"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands" - Michelangelo .
While the famous artist Michelangelo might have been employing the word "paint" literally when he crafted this quote, when taken in a more abstract sense, the words of wisdom echo a theme developed hundreds of years earlier and immortalized in The Odyssey - the idea that prowess of the mind is far superior to that of the body (or its impulses). Throughout the text, The Odyssey presents a dichotomy of early Greek values---Athenian traits as opposed to Poseidon qualities. Athena is associated with all things cunning, rational and well reasoned-in other words, she is the embodiment of the Greek word "metis," and a symbol of civilization. As "metis" is to Athena, "bie" is to Poseidon-a word that means violence and brute force. Poseidon traits additionally encompass impulsivity, rash decisions and bodily urges. As the narrative continues on, certain places, characters, and events echo these attributes. Homer uses the leitmotifs of disguise and repeated tellings of Agamemnon's story to emphasize the importance of metis, or governing oneself with rational thinking and wisdom. .
As Odysseus relentlessly continues on his journey home, Athena showcases metis by using the leitmotif of disguise when she transforms Odysseus into different forms. Once Odysseus had escaped the island of Ogygia and found refuge in Phaeacia, Athena "lavish[es] a marvelous splendor making him taller, more massive to all eyes, so Phaeacians might regard the man with kindness" (8:21-23). The goddess' act of tricking the Phaecians into seeing an altered, larger-than life version of Odysseus to sway their sympathies serves to illustrate another calculating maneuver. Making them think about Odysseus a certain way, Athena uses her wits to manipulate them into giving her what she and Odysseus need, which is for Odysseus to be granted a return home after his seven year stay with Calypso on Ogygia, giving in to bodily urges and lust.
