Flattery + Speech.

Since the first reference of Odysseus in The Odyssey, we hear and see his astounding ability to speak and his excessive use of flattery. Each time he speaks, he crafts his words so diligently and tends to use flattery or lying to make his point. As we spoke about earlier in class, Odysseus speaks in order to gain certain things. One thing we consistently see is how he discretely lies to protect other's reputations. One instance when Odysseus does this is when he says, "Don't find fault with a flawless daughter now, not for my sake, please. She urged me herself to follow her maids. I chose not to, fearing embarrassment in fact- what if took offense, seeing us both together?" (7:348). Even though this is entirely untrue, Odysseus says this in order to protect Nausicaa's reputation and to ultimately make himself look better. In addition to protecting other's reputations, he tries to exaggerate certain stories in order to better himself. When he was recounting his story to the Phaecians, he says, "So, fighting for life, I flung myself ashore and the godsent, bracing night came at once" (7:328). Earlier in the story, Odysseus was rescued by the sea god and pulled off shore, but he tells this story as if he had no assistance. Although Odysseus lies and exaggerates, he still remains a magnificent speaker and we will continue to see him speak as the story goes on. In the first couple books, we can see an example of the importance of speech with a different character. Athena repeatedly instructs Telemachus to arrange assemblies because to become well respected he needed to gain the skill of speaking. We constantly see assemblies being arranged and important people speaking. Tell me what you guys think?