The Paradigm of Homer's Odyssey

Homer had a whole pantheon of gods, the Olympic family that lived under Zeus and a variety of other gods. The idea that all men need the gods comes up several times in the Odyssey. When human beings find themselves at what he considers to be their best, they experience their activities as having a source that's not them. It's just the opposite of the modern view which requires that you experience yourself to be the source of your activities.