One of the most prominent of the mental characteristics the ancient Greeks valued was the cleverness and the wit of an individual. This can be discerned from The Odyssey because of many instances and events in which Odysseus uses his brain's wit and other tricks to get himself out of a risky situation. Examples of this are when he tells Polyphemos the Cyclopes that his name is Nobody, when he overcomes Circe's magic with the help of moly, when he fills his men's ears with wax a

The ancient Greeks had an optimistic view on life, a view that makes nice, happy endings, but are unfortunately not very realistic. The Greeks believed that in the end of any hardship or endurance, justice would emerge and show its victorious smile to the victim. They believed that persistence and determination would come through in the end. The Greeks also believed that in a battle between good and evil, good will triumph in the end. The view that good triumphs versus evil can be seen in the epic when Odysseus (good) kills all of the suitors (bad) against virtually impossible odds. The view that justice will emerge in the end is shown in The Odyssey when all unfaithful servants and maids are killed. The view of persistence and determination succeeding is proved by the fact that Odysseus "who, after much suffering, came at lest in the twentieth year back to his own country" (Bk. XXIII, 101 - 102) survived all of his shipwrecks, attacks, and other hindrances and ultimately succeeds in coming back home.

The religious beliefs and aspects of the ancient Greek culture are very defined and strict. The Greeks believed that the world was watched over by Zeus and other Olympian gods, and that these gods decided their future. They also believed that the gods' wills could be turned with sacrifices. This is why Odysseus, Telemachus, and many, many other characters made so many sacrifices to the gods. These characters also pray to the gods so that the gods can hear them and fulfill their wishes. The Greeks also believed in "life" after death in the underworld with Hades. Another religious aspect of the Greek culture was prophecies. Prophecies and prophet were abundant, but the supply of accurate prophecies and prophets were much less abundant, and the demands for these were high, making them scarce. The two main prophets in The Odyssey were Teiresias and Theoklymenos. Teiresias was a dead prophet who Odysseus went to consult in the underworld. He prophesized most aspects of Odysseus' journey accurately and because of him, Odysseus was able to survive his wanderings. Theoklymenos was a prophet from a family of prophets. He could prophesize quite accurately from bird auguries, as shown when he prophesizes that Telemachus "shall have lordly power forever" (Bk. XV, 534). Homer uses quite a few bird auguries in The Odyssey, one in the beginning to warn the suitors of Odysseus' homecoming (Bk. II, 146 - 154), and two near the end, both to symbolize Odysseus' triumph over the suitors.

Physical characteristics were just as important to the Greeks as mental

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