I always enjoy Pantelis Boukalas's commentaries but he used the wrong metaphor in Odysseus' ploy to avoid going to Troy (January 1).

Odysseus did not try to avoid military conscription, as Mr Boukalas suggests.

First, he was king and he thought, rightly or wrongly, that this expedition to Troy would be a disaster for him and his kingdom.

He had the authority to refuse to go.

So did Achilles when his mother dressed him up as a girl.

Just because Odysseus chose to pretend he's crazy does not make him or the situation he found himself in comparable to that of modern draft dodgers. So much for analogies.

Regardless, it was fun to read.

N. PAPANIKOLAOU, New York.