“The sad truth is that the gods don’t give anyone
All their gifts, whether it’s looks, intelligence,
Or eloquence. One man might not have good looks,
But the gods crown his words with beauty,
And men look at him with delight. He speaks
With unfaltering grace and sweet modesty,
And stands out in any crowd. When he walks
Through town, men look upon him as a god.
Another man might look like an immortal,
But his words are not crowned with beauty.”
(Book VIII: Lines 183-192)
In this passage Odysseus is responding to Euryalus’ taunts about him not being an athlete. This passage stood out to me because Odysseus’ claim that the “gods don’t give anyone all of their gifts” (lines 183-184) can be interpreted in more than one way depending on how you define the word “gift”. Neither way means it in the very literal sense of a physical object that is presented to someone, however one interpretation can be considered more figurative than the other. The first one adheres more to what is actually written in the passage, that no mortal can ever have all of the “gifts”, or physical, mental, and social attributes, of a god. Here Odysseus shows a sense of humility, in saying that he may not possess the best looks or physical abilities, but also shows his strength in wittiness and wisdom. This was somewhat surprising to me as I would initially think that a hero would always be good at everything – or at least think of himself in that way. However it wasn’t too shocking as I was somewhat warned of Odysseus’ unconventional heroism in the second line of Book I, where he is described as a “cunning hero”.
The second way in which the claim can be interpreted is more figurative and slightly differs in it’s meaning of the word “gift”. No mortal can ever receive all of the “gifts”, or the full assistance of the gods. It seemed obvious to me that as powerful as Athena, or any other god who wishes for Odysseus to return home, is that she could have easily brought him home herself at any point in his journey thus far. As easily as Hermes traveled to Ogygia on Zeus’ behalf to command Calypso to set Odysseus free, is as easily as he could have transported him back to Ithaca. Even the goddess Ino, who gave him her veil so he would not die or be harmed while attempting to swim to Phaeacians’ Island, could have helped him when he was stuck between being smashed into stone cliffs by the waves or being cast back out to sea. While helping Odysseus in this way would make for a much less exciting tale, which is perhaps why the gods chose not to, it seemed to me that it was wholly within their abilities to do so as they were able to help him in various other ways throughout his journey.
Your second interpretation of gifts is both a creative take on the word “gift” and on the second part of the assignment, relating the passage to the whole. Having a crew of such overpowered characters as the gods should make for a really tiresome story with very little consequence and conflict. And the gods know this, so they make sure their godly gifts to mortals never extend too far. In fact, it seems like they only help people they know will suffer spectacularly. They help people like Odysseus get into exciting situations and just barely survive. It’s like the gods are watching bumper cars and pushing cars back into the fray when they get stuck on the edge–not because they care, but because it isn’t interesting to watch if the cars are just sitting there.