History Literature / TheOdyssey

* EnthrallingSiren: Odysseus has his men stuff their ears with wax to ward off their songs. [[{{Pride}} Not his own, of course.]] Instead he has himself tied to the mast and the men instructed to ignore his ranting so that he can hear the song but doesn't jump onto or order them into the rocks.

** Polyphemus violates hospitality by eating some of Odysseus' men who have taken refuge in his cave. Odysseus warns him that Zeus will punish him for this, but Polyphemus believes that he's not subject to Zeus because he is a son of Poseidon. It's also worth noting that Odysseus and his men had immediately started stuffing themselves with Polyphemus's cheese and goat's milk stores without thinking as to who's hospitatility they themselves were violating.

* MadeASlave: Two of Odysseus's slaves had been free-born, to high status, before they were kidnapped.

* DisproportionateRetribution: And how. Poseidon already had it in for Odysseus (the Sea God favored the Trojans and wasn't happy with Odysseus's [[TrojanHorse horse trick]]) but once Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son, the cyclops Polyphemus, [[PapaWolf the gloves]] came off.

* DisproportionateRetribution: And how. Poseidon already had it in for Odysseus (the Sea God favored the Trojans and wasn't happy with Odysseus's [[TrojanHorse horse trick]]) but once Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son, the cyclops Polyphemus, [[PapaWolf the gloves]] [[YouCan'tGoHomeAgain came off]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: And how. Poseidon already had it in for Odysseus (the Sea God favored the Trojans and wasn't happy with Odysseus's [[TrojanHorse horse trick]]) but once Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son, the cyclops Polyphemus, [[PapaWolf the gloves]] [[YouCan'tGoHome came off]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: And how. Poseidon already had it in for Odysseus (the Sea God favored the Trojans and wasn't happy with Odysseus's [[TrojanHorse horse trick]]) but once Odysseus blinded Poseidon's son, the cyclops Polyphemus, [[PapaWolf the gloves]] [[YouCanNeverGoHome came off]].

* TakeAThirdOption: Averted when faced with the prospect of Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus inquires if there's a way he can neutralize both of them and pass through the strait without losing any more men. Circe makes it clear that the best he can do is minimize his losses.

** Polyphemus violates hospitality by eating some of Odysseus' men who have taken refuge in his cave. Odysseus warns him that Zeus will punish him for this, but Polyphemus believes that he's not subject to Zeus because he is a son of Poseidon.

Unfortunately, Polyphemus is [[PapaWolf Poseidon]]'s son.

Like many fathers would be, Poseidon is pissed that his son, who only had one eye to begin with, is now blind, so he seeks revenge on Odysseus. First, Odysseus ends up with the witch Circe, who turns his crew into pigs (they get better after he makes a threat and sleeps with her), then he goes to Hades and [[DeadPersonConversation chats with a few people]], including [[BlindSeer Tiresias]]--who tells him that even after he gets home, he won't be able to stay forever. After avoiding the Sirens and Scylla & Charybdis, the crew then kill all the Cattle of the Sun, who belong to Helios, [[TooDumbToLive despite being warned not to]]. [[RocksFallEveryoneDies Lightning falls, the crew dies]], and Odysseus is shipwrecked on Calypso's island. She makes him her manwhore for seven years and Odysseus cries on some more rocks. [[HowWeGotHere This takes us up to the present]], or at least, the first chapter.

** Odysseus screws a number of women. Penelope waits twenty years for a husband that she believes to be dead and never cracks once. Of course, this was perfectly acceptable for a Greek man at the time. This is often justified by stating neither case was entirely consensual. And indeed one could argue that it was even more amazing that Odysseus would return to his wife (now 20 years older than when he left her), passing up magical sexpots like Circe and Calypso.

** Calypso herself sees a different kind of double standard at work. When Hermes tells her Zeus has ordered her to release Odysseus, [[LampshadeHanging she complains that the gods never allow goddesses to enjoy relationships with mortals, citing the examples of Orion and Iasion, lovers of Eos and Demeter respectively, who were killed by gods, yet gods screw around with mortal women all the time]]. The Olympians having a DoubleStandard is unsurprising. Greek gods had a surprisingly undivine habit of being more erratic, tyrannical, dishonorable, or just plain childish than even most mortals. Socrates noticed that and he wasn't the only one.

* AccidentalPornomancer: On his way home, Odysseus spends ''years'' as the bedmate of two beautiful women: the HotWitch, Circe, and the sea nymph, Calypso. Neither options are [[QuestionableConsent entirely]] by choice, and the narrative attempts to justify it by saying that he never stopped loving or wishing to return to his wife.

* RapePillageAndBurn: When describing the adventures and hijinks of his crew after they set sail from Troy (and before arriving at the Cave of the Cyclops), Odysseus casually mentions that he and his crew sacked a town, raped the women and sold survivors into slavery. You know, typical [[SociopathicHero Greek Hero]] stuff.

'''Definitely''' not to be confused with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' although the game is set in UsefulNotes/AncientGreece and focuses on a major conflict in Greek history much like the poem.

'''Definitely''' not to be confused with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' although the game is set in AncientGreece and focuses on a major conflict in Greek history much like the poem.

Because of its age the poem will be the UrExample or TropeMaker of quite a few of the following tropes.