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What does Odysseus do throughout the story that gets him into trouble?

One of the most significant ways in which Odysseus creates trouble for himself and his crew is by ignoring their pleas to take some food and quickly return to their ship when they come to the land of the Cyclops. Instead, he chooses to remain and wait for the Cyclops, Polyphemus, to return to his cave because he wants to see if the Cyclops will offer him a guest gift (such a gift is just one aspect of ancient Greek hospitality, or xenia, a religious imperative since they believed that Zeus protected all travelers). He's a little greedy, and this greed results in the deaths of six of his men when it turns out that Polyphemus does not care about Zeus and Zeus's rules.


Further, after Odysseus and his men blind Polyphemus in order to escape him, Odysseus's pride compels him to tell the Cyclops his name so that he can take credit for besting the monster. Odysseus taunts him, causing him to tear off huge hunks of mountains and fling them toward the ship, an action that almost forces the ship back to the island. When they do escape, Polyphemus prays to his father, Poseidon, to avenge him. Ultimately, Poseidon does try to exact revenge on Odysseus, and very nearly kills him. Had Odysseus not allowed his greed and pride to impair his ability to make good judgments, he would likely have gotten home a great deal sooner.

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