Poly—what?

Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways [polytropos], who was driven far journeys after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel.

In around 800 BC, Homer wrote the Odyssey. In it, he narrates the story of Odysseus, one of the greatest heroes in Greek history. On the very first line of the epic—quoted above—Homer describes Odysseus as a polytropos, which literally means he is a man ‘of many ways’, or ‘of twists and turns’. In Greek, poly means ‘many' (as in polyglot or polygon) and tropos means ‘turns’ or ‘ways’.

This clever term echoes two things:

• First, it is a literal reference to the many twists and turns that the journey of Odysseus took, which prevented him from getting back home to Ithaca for two decades.

• But it also tells us something about the character himself. Odysseus had many facets: he was crafty, complex, clever, cunning and resourceful; he was, an explorer, a soldier, a craftsman, a sailor, a hunter, an athlete, an adventurer… in short, a complete human being. He squeezed every drop of potential his nature had to offer.

Being a polytropos means being well-traveled through all that life has to offer, and most importantly capable of using it all to your advantage. For this reason, I like to think of Odysseus as a true Renaissance Man, despite having lived 2,000 years before the Renaissance unfolded: as someone who cultivated the highest expression of what was natural in him.

Through Polytropic I want to help us become that type of Renaissance Man, too.

So, if this sounds right up your alley:

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Polytropic is part of Project Impero.