Odysseus
Hero of Homer's Odyssey, who spent ten years making his way home after the Trojan War.
The Plague at My Country House, and a Life for a Life
Aelius Aristides, Sacred Tales II and V · early 170s CE (plague events of the mid-160s, probably 165 or 166)
δεῖν οὖν καρτερεῖν, εἶναι δʼ αὐτὸν πάντως καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα καὶ τὸν Τηλέμαχον καὶ δεῖν αὐτῷ βοηθεῖν· καὶ ἄλλα τοιουτότροπα ἤκουσα.
So I must hold on. I was both Odysseus and Telemachus, she said, and she had to help me. I heard other things like this.
A free ticket on an early pleasure cruise
William Makepeace Thackeray (“Mr. M. A. Titmarsh”), Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, 1846, on his P&O voyage of 1844 · voyage of 1844; preface and book published 1846
On the 24th of July, 1844, the writer of this little book went to dine at the —— Club, quite unconscious of the wonderful events which Fate had in store for him. Mr. William was there, giving a farewell dinner to his friend, Mr. James (now Sir James). These two asked Mr. Titmarsh to join company with them, and the conversation naturally fell upon the tour Mr. James was about to take. The Peninsular and Oriental Company had arranged an excursion in the Mediterranean, by which, in the space of a couple of months, as many men and cities were to be seen as Ulysses surveyed and noted in ten years. Malta, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cairo were to be visited and everybody was to be back in London by Lord Mayor's-day.
On July 24, 1844, the writer of this little book went to dine at the —— Club, quite unaware of the wonderful events that Fate had in store for him. Mr. William was there, giving a farewell dinner to his friend Mr. James (now Sir James). These two asked Mr. Titmarsh to join them, and the talk naturally turned to the tour Mr. James was about to take. The Peninsular and Oriental Company had arranged an excursion in the Mediterranean. In the space of a couple of months, it would show as many men and cities as Ulysses saw and noted in ten years. Malta, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Cairo were to be visited, and everybody was to be back in London by Lord Mayor's Day.