In Book One of the Odyssey, Homer ascribes the trouble which Odysseus and his men encountered to their own "wild recklessness" (line 7). This wild recklessness manifested itself in two major ways. First, Homer reveals that Odysseus' men killed the sacred cattle of Helios, the sun god. As punishment, Zeus struck Odysseus' ship with lightning; this divine vengeance left Odysseus shipwrecked on Calypso's island. Moreover, Calypso fell in love with Odysseus and would not allow him to return home to Ithaca and his family.
Second, Odysseus incurred the wrath of Poseidon by blinding the sea-god's son, Polyphemus the cyclops. Although this event is related following the slaughter of Helios' cattle, it actually occurred first chronologically (this website provides a good chronological timeline for the Odyssey).
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