Bonnie Zhang
4/30/20
Period 1 Blog #27
Freshmen 2020
Aim: How does Odysseus’ strategic leadership further characterize him as an epic hero in “The Sirens” episode of Homer’s Odyssey?”
Do Now: Flattery is when you praise or compliment someone to boost their ego. It can be used positively or negatively depending on the person’s intentions. For example, when people use flattery to try and get something or when people use flattery just to be nice.
Sirens are seductive creatures that use a song to lure sailors to a destructing place called the Wandering Rocks. Sailors who hear the song will be flattered and will sail up to the Wandering Rocks where their ship will be destroyed and everyone will sink.
Odysseus and his men go back to Circe’s island where they have a proper burial for Elpenor. Before they leave, Circe warns Odysseus about the sirens and the Wandering Rocks. She advises Odysseus to put beeswax in his men’s ears so that they will not be tricked by their song. No mortal has ever made it out alive to tell the tale so Odysseus wants to hear the song himself and tell the tale.
Odysseus and his men start their journey. Odysseus tells his men what they’re going to be facing, revealing the bitter truth to them. He tells them that there will be sirens trying to lure them with a song. By doing this, he is gaining more trust from his men and learning from his mistakes. His mistake from the past has done enough harm. In the past, by not telling his men what was inside the bag, curiosity took over them and they wanted to find out for themselves. By learning from that mistake, Odysseus tells his men that the song is a trap so that their curiosity won’t lead them to a gruesome death. Odysseus then comes up with a plan. He tells his men to tie him up and to not listen to him when he tells them to untie him, but to use more ropes to silence him. Odysseus then takes beeswax and uses it as earplugs for his men. His men tied him up and their journey began. Soon, the Sirens started their song. Odysseus, being the only one without beeswax in his ears, was the only one who could hear it. The siren’s song, filled with flattery and desire, was luring Odysseus. Odysseus craved to listen to their song. “Untie me!”, he cried. However, his men would not untie him and used more rope to muffle his orders. They kept on rowing, rowing away from the siren’s trap. After successfully escaping the sirens, they peeled off the beeswax and continued with their journey.
The siren’s song relates to the first moral from the do now, “Flattery is a dangerous weapon in the hands of the enemy.”, by implying that flattery can be used as a dangerous weapon as shown in the sirens song. Their song used flattery and Odysseus’ desires to try and lure him to the Wandering Rocks. The sirens song reveals that every mortal wants everything to be perfect, like a utopia, where there is an easy way out on everything. The song is a distraction for people, they’re too distracted by listening to the song that they lose control of what they were doing and start to head towards the music, resulting in a gruesome death.
In this lesson, I learned that flattery is not always something positive and can be used against people. Flattery can be used as a defense or to bribe someone to get something. For example, the sirens used flattery in their song to flatter Odysseus, making him want to go in the direction of the music. I also learned that Odysseus is a very heroic and courageous leader. He insisted that he’d be the only one to listen to the song and risked his life and sanity for his men.
I learned this because this lesson can be used as a life lesson. Flattery can confuse many people, convincing people that flattery is always a good thing. But, there are many ways that people can use flattery. I learned this because some people do not understand the bitter truth about flattery.
I can take what I learned from this lesson and use it in the future. Many people in the business industry will use flattery to try and trick others into getting what they want. After learning the truth about flattery, I will know someone’s true intentions when they plan to use it. Finally, I can use this information and the sirens tale as an example of a negative use of flattery.
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