The more The marrier

"The one man team is a complete and total myth."- Don Shula

This quote is telling people that in all great accomplishments there are many people in order to help succeed. Although there is always one person who gets the most credit, the reason i like this quote so much is that it shows even thou not every player has the same skills and there is a stand out but without all of them they wouldn't be as successful. A great example is Odysseus and Alexander the Great they were the leaders and guided their sides to greatness but no one else was really remembered even though without them they would not have been as successful.

Unbalanced

"Where shepherd calls to shepherd as one drives in his flocks
and the other drives his out and he calls back in answer,
where a man who never sleeps could rake in double wages,
one for herding cattle, one for pasturing fleecy sheep,
the nightfall and the sunrise march so close together."
~ Odysseus
Book 10, page 233, lines 91-95

Just a bit of human emotion

"That was the song the famous harper sang
but great Odysseus melted into tears,
running down from his eyes to wet his cheeks..."
~ Narrator
Book 8, page 208, line 585-587

A true champion

“A champion is someone who does not settle for that day's practice, that day's competition, that day's performance. They are always striving to be better. They don't live in the past.”

-Briana Scurry

This relates to the odyssey very much, the reason for this is because Odysseus never settles for the days success but always strives in order to do better and concur a bigger task. An example of this is when he ends up on the island with Circa even though he is tempted to stay on the island with the beautiful goddess and can live in happiness his whole life , he knows he must do whats right and travel back to Ithaca to his real family to truly believe he is a true hero.

Suffering to achieve.

"So I said, and it broke my shipmates' hearts.
They sank down on the ground, moaning, tore their hair.
But it gained us nothing-what good can come of grief?"
~ Odysseus
Book 10, page 248, line 623-625

Odysseus knows that he and his men must suffer more. Knowing that he has not achieved his nostos yet, he must continue on. Suffering along with his men is not an option in order to succeed in achieving his goal. This is a requirement of a hero according to Homer and so Odysseus must toil and slave longer in order to acquire greatness. Being plagued by the gods through bad weather and the circumstances that surely test his capabilities and skill, Odysseus knows that he will get what he wants. He will return home.

The idea of heroism in the Greek civilization is evident and very prominent in Homer's classic; the Odyssey, the journey of a man who achieves greatness and the title of a hero through his troubles and travels. In order to deserve, one must prove themselves worthy of the title; "hero".
If you suffer, you will be rewarded. This also refernces back to the idea of the golden mean, the balance in Greek society that maintains values. The balance of negative and positive, of good and evil, of suffering and rewards, is required in life. To learn and go through circumstances in life that show this balance is a requirement of life.

Outsmarted

"Not for all the world. Not
until you consent to swear, goddess, a binding oath
you'll never plot some new intrigue to harm me!"
~ Odysseus
Book 10, page 241, line 380-382

This shorter passage from The Odyssey gives us key information about more of Odysseus' character. Metis, and/or cunning, is "shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception" (Google, Define:). Being able to manipulate Circe into getting what he wants and spare him from being used, we see that Odysseus is a thinker rather than using means of brawn when it comes to his current situation to achieve what he wants. This theme of brains over brawn is a reoccurring one along with the theme of cunning. Outsmarting the witch in order to protect himself is what he does, and one can say that this increases one's chance of survival.

Cunning

"I will tell you. But you must give me a guest-gift as you've promised.
Nobody-that's my name. Nobody-so my mother and father call me, all my
friends."
~Odysseus
Book 9, page 223, line 409-411

I know you now.

"What pains-the gods have given me my share.
Now let me begin by telling you my name...
so you may know it well and I in times to come,
if I can escape the fatal day, will be your host,
your sworn friend, though my home is far from here.
I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world
for every kind of craft-my fame has reached the skies."
~Odysseus
Book 9, page 212, line 16-22

In this passage we have Odysseus, our hero, identifying himself to the Phaeacians and beginning to tell his story to them. He tells us that he has suffered, as all true heroes do, and that he will prevail until he arrives on his native land again. Knowing of his fame, he tells us that he is the one people speak of; he is a hero. He is cabable and skilled, he has suffered and prospered, he has gotten to where he is now because he has perservered. The theme of "unveiling" and "identification" is evident knowing that the Phaeacian people do not know who he is and do not recognise him. The identification of our hero in this passage declares an under layer of truth and wisdom from Odysseus.

