zimmster3's blog

The world is a hunting ground for knowledge. Human curiosity has fueled countless objectives over the millennia. This innate following has led many to seek out knowledge through education. Some took their search to the roads, others to the sea, while some remained in their humble abodes reading books and hearing fantastic stories. All in all, the few that took to traveling for the acquisition of knowledge are responsible for the plethora of accounts, narratives, and stories that now make up the travel canon. After reading the texts, it is evident that the acquisition of knowledge is both a leading theme and a leading motive for the exploration of foreign cultures and unknown territory.
 
The first major knowledge-seeker provides the basis for Greek history, as it is seen today. Herodotus gives an in-depth examination of the cultures he encounters, particularly perplexed and bewildered by the Egyptians. He was of the first thinkers to travel and collect his findings in one place, granting knowledge to himself and those who read his The Histories. As the “Father of History,” Herodotus takes the lead in searching for knowledge, recording it, and sharing his experiences with the world.
 
Following the intentions of Herodotus, the legendary Marco Polo set out on a journey of exploration and adventure. Recording what he saw and those he met on the way, Polo tells a much more dramatic and exciting tale than his predecessor. Though the trip became one of slightly economic purposes, the motives and interests for acquiring knowledge remained constant, leaving us with one of the only accounts of China before they closed themselves off to the rest of the world. Marco Polo’s The Travels gives readers a glimpse into the ancient court of Kubilai Khan, enriching the minds of those who do not have the means to travel (especially in that time period).
 
Knowledge does not always come in great adventures with intentions of recording and documenting; it can also be acquired through spiritual journey. Ibn Battutah, regarded as the “Muslim Marco Polo,” began his travels on a spiritual journey. He embarked on the hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, to acquire more spiritual knowledge. In his account, he ends up continuing his travels and taking similar actions to those of Marco Polo. He writes down what he sees, learning and sharing through travel.
 
Years later, with Marco Polo’s The Travels in hand, a young Christopher Columbus sets off, hoping to learn, chart, and establish a new trade route to the East Indies. Instead, he strikes a gold mine of unknown lands, language, customs, and culture—a wealth of knowledge yet to be decoded. He documents all that he sees and shares his knowledge with fellow conquistadors. These fellows return to the New World, one of which being Cabeza de Vaca. De Vaca encounters a learning experience unlike any others; the unintentional travels throughout La Florida develop his understanding of the natives, even spurring him to defend them later in his life.
 
Throughout the years, men have determined that knowledge is power, seeking to acquire it in every corner of the earth. There is no doubt that traveling is, in essence and inevitably, a learning experience. No matter the motivations or intentions, knowledge is an undeniable part of travel proving evident in the majority of the travel narratives.

Scholars have long debated the influence of New World ideas and images on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Charles Frey discusses the possibility of that influence in his essay “The Tempest and the New World,” examining different facets of the issue. Though the play is very different from the more typical travel narratives we have read in class, Frey draws conclusions about how Shakespeare conjured up some of these places, citing sources from the writings and tales of the great travelers of Shakespeare’s time. “With many new worlds, including ours, The Tempest does, in truth, have much to do.” He goes on noting that the play is a “peculiar merger of history and romance.”
 
He begins by pointing out that analysts have made New World connections to The Tempest for years, citing works such as “Richard Eden sixteenth-century accounts of Magellan’s experience with Patagonian natives.” Frey makes the point that “Edward Malone argued that Shakespeare derived the title of some of the plays incidents from accounts of a storm and shipwreck experienced by Sir Thomas Gates and other Jamestown colonists on the Bermuda islands in 1609.” Frey continues delving into his argument further and backs up his ideas with statements of how “enthusiasts like Sidney Lee and Robert Cawley insisted that in The Tempest problematic relations between Caliban and the rest were meant to reflect problematic relations between the American natives and the Virginia settlers.”
 
Though some of these claims might seems like a bit of a stretch, most of the people Frey references arrive at the fact that, “Shakespeare’s imagination, at the time he wrote The Tempest, would appear to have been stimulated by the accounts of travel and exploration in the new world.” Scholars and interpreters have “weaved colonialism, race relations, and cultural history,” into their arguments about the text. Frey points out that each scholar has a different take and something else to contribute about the major argument. They comment on all sorts of things like topography and linking single words to travel references.
 
