Topic > Odysseus as a good Greek man in the Iliad and Odyssey

Kings are expected to rule their people, their house and their relatives absolutely and give them great times. Family reputations last longer than any man's life, so kings invest in what they will leave to their son and what will be said of them when they die. Kings expect great things from them, think of Agamemnon, who in his dreams conquers the great city of Troy, wresting it from its sovereign, King Priam, a dream of a king so moved by the Achaeans, who followed his greatness into war. Even ordinary people are held to very high standards of work, "both gods and men are angry with a man who lives in idleness", a crime of laziness deserving the wrath of the gods (a clear moral dictation) is not no small thing, Greek men must work hard and in this way they will earn Arête and great riches. Just as a common man must find individual wealth, a king must obtain the same wealth for his Oikos, poverty is shameful