the going to Troy and the
stay there. The poem, accordingly, does not give the entire life of
Ulysses; what may be called the Trojan half must be looked for
elsewhere, mainly in the Iliad. Of course there are in the Odyssey many
allusions to incidents which belong to the first half of this career.

The Ulysses of the Iliad is one of the great leaders and one of the
great heroes, but he is neither the chief leader nor the chief hero.
Already he appears in Book First as a member of the Council, and an
epithet is applied to him which suggests his wisdom. Thus at the start
of the Iliad he is designated as the man of thought, of intelligence,
of many resources. But in the Second Book he shines with full glory, he
is indeed the pivot of the whole Book. On account of a speech made by
Agamemnon, their leader, the Greeks start at once for home, they are
ready to give up the great enterprise of the restoration of Helen, they
act as if they would abandon their cause. It is Ulysses who calls them
back to themselves and restores order; he shows himself to be the only
man in the whole army who knows what to do in a critical emergency. He
suppresses Thersites, he exhorts the chieftains, he uses force on the
common people. He finally makes a speech to the entire body of Greeks
in the Assembly, which recalls the great national purpose of the War,
and is the true word for the time. Nestor follows him in a similar
vein, and the Greek host again takes its place in line of battle and
prepares for the onset upon Troy. Here we have a typical action of
Ulysses, showing his essential character, and revealing the germ out of
which the Odyssey may well have sprouted.

Other matters may also be noticed. Pallas, the Goddess of Wisdom,
appears to him in the midst of the tumult, and gives him her
suggestion. She will remain with him ever afterwards, manifesting
herself to him in like emergencies till the end of the Odyssey.
Telemachus is mentioned in this Book of the Iliad. The distinction
between Ulysses and the aged Nestor is drawn: the latter has
appreciative wisdom, that of experience, while Ulysses has creative
wisdom, that of immediate divine insight, coming directly from Pallas.
This distinction also will show itself in the Odyssey. Ulysses is the
real hero of the Second Book of the Iliad; he appears in other Books
with the same general character, but never so prominently again.

In the Post-Iliad, or that portion of the Trojan war which lie