Frey has a handful of sources, moving from Magellan’s to Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe. “Drake’s chaplain, one Francis Fletcher, kept a journal in which he recorded details of the encounters with the Patagonians. Again, some of the resemblances to happening in The Tempest are striking.” Frey elaborates using further textual evidence to continually support the claims he makes. The travel narratives of voyagers of the time must have been very popular and reading them might easily enrich and enhance Shakespeare’s historic play. Charles Frey brings both an interesting and, in most cases, valid point about where Shakespeare might have drawn some of his ideas. The parallels and references are fascinating and make for an excellent argument.

In the time of Spanish conquistadors and Latin American empires, many European expeditions to the Americas were made. Some journeys proved unsuccessful and ended in disaster, while others finished triumphantly. Cabeza de Vaca seems to have been on the sour end of the deal, but another contemporary conquistador made off with earth-shattering results. Unlike Cabeza de Vaca, Hernán Cortés is found throughout history books and documentation of conquest and domination. Cortés directed one of the most successful and legendary campaigns against the indigenous people of the Americas, having directly led to the fall of the Aztec empire.
 
Rummaging through Mexico to find the gold that Columbus speculated about, Cortés encountered the Aztec civilization. After acquiring their trust, Cortés turned against them to also acquire their riches. With much battle and bloody warfare, Cortés’ armies planned and organized the siege of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. The destruction of the city and capture of its ruler led to the disappearance of the Aztec empire as a whole. Cortés actually claimed the destroyed city for himself, rebuilt, and named it Mexico City. Cortés’ conquering of the indigenous empire differed from many other conquistadors. Some trips were more successful than others; Cabeza de Vaca was not quite as lucky as Cortés, leading him to a completely different outlook and perspective regarding the natives. Each expedition granted the explorers a variety of experiences and insights about the New World and how to interact with its people.

Below is the first of a 5 part BBC video describing Cortés' conquest.

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca confronted similar issues to those that Christopher Columbus dealt with. Columbus tackled a major communication failure with the indigenous people, giving them no say in the takeover of their lands and no proper method of conversing with the Spaniards. Columbus and his men merely assumed what the Native Americans were saying, both in general and to each other. The Spaniards on Columbus’ voyages found themselves lost in translation, surrounded by completely foreign languages. Cabeza de Vaca managed the same situation, lacking the skills and understanding to verbally communicate through language. It is evident that Cabeza de Vaca and the conquistadors faced this language barrier throughout their travels along with the disastrous events that plagued their journey.
 
The narrative explains the uncertainty of the explorers’ initial situation in the new lands. “I responded that it seemed to me that by no means should he leave the ships without first assuring that they remained in a secure and inhabited port, and that he should take notice that the pilots were not convinced, nor were they all affirming the same thing, nor did they know where they were, and that beyond all this, the horses were in such condition that we could not make use of them in any need that might present itself.” (p. 57) The explorer notes that they had little knowledge of the places they were setting foot in and they needed to be conscious of that.
 
After explaining how they should control their actions, he points out that one of the largest initial difficulties of their journey is the language barrier. “Above all we were traveling mute, that is, without interpreters, through an area where we could hardly make ourselves understood by the Indians or learn about the land what we desired to know, and that we were entering into a land about which we had no information, nor did we know what it was like, nor what was stored in it, nor by what people was it populated, nor in which part of it we were located…” (p. 57) It is apparent that Cabeza de Vaca and the conquistadors essentially began their walk through the New World as blind men, lost and confused by what lay in front of them.
 
The communication barrier, along with the catastrophic events, made it nearly impossible to achieve some goals. Rolena Adorno’s artice, "The Negotiation of Fear in Cabeza de Vaca's Naufragios," points out that, “Cabeza de Vaca rejected all wishful thinking about the natives' conversion. With regard to his own experiences, he had no illusions about religious conversion being possible, due to the great gap in communication caused by mutual ignorance of languages.” Towards the ending of the narrative, the great explorer reaffirms the impenetrability of the native people due to the language barrier: “Cabeza de Vaca himself seemed content with this description, and added that, if the mutual understanding of language had permitted, they would have left them all Christians.”
 
