Imminent Destruction

"Of all that breathes and crawls across the earth,
our mother earth breeds nothing feebler than a man.
So long as the gods grant him power, spring in his knees,
he thinks he will never suffer affliction down the years.
But then, when the happy gods bring on the long hard times,
bear them he must, against his will, and steel his heart.
Our lives, our mood and mind as we pass across the earth,
turn as the days turn . . ."

This quote is a reference to what has happened to Odysseus. He feels himself to be completely under the power of the gods every whim, a feeling particularly common in the Greek psyche. It also shows a difference between how he accepts the burden and struggles through, hoping for better times, where many people would give up and wallow in their self pity and emotion, something that Odysseus rarely allows himself to do.
The quote is also a foreshadowing of what will happen to the suitors. They have a false sense of power, that will soon be torn from them, damning them to suffering and being forgotten.
It emphasizes also the power that the gods have. i feel that the childish emotional behaviour of the gods was a key part of why people were so god-fearing. They were not purely rational logical beings and so they have to tread carefully, apeasing the gods at every step along the way.

reference to what happened to odysseus
foreshadowing of what will happen to the suitors