The Importance Of Good Advice In Homer's Odyssey

How many people have heard of the “men don’t ask for directions” jokes? Well, in ancient greece it appears as if they got lost just as easily and they don’t take advice no matter how good it is either. Several instances in The Odyssey by Homer show examples where excellent advice is given but not taken, resulting in death and disaster. For example, Teiresias, a blind seer, warns Odysseus not to harm the Sun-gods cattle. Odysseus then gives this advice to his crew. However, when his crew becomes overwhelmed by hunger, they disregard Odysseus’s advice and and butcher several cattle. As a result, they all perish. Then, when Odysseus returns to his homeland, he advises a suitor, Amphinomus, to leave the palace. Again, Amphinomus does not take

this advice and ends up dying. Later on, after all the suitors have been killed, Medon and Halitherses advise the fathers of the suitors not to start a blood feud for the gods will be on Odysseus’s side. However several of the men still attack and they die as well.

First and foremost, an example of good advice being given but not taken is shown in the case of the Sun-gods cows.

When Odysseus visits the land of the dead in book 11 to consult the dead seer Teiresias, Teiresias gives him several pieces of advice. One main thing he tells Odysseus is, “If only you have the strength and will to control your men’s appetites. And your own from the moment when your good ship leaves the deep blue sea and approaches the isle of Thrinacie. There you will find at their pasture the cattle and the fat flocks of the Sun-god, whose eyes and ears miss nothing in the world. If you leave them untouched and fix your mind on returning home, there is some chance that all of you may yet return to Ithaca, though not without suffering. But if you hurt them I predict that your ship and company will be destroyed, and if you yourself contrive to escape, you will reach home late, in a wretched state, upon a foreign ship, having lost all of your comrades.” (Homer, The Odyssey, 143) When Odysseus and his men land on the island of Thrinacie, Odysseus warns his crew not to butcher any of the cattle they see. However, his men do not follow Odysseus’s advice and butcher several cattle out of hunger. As a result, when Odysseus and his crew finally leave the island, Zeus blasts their ship with a lightning bolt (as revenge for Helios/the Sun-god) causing every man to perish with the exception of Odysseus. In short, Teiresias gives advice to Odysseus to not butcher any of

the Sun-gods cattle. Odysseus later gives this same advice to his men. When the crew does not follow Odysseus’s advice, they pay for their choices with their lives.

Later on, after Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, gives advice to one of the suitors, Amphinomus, to leave before Odysseus returns. Amphinomus grows uncomfortable and decides to stay to try and win Penelope’s hand. To elaborate, Odysseus warns Amphinomus by saying, “Yet what I see here are suitors plotting these outrages, wasting a man’s property and treating his wife with disrespect - a man who will not be away much longer from his friends and his own country. In fact he is very near; and I hope that some power may guide you away to your own home and that you will not have to face him on the day he returns to his native land. Once he is under his own roof I have an idea that blood will be spilt before he and the suitors are parted.” (Homer, The Odyssey, 242-243) With this thinly guided warning, Odysseus is advising Amphinomus to leave lest he be slaughtered. Sadly, Amphinomus does not leave the palace and seals his fate to die. So, again, advice is given but not taken resulting in disaster.

Near the end of The Odyssey, after all of the suitors have met their ends, the fathers of the suitors gather to discuss how to proceed in light of recent events.

As the fathers decide to seek revenge, Medon and the “Divine Minstrel” interrupted the meeting to tell of their experience and to give the group a piece of advice. “Listen fellow-Ithacans, it was not against the will of the deathless gods that that Odysseus carried out his plans. With my own eyes I saw an immortal, who looked exactly like Mentor, standing at his side. And this immortal was at one moment ahead of Odysseus, cheering him on, and the next storming the hall, striking fear into the suitors.” (Homer, The Odyssey, 322) Roused by these words, a man by the name of Halitherses then felt like he should say something. So as Homer says,”Halitherses, Mastor’s son… rose up to give them some well meant advice. ‘Ithacans, listen to what I have to say. Your own stupidity, my friends is to blame for what has happened. You would not listen to me or to Mentor when we urged you to check your sons in their career of folly. They were guilty of great wrong, because they wickedly abandoned all standards of civilized behavior, plundering the estate and insulting the wife of the man, whom they counted on never seeing here again. Be persuaded by me. Let us not make a move; or I fear that some of you may bring doom upon your heads.’” (Homer, The Odyssey, 322) So what these speeches given by Medon and Halitherses basically mean

are, do not challenge Odysseus, the gods are on his side and you will be defeated. By the way your sons are idiots who deserved what they got. So do not attack Odysseus or you will die! Regrettably, over half of the men still attack, lead by Eupeithes, Antinous’s father. When Odysseus sees them coming ha and his men attack and kill as many men as they can. Athena does eventually step in to resolve the conflict but not until several men have died.

As said, there are a few times in The Odyssey when good advice is given but not taken resulting in disaster and death. Eating the Sun-gods cattle was against the advice given, and what happened? Death and disaster! Amphinomus was given advice to leave the palace but he did not. What happened to Amphinomus? That is right, Death! Finally, Medon and Halitherses warn the fathers of the suitors not to attack Odysseus because he has a god on his side and their sons might have deserved it. But, what do they do? Attack; and then several of them die. People may think that men not asking for directions is bad. But, try men in The Odyssey where they may not take directions but most of all, do not even take advice, good advice for that matter, and end up with a handful of problems on their plate.