 31 July 300 miles (480 km) north-west of Ascension Island, a ship was sighted. It also spotted the raider and turned away, sending a QQQ signal. Trying to jam the distress signals, Pinguin gave chase. She ran up her battle flag and dropped its camouflage, signalling to the vessel to stop and not to use her wireless or she would be fired upon. When the commands were ignored, warning shots were fired across her bows from Pinguin ' s 75 mm gun. Four more warning shots were fired, but she did not stop; the distress signals continued and her crew were seen to be manning their stern-mounted gun. Pinguin opened fire with her main armament on the freighter's bridge with several hits. The freighter, on fire, slowed to a halt and her crew were seen to be abandoning ship. The British freighter Domingo de Larrinaga was on her way from Bahía Blanca to Newcastle with 7,000 tons of grain and a crew of 36. A heavily armed boarding party found eight crewmen dead on the ship. The party included Pinguin ' s surgeon, and two sick bay attendants were sent to care for the wounded. Scuttling charges were placed in the freighter's engine room. The charges failed to explode and she had to be sunk by a torpedo. The survivors were taken aboard Pinguin.

How many crewmen were on the British ship Domingo de Larrinaga?

The British freighter Domingo de Larrinaga was on her way from Bahía Blanca to Newcastle with 7,000 tons of grain and a crew of 36. A heavily armed boarding party found eight crewmen dead on the ship. The party included Pinguin ' s surgeon, and two sick bay attendants were sent to care for the wounded.

How many mines were transferred from Storstad to Pinguin?

Storstad was stripped and her after accommodation space was transformed into a mine deck with launching rails. 110 mines were transferred from Pinguin in the motorboat that was taken from Morviken. 1,200 tons of the diesel oil was transferred from Storstad to Pinguin.

What happened to the Pinguin tanker?

The tanker was hit several times and set on fire. The tanker captain stopped the ship and instructed his crew to abandon ship . A torpedo failed to sink her, and 40 150 mm shells were then fired to sink her. Pinguin then picked up the tanker's 45-man crew and headed out into the Indian Ocean at full speed.

What did Pinguin do to stop the British?

Pinguin shadowed the ship for an hour then signalled for her to stop, and had a warning shot fired across her bows. The ship obeyed and identifying itself as the tanker British Commander. She then radioed QQQ distress signals giving her position and reported that she was being attacked by a merchant raider.

Why did Cornwall break off from Pinguin?

Cornwall broke off and retired out of range of Pinguin ' s guns to carry out repairs. Cornwall suffered a complete breakdown in the telephone link between the bridge and the guns and the line to the aircraft catapult. An officer was dispatched aft to order the waiting Walrus to bomb Pinguin.

Where did the Wellermen ship?

They did this from their base in Otago, New Zealand , where they had established a whaling station in 1831.

What is the meaning of the lyrics of the Weller brothers?

The lyrics evoke imagery of one of the Wellermen’s major functions; supplying “sugar, tea and rum” to shore whalers.

What is the meaning of the song Wellerman?

The ‘Wellerman’ sea song is frequently misidentified as a sea shanty, but with shanties being songs sung during repetitive work, ‘Wellerman’ is instead a whaling song or sea ballad, intended to tell a story or raise crew morale. In January 2021, this song went viral on TikTok.

How high was the hangar in the coasties?

That it also puts the Coasties on a well-paved route for hurricanes is a coincidence for which they prepared. The hangar's doors, 28 feet high and over a foot thick, were fashioned from cast concrete; the building could withstand hurricane winds of 180 miles per hour.

How hot was the Bahamas when the C-130 storm began?

On this particular day, as the giant C-130 began its descent, the clear waters of the Bahamas were around 86 degrees, about 2 degrees warmer than usual. It was a small variation that ten days later would have a big impact.

What was the Minouche?

