Esteemed American author Rick Warren once wrote, “Humility is not putting yourself down or denying your strengths; rather, it is being honest about your weaknesses.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines humility as the opposite of pride or the quality of being humble. In simpler words, humility is an important value that keeps a person grounded but also allows a person to grow into a more dignified version of themselves. Another important value is wisdom, finishing an important test the fastest is nowhere near as important as finding all of the right answers. Physical strength differs over time, lessening as a person ages, but wisdom only grows over time. Both qualities were of the utmost importance to the Greeks, one of the societies that
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Odysseus also does not tell the stranger that he is the famous, lost King of Ithaca, but instead falls to his knees and puts himself below the stranger, a sign of his humility. Through Odysseus overcoming his pride by asking for help, The Odyssey proves the importance of having humility. The importance of having humility is taught to readers when reading about the consequences and repercussions that arise from Odysseus not having humility. As he explained to the Phaeacians, Odysseus used to be an arrogant man who saw no importance in being humble. After successfully blinding Polyphemus, Odysseus continues to taunt him out of pure arrogance despite his crew begging him to stop as he shouts, “‘If any man on the face of the earth should ask you /.say Odysseus, / raider of cities, he gouged out your eye,’” (9.559-561). Not only has Odysseus already broken into Polyphemus’s cave and demanded hospitality from someone who does not have the same rules as him, but he then blinds the Cyclops and ruthlessly mocks him for no reason but to satisfy his pride, showing that he has no traces of humility in
Odysseus also does not tell the stranger that he is the famous, lost King of Ithaca, but instead falls to his knees and puts himself below the stranger, a sign of his humility. Through Odysseus overcoming his pride by asking for help, The Odyssey proves the importance of having humility. The importance of having humility is taught to readers when reading about the consequences and repercussions that arise from Odysseus not having humility. As he explained to the Phaeacians, Odysseus used to be an arrogant man who saw no importance in being humble. After successfully blinding Polyphemus, Odysseus continues to taunt him out of pure arrogance despite his crew begging him to stop as he shouts, “‘If any man on the face of the earth should ask you /.say Odysseus, / raider of cities, he gouged out your eye,’” (9.559-561). Not only has Odysseus already broken into Polyphemus’s cave and demanded hospitality from someone who does not have the same rules as him, but he then blinds the Cyclops and ruthlessly mocks him for no reason but to satisfy his pride, showing that he has no traces of humility in