Did Odysseus and his men bring the string of catastrophes on themselves? Yes, they did get themselves into serious trouble. With a pompous attitude, the men prolonged their journey home to Ithaca. Those who did not have Odysseus’s smarts, died because of this. When they raided the Cicones’ village, harassed Poseidon’s son, and killed the Helios’s cattle, they punished themselves. Odysseus and his men stormed Cicones, and reeked havoc on all that lived there, even the sheep. They killed men who fought, robbed the citizen ....