Ismarus

Ismarus, the city of the Cicons, is the first foreign settlement Odysseus and his men encounter after their departure from Troy. The raid on this Thracian town establishes the moral and practical dynamics that will govern the rest of the journey: the tension between prudent leadership and the crew's undisciplined appetites, the swift transition from victory to catastrophe, and the heavy cost exacted by even a successful sack.

The Sack and Its Immediate Aftermath

Odysseus and his fleet arrive at Ismarus after setting sail from Troy. He sacks the town, puts the people to the sword, and takes the women and considerable booty, which he divides equitably among his men so that none might have cause for complaint. He then urges an immediate departure, but his men foolishly refuse to obey. Instead, they stay on the shore, drinking much wine and slaughtering great numbers of sheep and oxen. Meanwhile, the surviving Cicons cry out for help to their inland neighbors, who are more numerous, stronger, and more skilled in war, able to fight from chariots or on foot as the occasion demands. At morning, these reinforcements arrive as thick as leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven turns against the Achaeans. The battle is joined near the ships, and the hosts aim their bronze-shod spears at one another. So long as the day waxes and it is still morning, Odysseus's men hold their own despite being outnumbered, but as the sun goes down, toward the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons gain the upper hand. Odysseus loses half a dozen men from every ship, and the survivors sail away with sorrow in their hearts, glad to have escaped death though they have lost their comrades. They do not leave until they have thrice invoked each of the fallen.

The Maron Connection

Ismarus is also the source of a crucial resource that Odysseus will later use to survive the Cyclops episode. During the sack, Odysseus and his men respect the life of Maron, son of Euanthes, who is the priest of Apollo, the patron god of Ismarus, and lives within the wooded precincts of the temple. They spare him, his wife, and his child. In gratitude, Maron makes Odysseus presents of great value: seven talents of fine gold, a bowl of silver, and twelve jars of sweet, unblended wine of the most exquisite fragrance. When Maron drinks it, he mixes twenty parts of water to one of wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl is so exquisite that it is impossible to refrain from drinking. Odysseus fills a large skin with this wine and takes it with him when he goes to explore the cave of Polyphemus, for his mind misgives him that he may have to deal with some savage who will be of great strength and will respect neither right nor law. This wine, the strongest and most potent in the poem, becomes the instrument by which Odysseus intoxicates and blinds the Cyclops.

Narrative and Thematic Significance

Ismarus functions as a microcosm of the entire Odyssey's central conflict between discipline and desire. Odysseus demonstrates sound strategic judgment in wanting to leave immediately after the sack, but his men's greed for more plunder and their indulgence in wine and meat lead directly to unnecessary casualties. This pattern—the crew's disobedience bringing disaster upon themselves despite their leader's foresight—recurs throughout the voyage, most catastrophically with the slaughter of the cattle of the Sun. The city also introduces the theme of xenia, or hospitality, in its negative form: the Cicons are not offered as hosts but are violently despoiled, and the consequences are immediate and bloody. Furthermore, the sparing of Maron and the gift of the wine establish a counterpoint to the general violence, showing that even in the midst of war, respect for a priest and his sanctuary can yield a benefit that proves decisive later. The wine of Ismarus, carried across the sea, becomes the agent of Odysseus's most famous trick, the blinding of Polyphemus, and thus links the first landfall after Troy to the defining moment of his cunning.