Sign up today for the Daily Stoic’s email and get our popular free 7-day course on Stoicism. If the Suitors miss them and question you, deceive them with placatory words, and say: I. At once he spoke to Telemachus winged words: ‘We must hide the weapons away, all of them, Telemachus. So, noble Odysseus remained in the hall, planning with Athene ’s aid how to kill the Suitors. This was originally sent on August 12, 2019. BkXIX :1-52 Odysseus and Telemachus hide the weapons. Leave the recognition and the rewards alone. Pursue excellence because that’s what you do. That’s not what should motivate you.ĭo the right thing because it’s right. ![]() Think about that today, and remember it always. ![]() In fact, it’s usually better not to get credit (because the ‘right thing’ is not always appreciated, because other people might get jealous, because it puffs up your ego). Do you really need people to know you pulled it off? So you did a good thing, he says, why do you need to be thanked for it? It felt good to do, it helped someone else, why do you need the third thing of credit or recognition or gratitude? The same goes for a clever plan or successful business deal. Marcus Aurelius, for his part, talked often about the worthlessness of credit. It’s a lesson that many people have heeded (and plenty of others have painfully forgotten) ever since. This moment of hubris cost Odysseus something like ten years of his life, as Poseidon threw up countless obstacles, one after the other, between Odysseus and his wife, Penelope, back home in Ithaca. And he stupidly forgot that Polyphemus’ father was Poseidon, and that the lord of the sea was unlikely to act kindly towards someone who had blinded his son. But then, just out of reach of the bleeding, angry, shouting cyclops, he turns back and taunts: ![]() It’s brilliant and, best of all, Odysseus, never having given the cyclops his real name, is off scot-free. Enraged and blinded, Polyphemus staggers to remove the stone he had rolled in front of the entrance of the cave, which frees Odysseus and his men. Odysseus hatches an ingenious escape plan: they wait for the cyclops to fall asleep and then stab him in the eye with a sharpened log. Odysseus and his men find themselves trapped in a cave with Polyphemus, the deranged, man-eating, sheep herding, one-eyed beast. Even if you haven’t, you’re probably familiar with the cyclops scene. When Penelope tells her story to the beggar (Odysseus in disguise), she cannot help boasting a little about her ability to deceive the suitors. Perhaps you remember reading The Odyssey in high school or college (or possibly you picked up Emily Wilson’s fabulous new translation ).
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