Cabeza de Vaca also make note of the diversity of the languages within the New World itself, making it even more difficult to communicate when the language changed as they moved around. The explorers used any knowledge that they had and somehow learned to connect with the natives. The narrative tells us: “We passed through a great many [peoples of] diverse tongues; with all of them Our Lord God favored us, for they always understood us, and we them. We asked and answered questions by signs as well as though they spoke our language and we theirs, because, although we knew six languages, we were not able to use them everywhere, there being a thousand variations.” The journey became a learning experience for the conquistadors who were forced to learn and adapt some of the language to communicate and ultimately survive.

It is apparent from the text that the Spaniards came back to America with plans of killing, enslaving, and conquering some “Indians,” but the death of up to 90% of the existing Native American population was not on the agenda. After Columbus’ discovery of the Americas, Native American populations experienced a dramatic decline. The conquistadors were unaware of the sneaky killers that they had on their side; they had landed in the Americas with Eurocentric attitudes, Christian values, and germs. The germs that the Spaniards brought were harmless to European immune systems, exposed and conditioned to these eradicated diseases. Having been isolated from the rest of the world for so long, Native American immune systems evolved differently, never having experienced the disease and sickness that Europeans were now immune to. This was a situation set for disaster.
 
Soon after the landing of Europeans and Africans in the Americas, infectious diseases and sicknesses struck Indian populations at full force. Smallpox was the worst to hit the indigenous people, joined by typhus, measles, influenza, bubonic plague, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, mumps, yellow fever, and pertussis. The bacteria and viruses successfully wiped out the majority of Indians, allowing a simpler conquest of the Americas for Europeans. The countless silent killers brought by Europeans to the Americas were unmatched by syphilis, the only major disease brought to Europe from the Americas.
 
The catastrophic results of coming to America for the Native Americans was completely unanticipated, shocking, and, for a while, unexplained. The biological devastation was merely a ticking time bomb that would explode as soon as men from one side of the Atlantic reached the other. It was only a matter of time.

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” This simple childhood quote implanted the idea of Christopher Columbus as great explorer of the New World. Having associated Columbus with the ideas presented along with this quote and the glory of Columbus Day, I had originally determined that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World for trade and exploration. These conclusions seemed insufficient and the information given in the first voyage of The Four Voyages provides some insight into why Columbus came to America, aside from the obvious establishment of an easier trade route to the Indies. The sources in the book, like the logbook, create a fascinating new perspective to the continuously romanticized journey.
 
Religious issues definitely played a role in sending Columbus to the West. Under the rule of the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus seemed to have had the task of religious conversion for natives. This motive aligns with the monarchs’ establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella issued a royal decree ordering either the conversion or expulsion of Muslims and Jews. The sentiments of conversion are evident in the text: “Your Highness decided to send me, Christopher Columbus, to see these parts of India and the princes and peoples of those lands and consider the best means for their conversion.” (p. 37) Bartolomé de las Casas points out “the natural willingness and predisposition of these people to receive our holy faith and their readiness to adopt Christianity and moral virtues.” (p. 59) Throughout the work, this determination for conversion is clear: “I gave them a thousand pretty things that I had brought, in order to gain their love and incline them to become Christians.” (p. 118)
 
The author examines speculative history surrounding Columbus’ acquisition of knowledge about the New World prior to his travels. Shrouded in obscurity, the legend states that an ancient king explored the New World. Columbus was told this story and given information about the uncharted lands, which he kept to himself. Another possible motive for his travels could have easily been glory and/or fame. Columbus went down in history for his “discovery” of the New World and he might have cleverly planned it that way.
 
Another likely motive is simply the acquisition of power and riches. Throughout Columbus’ journey, the logs constantly reference, notice, and inquire about the gold that the Indians possess. On an October day, the logbook states, “I watched carefully to discover whether they had gold and saw that some of them carried a small piece hanging from a hole pierced in the nose.” (p. 56-57) This fixation on the native gold and riches continues throughout: “They may contain many things of which I do not know because I did not care to land and explore them, being anxious to find gold; and since these islands show signs of containing it—for the natives wear it around their arms and legs, and it is certainly gold, because I showed them some pieces that I have—I cannot fail, with God’s help, to find out where it comes from.” (p. 62)
 
There were definitely several motives for exploring new lands and sailing west, some from the monarchs back home and some from Columbus himself. It is interesting to see how they all played a role in the thought process and exploration of the West Indies or the Americas. Columbus’ voyage and his reasons for going are rather dissimilar to the voyage and those reasons presented in elementary school.