The Sweetest Sight

"I know no sweeter sight on earth than a man's own native country."

~ Odysseus

Book 9, page 212, line 31-32

Not Yet...

"What hard labor, queen," the man of craft replied, "to tell you the story
of my troubles start to finish."

~ Odysseus

Book 7, page 187, line 277-278

Subconcious Transitions

"He set out for the woods and not far from the water
found a grove with a
clearing all around and crawled
beneath two bushy olives sprung from the
same root,
one olive wild, the other well-bred stock."
~ Narrator
Book 5, page 167, line 525-528

This depiction of Odysseus that Homer gives to us shows us the current state that our hero is in. Naked with nothing to aid him, shelter him, or provide for him, we see that Odysseus has been reduced to the circumstances of a human. Purely with nothing else, he sleeps underneath these two olive bushes; one wild, one tame. This natural imagery tells us of the boundaries between the civilized world and the uncivilized world; the difference between wild, and tame. Odysseus, having nothing, is dirty, naked, hungry and wild. The action of sleeping represents a transition for Odysseus from the wild to the civilized world. The separation from reality and fantasy is represented by sleep; it is a transition.

temptation a humans greatest weakness?

temptation is an on going weakness for many people everyday and we must find ways in order to work around it . In the Odyssey , Odysseus has to overcome many temptations in order to finally return back to his city of Ithaca. But its not just Odysseus that has to over come his temptations but the whole crew, and a great example is when they want to see whats in Odysseus sack since they believe he is lying to them and getting treasure from the islands they have been at. Instead of avoid there temptation of opening the bag and finding out whats really in the sack that Odysseus received from the god of wind, they ripped it open and they caused them to release the winds and sent them back to were there journey first started.

Another great example of temptation would be when Odysseus reveals his name to Polyphemus. This was Odysseus's hunger for kleos and his temptation was to let people know who he really is , since he was happy he had just defeated the one eyed monster. He was caught in the heat of the moment and wasn't thinking of the consequences that could later come ,bringing Poseidon's wrath upon him and his men. This shows how hard it is to avoid temptation even the great hero Odysseus couldn't hold it back.

This shows that temptation is in fact a great weakness for a human and if you don't know how to hold back from them , it can really come back to bite you.

Mutiny and Admiration

"You're a hard man, Odysseus. Your fighting spirit's stronger than ours, your stamina never fails. You must be made of iron head to foot. Look, your crew's half-dead with labor, starved for sleep, and you forbid us to set foot on land,this island here, washed by the waves, where we might catch a decent meal again"

- Eurylochus, The Odyssey Book 12, Page 280

Like in the earlier part of this chapter, Odysseus is again being raised above the rest as this super being - better in every aspect. Following this little comparison Eurylochus essentially plants the seed for a mutiny by bringing up all of the deficiencies in their plan - they need sleep, they need food, they must rest. By doing so he is undermining Odysseus' authority. He is feeding fuel to the fire.

Modesty

"But even from there my courage, my presence of mind and tactics saved us all, and we will live to remember this someday, I have no doubt."

- Odysseus, The Odyssey Book 12, Page 278

For all of his redeeming qualities this is one of the first very obvious representations of one of his faults. He isn't modest, he is proud of who he is and while that is good to a certain extent it can also cause dissent between the ranks of men. His crew don't seem themselves as part of the journey because Odysseus takes credit for it. It is he who had courage, he who had the presence of mind - he is saying he is the one who saved them. If I were a crew member it would be devastating to believe that through it all my contribution meant nothing.