The Odyssey Temptation Quotes

"the gods cast me up on Ogygia, Calypso’s island,
home of the dangerous nymph with glossy braids,
and the goddess took me in in all her kindness,
welcomed me warmly, cherished me, even vowed
to make me immortal, ageless, all my days –
but she never won the heart inside me, never."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 7, lines 292-297. Odysseus’ unshakable loyalty to his homeland is spelled out when he tells Arete the story of his time on Calypso’s island. Despite spending seven years on Ogygia, Calypso never won his heart, it remained in Ithaca. She even tempted him with the prize of immortality if he would be her husband, but he resisted that.

"True enough,
Calypso the lustrous goddess tried to hold me back,
deep in her arching caverns, craving me for a husband.
So did Circe, holding me just as warmly in her halls,
the bewitching queen of Aeaea keen to have me too.
But they never won the heart inside me, never."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 32-37. Odysseus tells Alcinous that beautiful goddesses like Calypso and Circe tried to seduce him to stay with them. But he didn’t succumb to their temptations, he reveals, because his heart always yearned for home and family.

"So off they went and soon enough
they mingled among the natives, Lotus-eaters, Lotus-eaters
who had no notion of killing my companions, not at all,
they simply gave them the lotus to taste instead…
Any crewman who ate the lotus, the honey-sweet fruit,
lost all desire to send a message back, much less return,
their only wish to linger there with the Lotus-eaters,
grazing on lotus, all memory of the journey home
dissolved forever."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 102-110. The Lotus Eaters is an episode in which Odysseus and his men stop off at an island and barely escape from it. They are not in direct danger from the inhabitants, who turn out to be a gentle people. But the threat comes from the enemy within: human nature and the desire for the forbidden fruit. The natives eat the sweet lotus fruit, which acts like a drowsy narcotic, causing people to live in a dreamy and carefree state. When Odysseus’ men taste the intoxicating fruit, they are hooked. They lose all memory and care about returning home and just want to feed on more lotus.

She opened her gleaming doors at once and stepped forth,
inviting them all in, and in they went, all innocence.
Only Eurylochus stayed behind – he sensed a trap…
She ushered them in to sit on high-backed chairs,
then she mixed them a potion – cheese, barley
and pale honey mulled in Pramnian wine –
but into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs
to wipe from their memories any thought of home.
Once they’d drained the bowls she filled, suddenly
she struck with her wand, drove them into her pigsties,
all of them bristling into swine – with grunts,
snouts – even their bodies, yes, and only
the men’s minds stayed steadfast as before.
So off they went to their pens, sobbing, squealing
as Circe flung them acorns, cornel nuts and mast,
common fodder for hogs that root and roll in mud.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 253-268. Circe’s offer of hospitality becomes Odysseus’ men’s worst nightmare. The enchantingly beautiful goddess uses trickery to lure them into her lair only to turn them into pigs. While she may not eat her guests like the Cyclops and Laestrygonians, she feeds them drugged food. She is a predatory temptress who uses her potions and powerful magic to ensnare men and transform them into animals. The only one to escape is Eurylochus, he smells a rat and doesn’t follow the others into Circe’s house.

"no more tears now, calm these tides of sorrow.
Well I know what pains you bore on the swarming sea,
what punishment you endured from hostile men on land.
But come now, eat your food and drink your wine
till the same courage fills your chests, now as then,
when you first set sail from native land, from rocky Ithaca!
Now you are burnt-out husks, your spirits haggard, sere,
always brooding over your wanderings long and hard,
your hearts never lifting with any joy –
you’ve suffered far too much."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 503-512. Circe invites Odysseus and his men to enjoy their fill of food and wine after the harrowing ordeals they have endured at sea and on land. A tempting offer too good to refuse! She uses a metaphor to compare the worn-out soldiers to "burnt-out husks."

And I saw Tantalus too, bearing endless torture.
He stood erect in a pool as the water lapped his chin –
parched, he tried to drink, but he could not reach the surface,
no, time and again the old man stooped, craving a sip,
time and again the water vanished, swallowed down,
laying bare the caked black earth at his feet –
some spirit drank it dry. And over his head
leafy trees dangled their fruit from high aloft,
pomegranates and pears, and apples glowing red,
succulent figs and olives swelling sleek and dark,
but as soon as the old man would strain to clutch them fast
a gust would toss them up to the lowering dark clouds.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 669-680. Odysseus sees a group of sinners being punished in the underworld, including Tantalus. Tantalus’ punishment may be seen as fitting justice for his terrible crime. He tried to serve his own son diced and cooked in a stew at a feast with the gods. For that he was punished by Zeus to spend eternity starving and thirsty in Hades. He was placed in a pool of fresh water with branches of succulent fruits hanging overhead. Each time he tries to drink the water, it recedes. Every time he attempts to grab to fruit, it goes out of his reach. This scene also features the theme of temptation, a recurring one throughout the poem.

"Come closer, famous Odysseus – Achaea’s pride and glory –
moor your ship on our coast so you can hear our song!
Never has any sailor passed our shores in his black craft
until he has heard the honeyed voices pouring from our lips,
and once he hears to his heart’s content sails on, a wiser man.
We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured
on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so –
all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 12, lines 200-207. As Odysseus’ ship races past the Sirens, Homer describes how the hypnotic but deadly women of the sea burst into their irresistible song. In their bid to tempt Odysseus, the Sirens feed into his ego and pride, referring to his fame and how he is the pride and glory of his people. A metaphor compares their voices to the pouring of sweet honey. The Sirens ask him to moor his ship on their coast, promising that he will sail away a wiser man. This is an example of irony, since the readers knows that the Sirens mean the opposite of what they say, they use their hypnotic feminine voices to lure sailors to their deaths on their rocky shores.
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