The world of Ibn Battutah was a radically different place from the Christian-dominated world of today. After the prophet Muhammad’s initial institution of Islam, the Age of the Caliphs began with the expansion of the religion throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the Iberian peninsula. At its height, the Caliphate, or Islamic empire, was twice the size of the Roman empire. This fantastic driving force developed as one of the world’s most ethical, modern, and technologically advanced societies as Europe remained in what can comparatively be called a technological standstill. The often negative implications of the terms “medieval” and “Middle Ages” only prove sufficient for parts of Europe while Battutah’s home, the Islamic empire, flourished and expanded.
 
Ibn Battutah lived in a society unlike much of what preceded and succeeded him. This Muslim-ruled empire granted two significant freedoms, leading to the synthesis and growth of one of the greatest philosophical periods of all time. Though society was still controlled by Muslim values, the Caliphate instituted religious freedom and freedom of speech, attracting Christians and Jews. The rule of the Islamic empire was one of the few periods in history when Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together in harmony. The Islamic Golden Age was not limited to these mere freedoms, it also constituted a cultural and technological advancement. Ibn Battutah lived in a time when this society had recently been established, leading to his exploration of its diverse cities and cultures. He gives a peek into what this tolerant society actually looked like. Today, modern Western societies have a prejudiced viewpoint of the Muslim, focusing on their “uncivilized” ways. Many ignorant Westerners would likely be shocked to learn that a Muslim-ruled world was one of the most peaceful, tolerant, and educationally beneficial societies that the world has seen.

In his fantastic travels, Ibn Battutah explores the East and the South, exploring Egypt, Asia Minor, Arabia, Persia, India, China, the Indies, and West Africa. He seemed to delay and put off any exploration of the Western world. In H.T. Norris’ essay, “Ibn Battuta’s Andalusian Journey,” he argues that “it is strange that Shaykh Abu 'Abdallah Muḥammad Ibn Baṭṭuṭah, one of the greatest of Muslim travelers, should have delayed his major visit to Spain until the latter part of his career,” especially having been born “within sight of the Spanish coast.”
 
Ibn Battutah lived during the time of the Reconquista, when the Catholic kings were in process of conquering Spain from the Moors. This process wasn’t complete until the fall of Granada in 1492, leaving Ibn Battutah much time to explore the region, having lived from 1304-1368/1369. There were at least a full 100 years after his death before Muslims would not be allowed to explore Southern Spain, or Andalusia. He entered each city with an open mind, noting the customs and perks of each locale. He wasn’t quite a tourist, but much more a traveler or explorer. Ibn Battutah notes the in-between travel time, unlike other travel writers of his time and genre.
 
Noting that Ibn Battutah was exploring Spain, I grew excited for his description of Granada, having visited myself. The Alhambra Palace was probably the most memorable site of my travels in Southern Spain. The palace is something I suppose visitors of today are unable to miss. Its breathtaking architecture, tranquil flowing canals, and beautiful flora have gone unmatched, unlike anything I have ever seen. It is possibly one of my favorite places in the world, with its rich cultural roots.
 
I found myself disappointed to read nothing about the palace, the city’s landmark site. H.T. Norris makes an argument for the omitting of the impressive place: “The Sultan of Granada, Abu'l Ḥajjaj Yusuf, was ill at the time and Ibn Baṭṭuṭah did not meet him. However, the Sultan's mother heard that the famous traveller was in the city and sent him some gold dinars to pay for his expenses. Perhaps the Sultan's illness prevented the visitor from seeing the great Red Palace (the Alhambra), the wonder of Moorish Spain. He makes no mention of it, and we can only assume that he never entered the splendid Gate of Justice, or climbed its "Tower of Homage" or meditated in the Court of the Lions or wandered in the enchanted gardens of the Jannat al-'Arif (the Generalife).” From personal experience, it is almost shocking that Ibn Battutah could not have even noted the palace from a distance. The video provides a little tour and lots of information about the palace, pointing out the magic of the place. Perhaps it was not a necessary addition to Ibn Battutah's works.

