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Wide Adviser of Homer

<blockquote>On this pale fear laid hold of them, and old Halitherses, son of Mastor, rose to speak, for he was the only man among them who knew both past and future; so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying,

“Men of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as they have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade you check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the wantonness of their hearts- wasting the substance and dishonouring the wife of a chieftain who they thought would not return. Now, however, let it be as I say, and do as I tell you. Do not go out against Ulysses, or you may find that you have been drawing down evil on your own heads.” </blockquote>

Well before Herodotus became known as having wise advisers in his works, Homer was laying the groundwork for many of Herodotus' most brilliant moments.

The result is the same with both authors. The wise adviser is not heeded and doom falls on people and sometimes on the person being advised. If only the wise adviser is heeded in every circumstance, but that doesn't really seem to happen. There is something about people that makes them resist good advice even to their own detriment.

http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.24.xxiv.html

blog/wise-adviser-of-homer.txt · Last modified: 2014/01/14 23:19 by 127.0.0.1

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