The dark side of Odysseus, the luminous hero. Capable of such delicacy, sincerity, loyalty, he is also often merciless and brutal.
‘They don’t like him much, nor he them. Even here, as he is accepting their hospitality, Homer gives him the traditional epithet he shares with Achilles and Ares the god of war: ptoliporthos Odysseus – city-ravaging Odysseus.’
Source: Adam Nicolson, The Mighty Dead (London: William Collins, 2015), p. 218
