The folly that befell many of the Achaeans in the aftermath of the Trojan war was derived from their own vainglory. In the Odyssey, the main hero Odysseus, discovers the fates of many of the conquering warriors. He finds that many of the argives, as in the case of Ajax son of Telamon suffered from pride: Ajax killed himself upon defeat.
Later, near the end of the adventures of Odysseus, he is dressed as a beggar trying to ascertain the estate of his house. Upon his return to his home he finds a mob of suiters to his wife. In their wooing of Odysseus' wife, they have overran his estate and are daily wasting his property. while he was posing as a scamp, he held a conversation with one of the better disposed suiters.
In this conversation, Odysseus pontificates thus: "Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon this earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods bring sorrow upon him, he bares it as he needs must, and makes the best of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the stubbornness of my pride, and in confidence that my father and my brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without vainglory."
Image courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OdysseyPopeTP1752.jpg
Later, near the end of the adventures of Odysseus, he is dressed as a beggar trying to ascertain the estate of his house. Upon his return to his home he finds a mob of suiters to his wife. In their wooing of Odysseus' wife, they have overran his estate and are daily wasting his property. while he was posing as a scamp, he held a conversation with one of the better disposed suiters.
In this conversation, Odysseus pontificates thus: "Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon this earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods bring sorrow upon him, he bares it as he needs must, and makes the best of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the stubbornness of my pride, and in confidence that my father and my brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without vainglory."
Image courtesy of the Wikipedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OdysseyPopeTP1752.jpg
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