Aeolus: “What are you doing here, Odysseus? I thought I sent you on your way to your homeland under a fair wind.”
Odysseus: “Unfaithful friends have been my undoing.”
Aeolus controls winds in Homer’s epic, and Odysseus desperately needs winds blowing toward Ithaca to travel home with his crew after a ten-year war against the Trojans. Kindly, Aeolus puts unfavorable winds in a bag tied with a silver rope so that only the West Wind would drive the ship homeward. As they approach Ithaca, however, Odysseus’ men, believing the bag holds treasure, untie the silver rope and unwittingly release the unfavorable winds that blow them back to the island of Aeolus. Thus, Aeolus’ question, “What are you doing here?” and subsequent refusal to offer further help. Uh oh.
After a bit of rowing, a year or so in the pleasurable company of Circe, and a trip through hell (a.k.a Hades) among other adventures, Odysseus and his men renew their journey. However, the greedy action of the men in releasing the winds and their disobedience leads to their eventual undoing. In the course of trying to sail back to Ithaca, all of Odysseus’ men die in a storm. Uh oh. That leaves The Great Schemer who had devised the Trojan horse alone in his attempt to return to his son, wife, and kingdom. Where’s an Uber driver when you need one?
Happy ending: Odysseus, with a little help from son Telemachus and faithful friends, reclaims what is his. Mostly, however, Odysseus’ successful return is the product of his own wit. He never gives up on his goal. He faces every obstacle with confidence that he can overcome it if not with the help of his men, then with his own ingenuity.
No doubt there are times when you think you have to go through Hades on your way to your goal. Think of Odysseus. Essentially abandoned by helpers, he scrapes, battles, invents, and adapts. You, too, can reach your Ithaca, even when you feel abandoned by fair-weather friends and favorable winds.
Odysseus: “Unfaithful friends have been my undoing.”
Aeolus controls winds in Homer’s epic, and Odysseus desperately needs winds blowing toward Ithaca to travel home with his crew after a ten-year war against the Trojans. Kindly, Aeolus puts unfavorable winds in a bag tied with a silver rope so that only the West Wind would drive the ship homeward. As they approach Ithaca, however, Odysseus’ men, believing the bag holds treasure, untie the silver rope and unwittingly release the unfavorable winds that blow them back to the island of Aeolus. Thus, Aeolus’ question, “What are you doing here?” and subsequent refusal to offer further help. Uh oh.
After a bit of rowing, a year or so in the pleasurable company of Circe, and a trip through hell (a.k.a Hades) among other adventures, Odysseus and his men renew their journey. However, the greedy action of the men in releasing the winds and their disobedience leads to their eventual undoing. In the course of trying to sail back to Ithaca, all of Odysseus’ men die in a storm. Uh oh. That leaves The Great Schemer who had devised the Trojan horse alone in his attempt to return to his son, wife, and kingdom. Where’s an Uber driver when you need one?
Happy ending: Odysseus, with a little help from son Telemachus and faithful friends, reclaims what is his. Mostly, however, Odysseus’ successful return is the product of his own wit. He never gives up on his goal. He faces every obstacle with confidence that he can overcome it if not with the help of his men, then with his own ingenuity.
No doubt there are times when you think you have to go through Hades on your way to your goal. Think of Odysseus. Essentially abandoned by helpers, he scrapes, battles, invents, and adapts. You, too, can reach your Ithaca, even when you feel abandoned by fair-weather friends and favorable winds.
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