Everyday people make choices, some choices are easier than others with a clear choice that only a fool would ignore, but some choices are much more difficult. The best way to make a good choice is often a cause for debate, but one of the oldest answers, comes from the ancient Greek poet Homer. Homer’s epic the Odyssey relates to the magnitude that choices play in our lives and how he thought choices should be made. The Odyssey revolves around the hero Odysseus and the choices he and his crew make on their decade long journey home at the end of the Trojan War. Sometimes the characters make good choices and sometimes they make bad choices, more often than not these good choices are made by using good judgement and consulting those who are wise. …show more content…
Throughout Odysseus’ journey the reader sees many examples the disastrous consequences that follow when men ignore the advice of those that are wise. This idea that men must listen to the advice of the wise is prominent from the beginning of the book, with Zeus angry that the man Aegisthus ignored his warnings to not marry the wife of Agamemnon. Agamemnon was thought to have been dead, but the gods knew that he was not and sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to warn Aegisthus of this. Aegisthus ignored this advice and slew Agamemnon upon his return, but was later slain himself by Agamemnon’s son Orestes. Zeus comments that men bring more trouble upon themselves “when their own witlessness/ Causes them more than they were destined for!” Zeus’s point is that Ageisthus, made a poor decision by ignoring the advice of the wise, all-knowing, gods and is angry because this shows Ageisthus’ lack of wisdom. Aegisthus fatal choice isn’t the last tragedy that could have been avoided if good advice had been taken, several times throughout the story Odysseus’ crew ignore his orders and the advice of gods, which ultimately leads to the death Odysseus’ entire crew. The first occurrence of this is when Odysseus and his men raid the town of Cicones as