en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus
3 corrections found
After losing six of his men, Odysseus is forced to flee in haste.
In Homer's Odyssey, the Cicones kill six men from each ship, not six men total.
Full reasoning
This sentence understates the losses in the Cicones episode. In Odyssey Book 9, Odysseus says that "six of my well-greaved comrades perished from each ship". Since the poem has him sailing with twelve ships at this stage, the loss is described as six men per ship, not just six men overall.
1 source
- HOMER, ODYSSEY BOOK 9 - Theoi Classical Texts Library
"...the Cicones prevailed and routed the Achaeans, and six of my well-greaved comrades perished from each ship; but the rest of us escaped death and fate."
Odysseus and his men take a wooden stake, ignite it with the remaining wine, and blind him.
The stake is heated in the fire, not ignited with wine.
Full reasoning
In Odyssey Book 9, Odysseus uses wine to intoxicate Polyphemus, but the blinding stake is prepared by heating it in the fire. The text says the olive-wood stake was "about to catch fire" and that Odysseus brought it "from the fire" before driving it into Polyphemus's eye. The poem does not say the stake was ignited with leftover wine.
1 source
- HOMER, ODYSSEY BOOK 9 - Theoi Classical Texts Library
"But when presently that stake of olive-wood was about to catch fire, green though it was, and began to glow terribly, then verily I drew nigh, bringing the stake from the fire..."
However, Scylla drags the boat towards her by grabbing the oars and eats six men.
Homer says Scylla snatches six men from the ship; he does not say she pulls the boat by grabbing the oars.
Full reasoning
This description adds a detail that is not in the Odyssey. Circe tells Odysseus to "draw very close to Scylla's cliff" to avoid Charybdis, and when they pass, Homer says "Scylla seized from out the hollow ship six of my comrades". The poem describes Scylla snatching six men from the ship, not dragging the boat toward herself by grabbing its oars.
2 sources
- Homer, Odyssey, Book 12
"Nay, draw very close to Scylla's cliff, and drive thy ship past quickly; for it is better far to mourn six comrades in thy ship than all together."
- Homer, Odyssey, Book 12, line 234
"...but meanwhile Scylla seized from out the hollow ship six of my comrades who were the best in strength and in might."