Question

read the excerpt from part 4 of the odyssey.
as long as bread and good red wine remained
to keep the men up, and appease their craving,
they would not touch the cattle. but in the end,
when all the barley in the ship was gone,
so hunger drove them to scour the wild shore
with angling hooks, for fishes and seafowl,
whatever fell into their hands; and lean days
wore their bellies thin.

what theme is best revealed by this conflict?
it is easy to uphold morals when one is not suffering.
resourcefulness is all one needs to survive.
people can endure any suffering with teamwork.
rules are challenging to follow without a strong
leader.

Explanation:

The excerpt shows Odysseus' men avoided forbidden cattle only while they had food (bread, wine, barley) to sustain them. Once those resources ran out and they faced starvation, they abandoned their moral restraint to hunt for food. This directly illustrates that moral adherence is easier when not facing hardship.

Answer:

It is easy to uphold morals when one is not suffering.