The search for interesting information about Marco Polo began on Google, headed to Wikipedia for a bit, and ultimately led me to YouTube. In the search bar, I simply typed the full name, Marco Polo, and the first result was rather shocking. If the great explorer Marco Polo had been around today, it is likely that he would be appalled to find that his name is the title of a 2008 recording by rapper, Bow Wow. The song is even accompanied by a music video.
 
The video depicts Bow Wow and Soulja Boy, two rappers in the modern music industry, at some sort of beach or pool party. In a timely fashion, several ladies appear singing the medieval explorer’s name. The name even appears on the screen as a digital beach ball bounces from word to word. This is evidently a reference to the game of “Marco Polo”, a form of tag played in a swimming pool.
 
After an examination of the lyrics, I came to the conclusion that none of the words actually correspond with the historical aspects of the Marco Polo tale except for, “Ya can’t catch me, I’m so ahead of y’all,” and the direct reference to Polo’s name. This, though, could also easily be, and is probably more likely to be, referring to the swimming pool game. Nevertheless, Bow Wow’s “Marco Polo” was an interesting find in tracking how the name Marco Polo is integrated naturally in society and popular culture.

In The Travels of Marco Polo, Polo describes the Eastern ruler, Kubilai Khan, with extremely high regard. Polo introduces the reader to the Great Khan by embellishing in the history of this Mongol leader. He touches on the battles fought, enemies defeated, and an array of other stepping stones in the rise of Kubilai Khan. Through description of one of Kubilai Khan’s first battles, Polo opens up a religious discussion from the viewpoint of the Mongol.
 
Kubilai Khan’s uncle, Nayan, was of the first to revolt against the Great Khan. “Nayan and Kaidu, made their preparations and mustered a great array of horse and foor to attack the Great Khan.” (Polo 114) After hostility and battle, the Great Khan was victorious and ultimately put Nayan to death. Polo notes for the reader: “You must know that Nayan was a baptized Christian and in this battle he had the cross of Christ on his standard.” (Polo 117) He continues delving into the religious controversy and Christian mockery that took place after the death of Nayan. “Saracens, idolaters, Jews, and many others who do not believe in God – made a mock of the cross which Nayan had borne on his banner.” (Polo 118)
 
The Great Khan took a stand against these mockers, revering Christianity as “good.” Kubilai Khan states, “If the cross of your God has not helped Nayan… it was for a very good reason. Because it is good, it ought not to lend its aid except in a good and righteous cause. Nayan was a traitor who broke faith with his liege lord. Hence the fate that has befallen him was a vindication of the right. And the cross of your God did will in not helping against the right.” (Polo 118) The Great Khan goes to great lengths to defend Christianity. When discussing all religions, Kubilai Khan claims that he honors all of them, but “he regard as truest and best the faith of the Christians, because he declares that it commands nothing that is not full of all goodness and holiness.” (Polo 119)
 
After reading this passage about Kubilai Khan’s reverence of Christianity, one is left wondering how Marco Polo might have twisted to story to appeal to his Christian companions back home in Europe. It becomes rather obvious that Marco Polo added his own biases to his travels to potentially make the East more appealing for Christians of the Western World, while also making it seems more fantastic.

After reading excerpts from Huang Yang’s text on Herodotus, it can be determined that the mighty historian was merely victim to innocent ignorance. “His attitude toward the Egyptians should not be taken as derogatory…the point is that the construction of “otherness” does not necessarily mean downright derogation. What matters is rather the construction of a fundamentally different type of human existence. It was precisely in this sense that Herodotus presented the Egyptians as an inversed type of human society.” In his travels to Egypt, Herodotus made what he could with the information he was presented with. He clung to his own customs and compared the new lands to his own familiarities, unintentionally creating a mild superiority complex.
 
Herodotus’ reactions and responses to uncharted territory and unknown lands are consistent with other explorers throughout history. In retrospect, these travelers and investigators of unfound places seem to have been self-interested and intolerant. When venturing into mysterious terrain, humans strive to take control of their situation and their surroundings. Everything and anything could potentially be a threat, leading pioneers to engage in conflict with natives like the events that unfolded in the discovery of the Americas. The attitude Herodotus had when discussing the Egyptians was simply a natural defense mechanism to create security in an unfamiliar environment.

