When Odysseus and his
men arrive in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, the men he sends ashore eat the lotus fruit and lose
their desire to return home to Ithaca. He says that "all memory of the journey home [had]
dissolved forever." However, Odysseus "brought them back" though their eyes were
"streaming tears," and he lashes them underneath the rowing benches and orders his
other men to row as fast as they can to get the ship away. In this case, Odysseus does not
listen to those men who eat the lotus and claim that they no longer want to return home. He
believes he knows what is best for them.
When they land on the island where
the Cyclopes live, Odysseus gathers his twelve best fighters, a skin of wine, and some other
provisions. The group finds Polyphemus's cave and, Odysseus says,
[...] my comrades pressed me, pleading hard,
"Let's make away with the
cheeses, then come back
hurry, drive the lambs and kids from the pens
to our
swift ship, put out to sea at once!"
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