Odysseus sailing back home
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I like this epic because of the theme that I keep returning to: unique, mortal beings summoning all their abilities and wits to combat the supernatural or mythical challenges that they face. These mortals do this only to fulfill their own mortal wishes and desires, but then again that's all they have.
However, starting with the story of the Cyclops is an example of how even superhuman efforts by mortal men often come at the cost of time and the lives of others (sometimes those they care about). Odysseus has to play coy, yet honest, with the Cyclops by making offerings of gifts and services to catch his enemy of guard. Meanwhile, the Cyclops eats his fellow man, Odysseus being able to smell raw human meat on the monster's breath. Despite this caveat, he knows that he is saving more of his crew's lives this way.
Odysseus also uses his power of will to resist the magically augmented allure of Circe. By "resist", I do not mean remain faithful to his wife necessarily, but he does it for the survival of his crew. Nonetheless, he does put his mind first before succumbing to Circe's baits, and that alone does show that he is actions are not the superficial/instinctual drive for gratification after a long campaign away from his wife and home. Odysseus even goes one step further and demands that Circe show his men in their original form before he even dares partake in food or drink.
And even after we see Odysseus and his men escape Circe's land, we are reminded of how human Odysseus actually is when he visits the domain of Hades. Here he is haunted by the ghosts of his men, Elpenor and Teiresias, and many other souls. This is also where we see another side to Odysseus' resilience to the powers of the supernatural; he does not allow the grief of this experience to drown him in the river Styx.
Here is a link to the table of contents page for the unit
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