Kafka’s Realism Regarding the Sirens

Kafkas rendition of Odysseus encounter with the Sirens is a realistic approach to homers telling of events. Kafka points out that the song of the Sirens would induce been to a greater extent powerful than anything set out in place to block out their song from anyones ears, in particular the wax Circe advised Odysseus to place in the ears of his men. As Kafka says, he had fill in faith in the handful of wax (128).Herein lies Kafkas briny point, namely that despite the efforts put forth by anyone, even those manoeuver by the gods, no one would have been able to escape the Sirens and their deadly, whollyuring song it follows that, Kafka maintains, the Sirens could not have been singing at all (128). Kafkas interpretation of Homer here goes deeper than merely asserting that the Sirens could sole(prenominal) have been silent kinda than singing when Odysseus led his men past the put down they inhabited.Kafka is attri moreovering the existential motif of choice regarding Odysseus in particular by implying that Odysseus, more sound in mind than even the gods, was able to simply sack the existence of the Sirens and thereby escape. Realizing this to be the case, the Sirens did not even bother to sing, but Odysseus, as Kafka asserts, in attempting to shield himself from both the Sirens and the gods, told the story as if they had been singing, and that his wiles were affluent to protect both him and his men from the deadly song (128).In maintaining that the Sirens were singing, when in all probability they were not as their song would have intimately penetrated any barrier, Odysseus was able to keep everyone happythe Sirens included. Kafka is asking his audience to reconsider the likelihood that Odysseus instructions, handed down from Circe, actually worked. In contrast to Homers version of events, Kafka is maintaining that realistically it would not have been at all possible for anyone, no matter how strong, to escape the song of the Sirens.Whereas Homer ass erts that in accompaniment Odysseus was able to escape the deadly song by modify the ears of his men with wax and then tying their leader up on the mast, Kafka says that Odysseus was merely fooling everyone into thinking that it actually worked, even his men. The implications of the addendum Kafka mentions get on the end of his story are that Odysseus was able to close off his internal mind from even the gods, and that they were unable to see in him that in fact the Sirens were silent.In turn, Homer was able to maintain that Odysseus legendary journey was in fact rife with danger at every turn by positing that Odysseus had indeed outsmarted the alluring Siren song. But, as Kafka alludes, it would have been a rather dull journey were Odysseus to have admitted that the Sirens were in fact silent. Odysseus survival, not only throughout his journey but after as well, rested in his ability to fool himself and in turn the gods.