"Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods.
From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes,
but they themselves, with their own reckless ways,
compound their pains beyond their proper share."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 1, lines 37-40. Zeus is at an assembly of the gods on Olympus, considering the lives of Odysseus and his son Telemachus and whether to intervene in Odysseus’ troubles. Commenting on the relationship between gods and humans, he recalls the case of Aegisthus. He ignored a warning by the messenger of the gods Hermes, seduced Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra and then with her help murdered Agamemnon. Zeus is saying that humans tend to blame the gods for their miseries, but humans are at fault by making their own lives a misery through reckless behavior. In other words bad happens to those who deserve it.