“The gods don’t bless men with everything—
not with looks, brains and persuasive speech.
One man may not appear very impressive
But god crowns his form with words…”
οὕτως οὐ πάντεσσι θεοὶ χαρίεντα διδοῦσιν
ἀνδράσιν, οὔτε φυὴν οὔτ᾽ ἂρ φρένας οὔτ᾽ ἀγορητύν.
ἄλλος μὲν γάρ τ᾽ εἶδος ἀκιδνότερος πέλει ἀνήρ,
ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει …
This, of course, is Odysseus’ response to being told that “the greatest glory a man can acheive is with his hands and his feet”.
