One of my objectives upon retiring is to read the great works of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. I have purchased several translations with this in mind. These tales remain a cornerstone of culture. Even in Plato’s day the bronze age saga of the great war between the Greeks and Troy was ancient. One of the characters featured is Ulysses the ruler of Ithaca. Among the central characters of the epic poem, Achilles, Agamemnon and Hector, – how is Ulysses in particular portrayed by Homer?

I am conditioned by the Calvinist notion of a fixed morality of right and wrong, along with most Americans. Perhaps you’d agree with me that “the truth” is out there?

Should I be surprised that I neglect to consider the utter difference between Homer’s hero, Ulysses and persons like myself? What feature of Ulysses’ character was admired most? That was nothing other than his ability to elevate guile, lying to an art-form!

What did the Greeks admire in Ulysses?

Above all
his capacity for lying
and for taking a shrewd and dreadful revenge,
his being equal to circumstances,
his appearing
to be nobler than the noblest
when necessary,
his ability
to be everything he desired,
his heroic pertinacity,
having all means
within his command,
possessing genius
—the genius of Ulysses
is an object of the admiration of the gods,
they smile
when they think of it
—all this is the Greek ideal!

What is most remarkable
about it is that
the contradiction
between seeming and being
was not felt in any way,

and that as a consequence
it could not be
morally estimated.

Were there ever such accomplished actors?

The Dawn Of Day by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by J. M. Kennedy, aphorism 306