Tao Te Ching
Odysseus Ὀδυσσεύς
(Ulysses)
c. 1100 BCE
Trickster lineage hero and symbol
Cultural hero to the Greeks and respected for his cunning and strategy, Odysseus was reviled by the Romans as deceitful and without honor for not maintaining strict adherence to rules and ‘duty.’ Christians dismissed him and Dante relegated him to the lowest level of hell. He became a legendary Greek king and hero of Homer’s The Odyssey and a powerful symbol in the Trickster lineage. Stories of his successful guile, his brilliant solutions to problems, his courageous willingness to—for a good cause—go beyond conventions, norms, and chauvinistic beliefs for the greater good. Representing cultural themes long before Homer personified the Odysseus archetype, this imagery continues in the modern world in works by Tennyson, Kazantzakis, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, Susanne Vega, and the Coen brothers.
Eras
Unlisted Sources
Quotes by Odysseus (8 quotes)
“My name is Nobody.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
13. Honor and Disgrace
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“Scepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of scepticism.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
65. Simplicity: the Hidden Power of Goodness
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“Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
8. Like Water
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“Heaven has appointed us dwellers on earth a time for all things.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
20. Unconventional Mind
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“The blade itself incites to deeds of violence.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
30. No War
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“Empty words are evil.”
from Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια
Chapters:
12. This Over That
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“A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time”
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