Disguises

Hello everyone,

I may not be the sneakiest guy around, but that has never stopped me from getting what I want. However, I am starting feel like deception may be a greater tactic for getting around than I thought. This is very hard for me to admit because I actually learned this from someone I am not too fond of, my niece Athena. I guess it makes sense since we do share the great family line, but it has always been hard to accept that others may have ideas superior to my own.

You probably want to know why I am so interested the the idea of disguises and such today, so I will tell you. It is like creating a whole new identity to trick someone. It is simply fascinating! It doesn’t even have to always be in a bad way. For example, when Athena came to Penelope in the form of her rarely seen sister, Iphthime, to offer her reassuring words about Odysseus. She comforted her by telling her that he will be protected during his travels by an escort so he will not be ambushed by the suitors. However, from my perspective Odysseus doesn’t deserve any protection. If he were a true man he would be able to take care of himself. Of course I am a bit biased on that subject, so lets get back to deception. Really, any type of disguise is fun to do, especially when you are an old guy like me who is running low on entertainment from all the tricks that used to be amusing. Maybe I should have been more active in theater when I was younger because I feel deprived from that world.

It all started when I found out how Athena had disguised herself as Mentes, a trusted friend, so that she could convince Odysseus' son, Telemachus, to make a speech in hopes of getting the suitors of Penelope out of Odysseus and Penelope's home. Now, I don't really care that the suitors are bothering Penelope, but the fact that if I did, I could change someone's opinion by acting as someone else is amazing. I know that Athena has had some bad comments posted about how her use of disguise isn't fair, though in my opinion it really isn't even that bad to do, because you are still speaking your own personal opinion, just in a way that gives you more credibility. That doesn't sound so bad does it?

Anyway, I thought I would just share that fascinating discovery with you all. Since seeing things like Athena's disguise first hand seems to be the best way to learn to better myself, I think I am going to spend some time looking at all the different people around me. There really is more than just endless cold water surrounding me. I will then post my thoughts on what I see, and hopefully you can learn something from my observations.

-Poseidon