Odysseus: Metis Is His Most Important Quality

Part I of Essay
Odysseus’ most important quality as an epic hero is his metis, a Greek word meaning artifice, stratagem, or plan. Homer even associates Odysseus as “polymetis,” or a man of “many turns.” Robert Fitzgerald, translator of the Odyssey in The Norton Anthology of World Master ....

Part II of Essay
.... would have thought him a nasty man and nothing but a fool. But when his great voice arose from his chest, And his words fell like the snowflakes on a winter’s day, Then could no other mortal man rival Odysseus. (III, ll. 210-220). In addition, Agamemnon expresses his anger towards Odysseus’ deceptive nature during a battle by addressing Odysseus as “you crafty-minded Odysseus, excellent in civil tricks” (IV, ll. 339). Odysseus’ polymetis can be observed in Homer’s illustration of Odysseus’ aptitude for carpentry and shipbuilding i ....