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"My friends, it is not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies that Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that whether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open."
-Odysseus

First and foremost we see that Odysseus is a leader for his men.  As seen in the quote from chapter 12 of the book, Odysseus shows us how he is a leader by explaining to his men what is going to happen.  He tells them he may have to suffer and they must not free him even if he says too, for their own benefit. Showing his selflessness and belief in himself to be able to withstand it.

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"Hear me, Poseidon who circle the earth, dark-haired. If truly I am your son, and you acknowledge yourself as my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who makes his home in Ithaca, may never reach that home; but if it is decided that he shall see his own people, and come home to his strong-founded house and to his own country, let him come late, in bad case, with the loss of all his companions, in someone else's ship, and find troubles in his household."
-Polyphemus

This quote from Polyphemus (cyclops) is a request he makes to his father, Poseidon.  He wishes these terrible things upon Odysseus because he defeated him, and after he did so Odysseus shows his arrogance by screaming to the cyclops that if they ever meet again he will "take his life" and "hurl him down to hell."  Odysseus arrogance is a big flaw of his and gets him in a world of trouble.  If he had just left after defeating the cyclops maybe these terrible things would have never happened to him and his men.

In the video above you can listen to the story of Odysseus vs the cyclops.  At the end it gives you a visual of how Odysseus and his men got away.  The part that just irritates me as the reader is that Odysseus is so stupid for so called "talking smack" to the cyclops.  He should have just got out of there quietly and safely.

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Odysseus and the Cyclops | Greek Mythological Story | Bedtime Stories

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"The gods brought me to the island Ogygia, where Calypso lives, with ordered hair, a dread goddess, and she received me and loved me excessively and cared for me, and she promised to make me an immortal and all my days to be ageless, but never so could she win over the heart within me"
-Odysseus

This quote is pretty much Odysseus' excuse to Penelope as to why he had another woman in his life.  This shows a soft side of Odysseus and how he can have his emotions and mind played with so easily by a woman.  I think this a big reason for his demise.
Just some advice for Odysseus: don't tell your main girl about how your side girl was so caring and how she was trying to win him over. It is not a good look for him!

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Come, enough of this now. We’re both old hands at the arts of intrigue. Here among mortal men
you’re far the best at tactics, spinning yarns, and I am famous among the gods for wisdom,
cunning wiles, too.
-Athena

Throughout the books, we see how Odysseus is so smart with his disguises.  Especially when he returns to his homeland and has this encounter with Athena.  Athena is also in a disguise when they meet, but being the smart guy Odysseus stays with his disguise.  As well as his fake story about how he came to the island.  I though it was kind of cool how Athena could recognize him because she taught him her ways.

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It is said that Homer's Odyssey inspired many further highly acclaimed pieces of literature including Inferno (by Dante Alighieri), Don Quixote (by Miguel de Cervantes), Heart of Darkness (by Joseph Conrad), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by L. Frank Baum), and Ulysses (by James Joyce).
(Source: https://www.softschools.com/facts/authors/homer_facts/1412/)

As you can see Homer had a great influence on many authors after him. The reason I included this fun fact about these works in particular is because The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a classic that just about everyone knows. It is also one of my favorites and made this book a little more special to me because of its ties to it.