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

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

In this question, we analyze the outcomes described in Book 12 of the Odyssey after Odysseus' crew consumes the cattle of the Sun God.
Option 1: "They are turned into pigs". This is a recall from the encounter with Circe earlier in the voyage, where she transforms some of Odysseus's men into swine. It is not the consequence of eating Helios's cattle, so this option misattributes a different episode to the cattle incident.
Option 2: "They are transformed into birds". This transformation is not associated with the cattle episode or the Odyssey’s events in Book 12. It incorrectly mixes up another mythical trope, but there is no scene where the crew is turned into birds as a result of eating the cattle.
Option 3: "Their ship is destroyed by a storm". This option aligns with the canonical outcome: the crew’s consumption of Helios’s sacred cattle enrages the Sun, and Zeus punishes them by sending a devastating storm that destroys the ship. Odysseus alone survives the voyage after clinging to a shard and eventually reaching safety. This reflects the direct cause-effect relationship described in the text.
Option 4: "They are blessed with eternal life". This is clearly inconsistent with the epic’s narrative; the crew does not receive immortality or eternal life as a reward for their actions. Instead, they meet a punitive end, and Odysseus’s journey remains perilous and finite in mortal terms.
In summary, the pivotal sequence is that the crew’s decision to slaughter and eat the sacred cattle triggers Helios’s anger, Zeus’s punishment in the form of a catastrophic storm, and the destruction of the ship, with Odysseus as the lone survivor. The other options distort or misplace events from different parts of the epic or propose outcomes that do not occur in Book 12.

CLAS 2220 AU2025 (16301) Module Exam 3: DUE Friday 12/12

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

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