The Odyssey Loyalty Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Book.Line)

Quote #4

(Athene, disguised as the little girl:) ‘So she was held high in the heart and still she is so, by her beloved children, by Alkinoös himself, and by the people, who look toward her as to a god when they see her, and speak in salutation as she walks about in her city. For there is no good intelligence that she herself lacks. She dissolves quarrels, even among men, when she favors them.’ (7.69-74)

Loyalty here is merit-based; the Phaiakians don’t revere their Queen because of her title, rather it is because of her "grace" and "wisdom."

Quote #5

(Odysseus:) ‘[…] the gods brought me to the island Ogygia, where Kalypso lives, with ordered hair, a dread goddess, and she received me and loved me excessively and cared for me, and she promised to make me an immortal and all my days to be ageless, but never so could she win over the heart within me.’ (7.254-258)

Odysseus’s claim that he "never gave consent" is worth a closer look. He seems to be saying that he passively gave into Kalypso, yet never truly desired to be with her.

Quote #6

There, shedding tears, he [Odysseus] went unnoticed by all the others, but Alkinoös alone understood what he did and noticed, since he was sitting next to him and heard him groaning heavily. (8.93-95)

Odysseus’s persistent loyalty to his fallen comrades is shown in his grief over their memories.