Maia's Travel Journal by Animaisa Leggett

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 13:38:24 UTC

It all started out when we got on the ships we didn't have many resources to go around so most days the majority of the men got very minor portions. When we finally landed and stepped foot on the land of the Cicones we saw plenty of food and resources for everyone so of course we were going to fight for it. Odysseus was appalled by what we were doing "I commanded the men to board our ships and sail for home, but they resisted. They wanted to stay and drink from the great casks of wine, gorge themselves on plundered delicacies." said Odysseus. Some tried to explain our actions but Odysseus who was spoiled with goods and riches didn't care what they had to say. We had just finished fighting in the Trojan war, we deserved a well needed break, we deserved to indulge in some goods. We then had to rush to our ships to get away from the remaining Cicones who had ventured to get their neighbors and fight back. We landed on the land of the lotus eaters, those people were abundantly caring, they even gave us their fruit which was very delicious and just kept on making you want more and more. Odysseus then rudely and forcefully dragged us back to the ships, "tie them beneath the benches" Odysseus ordered. When we embarked on our journey we never could have thought it would be this difficult, I just wanted to get back to my wife and kids back home in Ithaca.

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 15:03:38 UTC

We arrived at a calm harbor right up on the sand, it was too foggy that night to see much. We woke up the next morning to see a small but full island of goats jumping among the rocks and a fresh stream running down the hill. We ventured up to that island. We saw a great cave, we found it deserted and quickly explored it. Soon we saw the owner of this cave come back quickly hiding to discover that the owner was a huge cyclops named Polyphemus. We were appalled by how well he took care of his flock of sheep, never harming them. He then saw that we were there and asked "who might you be, little men, and what are you doing in my cave?". Odysseus then answered "sir, we are travelers from afar who chanced upon your shore and found your cave. We humbly beg your hospitality. Remember that guests are under the protection of Zeus." The cyclops then laughed at Odysseus's plea for hospitality and immediately ate four of our men raw. Odysseus then got the cyclops drunk, and tricked him into thinking that his name was “nobody” instead of Odysseus. Then we stabbed the cyclops in the eye with a hot stake, the cyclops cried for help getting the attention of the surrounding cyclops but received no help when he was asked what happened because he was saying “nobody” did this to him instead of Odysseus. We escaped by clinging to the sheep's bellies. But because Odysseus yelled his real name, the giant's dad, Poseidon, cursed us.

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 15:20:16 UTC

I am just a whisper now, a breath of cold soulless air. This place has an eerie silence trapping everything in it. a world bleached from every sound and color, worse than any battle. It strips you, makes you feel truly empty, like this is just the end and it'll just stay like this. I still get frightened at the thought of what happened throughout those years; it almost makes me grateful to finally be done. I think of when we heard that awful sound when scylla arose; the worst part was the way she grabbed us, like a child picking candy on halloween. six screams were cut short, six people who won't see their family, six people who will never live again, six people who thought they were safe. But Scylla didn't claim us all. Our real undoing was the hunger that became a monstrous enemy in our bellies. We willingly broke our sacred oath on Thrinacia because we were too starved to care about the gods. As Eurylochus whispered, "Any death is a dreadful one for starved men". Was it truly worth it for us to die?

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 15:22:27 UTC

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 15:23:02 UTC

leggan452 — 2025-10-15 15:23:34 UTC