Reasons for travel vary from leisure and pleasure to sightseeing and analyzing history. Herodotus takes the lead as the “father of history” with his great writings about his cultural experiences through his travels. Herodotus gives readers a taste of diverse cultures through his own Greek eyes in The Histories. Though his claims might not be entirely accurate, he allows a development of insight about the customs and society of ancient Egypt in his account of Egypt. Like a modern tourist, he makes note about the oddities of this world apart from what he is accustomed to.
 
Some practices are weirder than others in Egyptian society, as observed by Herodotus. He states that the Egyptians “established for themselves manners and customs in a way opposite to other men in almost all matters: for among them the women frequent the market and carry on trade, while the men remain at home and weave.” (p. 18) Herodotus continues to describe the roles that men and women take in their society, pointing out a case where the roles are actually reversed. The typical woman remains in the house and weaves while the men leave the house to work and deal with trade. Egyptian society has inverted these traditions.
 
Herodotus spends a lot of time in his work comparing the Egyptians to other lands that he is more familiar with. The “…but in Egypt” phrases recur throughout as he makes direct comparisons. “The priests of the gods in other lands wear long hair, but in Egypt they shave their heads: among other men the custom is that in mourning those whom the matter concerns most nearly have their hair cut short, but the Egyptians, when deaths occur, let their hair grow long, both on the head and that on the chin, having before been close shaven.” (p. 19) He continues his simplistic comparisons, remarking how this foreign land differs from others he has seen.
 
When humans travel, they attempt to connect with foreign culture by identifying with certain aspects of the alien society. Herodotus seemed to marvel at what he could not relate to, a world dissimilar to his own. Recording and observing put him on his pedestal of history, capturing facets of different cultures. He was a pioneer for exploring the diverse community of societies throughout the known world. He laid the foundation of a long line of historians and travelers, analyzing the unfamiliar and enriching the minds of readers about distant places.

Similar to biblical texts, the Homeric epics had a teaching role in the life of the ancient Greeks. Like the Bible, the poems taught the superior power of the gods and provided guidance to men on how to live a life of good morals. The Odyssey is ridden with countless literal mistakes and the exploration of human temptation, teaching readers to control their sinful sentiments and take on lives of self-control. Both positive and negative qualities about the nature of humans are examined through the actions of Odysseus and his men. Those characters that fall victim to their negative attributes fail to complete the journey home back to Ithaca, creating a detailed learning experience for readers and listeners.
 
Odysseus begins his recounting of his journey tackling a leading attraction: greed. After sacking the city of the Cicones, taking their wives and their booty, Odysseus ordered his men to leave and continue their travels. Greed easily overtook his men, causing them to refuse departure, indulge in drinking, and kill the sheep and the oxen by the shore. Due to their temptation, the Cicones engaged in battle and Odysseus “lost half a dozen men from every ship [he] had.”
 
The Odyssey continues to make a comment about lingering in dangerous terrain. The island of the Cyclopes presents a playing ground of one-eyed giants, unfit for man’s leisurely exploration. Refusing his mens’ pleas, Odysseus decided to check out the island. The old cliché, “curiosity killed the cat,” comes in to play here and results in Odysseus’ curiosity killing his men as Polyphemus swallows his men whole. Human curiosity and mistrust leads to several other mistakes like the incident with Aeolus’ bag of winds.
 
The Odyssey then goes about depicting the negative effects of human pride and boastfulness. Odysseus could have simply escaped the Cyclopes a free man, but his pride got the best of him as he revealing in his rage, “Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Odysseus, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.” This foolish pride leads to Odysseus’ largest penalty as Polyphemus reports this information to his father, Poseidon. Odysseus’ arrogance leads to the wrath of Poseidon over Odysseus’ return to Ithaca.
 
A final temptation that men fall victim to in the Odyssey is the lure of women. Odysseus and his men lodge with Circe for a year due to Odysseus’s lust. Human lust is also displayed with the irresistible song of the Sirens. The flaws of men appear throughout Homer’s work to allow readers to keep an eye on themselves in their own lives.