What do you learn about the character of odysseus through the poet's introduction in these lines?
sing in me, muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of troy.
he saw the town lands
and learned the minds of many distant men,
and weathered many bitter nights and days
in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only
to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.
but not by will nor valor could he save them,
for their own recklessness destroyed them all
children and fools, they killed and feasted on
the cattle of lord helios, the sun,
and he who moves all day through heaven
took from their eyes the dawn of their return.
of these adventures, muse, daughter of zeus,
tell us in our time, lift the great song again. .