In Book 12, what is the outcome of the Odysseus' crew's consumption of the cattle of the Sun God?

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In this question, we assess what happens to Odysseus' crew after they consume the cattle of the Sun God. 
Option 1: 'They are blessed with eternal life' This is inconsistent with the epic's arc. The crew's violation of Helios's sacred cattle leads to divine punishment, not a reward of perpetual life. The text emphasizes consequences and mortality rather than an everlasting blessing. 
Option 2: 'They are turned into pigs' This transformation is not associated with the cattle of the Sun God. The pig transformation appears in a different episode involving Circe, where some crew members are transformed temporarily, but it is not the outcome of eating Helios’s cattle. 
Option 3: 'They are transformed into birds' This option misrepresents the events. Shape-shifting into birds is not the fate of the crew as a direct consequence of the cattle incident. The myth centers on punishment and death, not metamorphosis into avian forms. 
Option 4: 'Their ship is destroyed by a storm' This outcome aligns with the narrative arc in Book 12. After the crew slaughters and feasts on Helios’s cattle, Zeus sends a terrible storm as punishment, destroying their ship and resulting in the death of the crew while Odysseus survives, illustrating the fatal consequences of disobeying divine commands. 
Additional context: The central lesson here concerns piety and restraint toward sacred property; violating the gods' prohibitions incurs severe repercussions, which is precisely what this option describes as the consequence observed in the myth. Each of the other options either introduces an alteration of the myth’s events or misattributes consequences that belong to other episodes or beings within the story.

CLAS 2220 AU2025 (16301) Quiz 10 (Nov 10-14)

In Book 12, what is the outcome of the Odysseus' crew's consumption of the cattle of the Sun God?

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