The Minouche was a minnow compared with El Faro, an American commercial freighter that stretched 790 feet, longer than two and a half football fields. That thing was a floating city. It performed the same job as the Minouche, just more of it, ferrying goods between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

How many feet did Ben Cournia have to fight?

sank, rescue swimmer Ben Cournia had to fight 30-foot waves to get a dozen sailors into the chopper swirling above. To Cournia, the water felt reassuringly warm, but the ferocity of the waves caught him off guard. Still, he was now in his element; his apprehensions lifted as he steadied himself against the waves.

What happened to Cournia in the helicopter?

The sailor froze. Cournia quickly flipped him around, grabbed him in a cross-chest carry, and swam him to the basket. The following couple of survivors went smoothly —in the basket and up to the helicopter.

What happened in 2015?

One terrible night in 2015, two giant ships sailed into a hurricane—a new breed of superstorm that, thanks to climate change, had defied all expectations and would soon cause the deadliest American maritime disaster in decades. The only hope for those aboard? A young Coast Guard helicopter squad racing into the tempest, determined to save whomever they could find.

What did Cournia wear in the hangar?

In the hangar, Cournia changed into his bright orange neoprene wet suit and strapped on his rescue swimmer's vest—eight pounds of gear that included lights, a radio, and a knife.

What time did the ship run aground in the Suez Canal?

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), the ship’s technical manager, said it ran aground in the canal at about 0540 GMT on Tuesday. The Ever Given against a Suez sandbank Photograph: Suez canal/AFP/Getty Images.

What happened to the largest container ship in the world?

One of the largest container ships in the world has been partially refloated after it ran aground in the Suez canal, causing a huge jam of vessels at either end of the vital international trade artery. The 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given – a so-called megaship operated by the Taiwan-based firm Evergreen – became stuck near ...

How many tugboats are working to free the Suez Canal?

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it had lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm. Eight tugboats were working to free the vessel, blocking a lane key to Asia-Europe trade through which about 50 ships a day passed in 2019, according to Egyptian government statistics.

How long is the Ever Given?

The 400-metre-long Ever Given – a so-called megaship – is one of the largest container ships in the world. Ever Given. O2. Isle of Dogs. London. 500 metres. The Ever Given is 400 metres long. 73 metres high and stands. 57 metres clear of the water ...

What is the ever given?

The Ever Given is one of a new category of ships called ultra-large container ships (ULCS), some of which are even too big for the Panama canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific. It is carrying hundreds of containers bound for Rotterdam from China.

Who was the Egyptian president when the Egyptian waterway was opened?

Its role as a cornerstone of international trade, particularly in oil, led the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, to announce an expansion of the vital waterway in 2014, a project promised as “a gift to the world”.

When was the Suez Canal expanded?

It was expanded in 2015 to enable ships to transit in both directions simultaneously, but only in part of the waterway. Gen Ossama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, second right, speaks to other staff onboard a boat near the stuck cargo ship. Photograph: AP.

How far north did the icebreakers go?

Threading a maze of ice-walled passages through the freezing sea, they navigated to 85 degree s and 34 minutes north, the farthest north a non-icebreaking vessel had ever reached. Here, Ousland and Horn stepped onto the ice’s surface and their adventure began.

Where was the Norwegian icebreaker?

A passing Norwegian icebreaker happened to be in the sea north of Svalbard and would briefly be in position to serve as a refueling platform for a helicopter to reach them. For one day only, they could be rescued.

How far did Ousland and Horn cover in a day?

In the meantime, Ousland and Horn, straining at the limits of their strength, miraculously covered nearly 20 miles in a day.

What day did Ousland and Horn wrench their bodies from the tent?

On day 86, when Ousland and Horn wrenched their aching bodies from the tent, they believed they were a mere 20 miles from the ship. Rotmo and Gamme were out there somewhere. Then the sky lit up with a streaking flame. A flare.

What did Ousland dream of?

Ousland’s biggest history-making trips had been decades earlier. Yet all his life, he’d dreamed of “a classic north pole expedition where we sail in with boats, ” like the stories his father read him. Minutes later, Ousland texted Horn a two-word reply: “I’m in.”.

