But I was already plotting…
what was the best way out? how could I find
escape from death for my crew, myself as well?
My wits kept weaving, weaving cunning schemes –
life at stake, monstrous death staring us in the face –
till this plan struck my mind as best.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 469-474. Hero Odysseus’ greatest characteristic is cunning. Always the man with the plan, he thinks very hard about a way to escape from the Cyclops’ cave, where he and his men are trapped. Homer uses this passage to show how Odysseus is very much a clever thinker, who relies on brain over brawn to get himself out of difficult situations. We also have an example of personification, with death said to be “staring” Odysseus and his crew in the face.