Glory and Honor

”The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice.”

-George Washington

     Glory and honor are two major qualities in the people of Greece. In books one through six of The Odyssey, by Homer translated by Robert Fagles the people of Greece believe that glory and honor are two major qualities found in man. The people of Greece believe that people like Odysseus have glory and honor flowing throughout them. He has honor for what he does and the people he serves. The people of Greece take pride in these types of people and what they do. In Greek culture the act of laying down ones life in a battle for Greece is honorable and glorious. In the book Odysseus fantasies about the glory and honor he would have received to had he fallen in Troy for Greece. At the will of Poseidon’s terrific onslaught of waves Odysseus wishes he had  a heroic death on the battle with the Trojans then he would have received a honorable and glorious death on the battle field fighting for Greece. Then he would be remembered for the glorious feats of strength and cunning he would embody.

Three, four times blessed, my friends-in-arms who died on the plains of Troy those years ago, serving the sons of Atreus to the end. Would to god I’d died there too and met my fate that day the Trojans, swarms of them, hurled at me with bronze spears, fighting over the corpse of proud Achilles! A hero’s funeral then, my glory spread by comrades — now what a wretched death I’m doomed to die!

[The Odyssey, Book Five Lines 338-345]

The reason Athena and Telemachus are trying to locate Odysseus and save him is because he posses honor and glory. In those times people would kill someone if they were jealous of them. Telemachus could easily leave his father and move on but his father is glorified within the people in Greece which means he is important. Without the traits of honor and glory possessed within Odysseus, no one would try and save him from the island. Honor and glory are primary parts of the people in Greece.