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Odysseus Honor In Homer's Odyssey

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The rank and file are not the only Greeks who respect their commanders, though. While the fear of their commanders’ wrath is a great motivator for the common soldier, the heroes are not motivated by but place great importance in their good standing with their own superiors. Odysseus does not forget to remind them of this value, using it as yet another path to their honor, that is, their motivation. At first, since they are following a direct order, the officers are certain that they have the grace of Agamemnon. However, Odysseus plants doubts in their minds, suggesting: You don’t really know Agamemnon’s mind. He’s just testing us now, But before long he’s going to come down on us hard. Didn’t we all hear what he said in council? If he gets angry the whole army had better watch out. Kings are bred by Zeus and have tempers to match. (The Iliad 2.210-215)
Here again Homer employs Odysseus’ wile, as he presents the possibility that Agamemnon’s orders are a test, rather than calling them out as poor orders—which would earn him no favors, with Agamemnon himself or with the officers, who still value …show more content…
This priority is demonstrated shortly before the passage begins, when the thought of going home “roused the spirits of the rank and file” (The Iliad 2.153). Odysseus reminds them of the power he and the other officers have over their lives, though, as he “would belt him with the staff” whenever a soldier spoke out (The Iliad 2.217). And, remaining tactful, Odysseus then ties the staff he currently wields to Agamemnon, explaining how it came to him from Zeus; by doing so Odysseus compares the beating he gave them with the staff to Agamemnon’s power over their lives. This is the last straw for the hesitant soldiers, who now understand that what Homer paints as their one most prized possession, their life, is at

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