Begining of book 9 Odyssey – the lesson of the Cicones

I apologise for not posting yesterday but if this occurrence reoccurs I will post twice on Saturday, I will post now and later tonight. I was on a road trip and the extra time it took arriving due to construction added to the dilemma.

In book nine Odysseus tells Alcinious of his journey from Troy but adds tales not covered in the earlier part of the text, I will analyze each tale, one per post starting with the island of Cicones. Odysseus tale tells of the plundering the Greeks did on the island and how his crew escaped having lost a few people. If you notice the Greek attempt at combat and violence caused a loss and led to the sad tale of these events. This tale is not flattering and Odysseus disassociates himself from the actions of the rest of the Greeks. The idea of conquest and plundering is not the divine vehicle that Odysseus is renowned for or blessed for. In fact Cicones is the sharp end of the idea of conquest in Odysseus tale and the Greek period embodied in the character of Odysseus. Odysseus unifies and marries people to the Greeks peacefully and not using violence, this is why peaceful alliance is blessed and historically renown, and successful as Violence begets violence and does not create permanent alliances and unions between peoples, it never has, see peace conflict theory concerning war and annexing land, according to theorist of this discipline no nation has ever had peaceful control of any land annexed violently, though unities based on peace are long lasting and prosperous.