How long is Borge Ousland's ski trip?

Borge Ousland and Mike Horn leave their sailboat Pangea and begin their 87-day ski traverse of the Arctic ice cap. Video by Etienne Claret. By Aaron Teasdale. Published December 24, 2020.

How long did it take to reach the last degree of latitude?

The last degree of latitude, from 89 to 90 degrees north, or 69 miles, took the men 11 days. It was the longest Ousland had ever taken to travel one degree. When they reached the pole, Horn took a picture to commemorate the moment. It shows the light of two headlamps in the dark.

image

Synopsis

  • Exposition
    The Odyssey begins after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad), from which Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has still not returned due to angering Poseidon, the god of the sea. Odysseus' son, Telemachus, is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father's house on th…
  • Escape to the Phaeacians
    In the course of Odysseus' seven years as a captive of the goddess Calypso on an island (Ogygia), she has fallen deeply in love with him, even though he spurns her offers of immortality as her husband and still mourns for home. She is ordered to release him by the messenger god Herme…
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Structure

  • The Odyssey is 12,109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, also called Homeric hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks and storytelling. The 24 books correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet; the division was likely made after the poem's composition by someone other than Homer, but is gen…
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Geography

  • The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey (excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of his wanderings) have been said to take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithakē (modern Greek…
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Influences

  • Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the Odyssey. Martin West notes substantial parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth, and on their journeys go to the land of the dead. On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to …
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Themes and Patterns

  • Homecoming
    Homecoming (Ancient Greek: νόστος, nostos) is a central theme of the Odyssey. Anna Bonafazi of the University of Cologne writes that, in Homer, nostosis "return home from Troy, by sea". Agatha Thornton examines nostos in the context of characters other than Odysseus, in order to provide …
  • Wandering
    Only two of Odysseus's adventures are described by the narrator. The rest of Odysseus' adventures are recounted by Odysseus himself. The two scenes described by the narrator are Odysseus on Calypso's island and Odysseus' encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes are t…
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Textual History

  • Composition
    The date of the poem is a matter of some disagreement among classicists. In the middle of the 8th century BCE, the inhabitants of Greece began to adopt a modified version of the Phoenician alphabet to write down their own language. The Homeric poems may have been one of the earli…
  • Textual tradition
    The Iliad and the Odyssey were widely copied and used as school texts in lands where the Greek language was spoken throughout antiquity. Scholars may have begun to write commentaries on the poems as early as the time of Aristotle in the 4th century BCE. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries B…
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Influence

  • The influence of the Homeric texts can be difficult to summarise because of how greatly they have impacted the popular imagination and cultural values. The Odyssey and the Iliad formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society. That curriculum was adopted by Western humanists, meaning the text was so much a part of the cultural fabric that it becam…
See more on en.wikipedia.org

See Also

References

  • Bibliography
    1. Lattimore, Richmond, trans. 1975. The Odyssey of Homer. New York: Harper & Row.
See more on en.wikipedia.org

Further Reading

  1. Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon: Poetic Problems in Homer’s Odyssey. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  2. Clayton, B. 2004. A Penelopean Poetics: Reweaving the Feminine in Homer's Odyssey. Lanham: Lexington Books.
  3. — 2011. "Polyphemus and Odysseus in the Nursery: Mother’s Milk in the Cyclopeia." Arethusa…
  1. Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon: Poetic Problems in Homer’s Odyssey. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  2. Clayton, B. 2004. A Penelopean Poetics: Reweaving the Feminine in Homer's Odyssey. Lanham: Lexington Books.
  3. — 2011. "Polyphemus and Odysseus in the Nursery: Mother’s Milk in the Cyclopeia." Arethusa44(3):255–77.
  4. Bakker, E. J. 2013. The Meaning of Meat and the Structure of the Odyssey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.