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Symbolism in the odyssey
Heroism in the Odyssey
Athenas impact in greek mythology
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The Schemer and the Fighter
Many deities offer help and advice to Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca in “The Odyssey” but none of them provide as much help as Athena. There are many evidence in the epic poem that Athena favors Odysseus over other mortals because his virtues are similar to hers. Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom and Odysseus is a cunning warrior. However, helping Odysseus can also be a disguise of Athena bringing her wrath to those who goes against her virtues. Athena controls of most of Odysseus’s actions after he gets home to Ithaca. While it seems that Athena is helping Odysseus to get what he desires, she actually takes away some of his free will in order to get what she wants.
First of all, Athena benefits herself
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In other words, Athena is telling Odysseus to trust her to help him kill all of the suitors because she is a great goddess and they are only mere humans. Odysseus no longer has to come up with tactics and strategies to help him defeat an enemy that has greater strength than he because he will have the greater strength with Athena fighting by his side. Athena takes away the possibility that Odysseus will come up with a strategy like the Trojan horse or tactics similar to the ones he used to defeat the Cyclopes.
Athena continues to take action for Odysseus after the execution of the suitors. Many of the older men in Ithaca are angry with Odysseus after they learned the truth. As a result, a civil war almost break out in Ithaca. When Athena seek help from Zeus, he replies her with, “’Why question me, Daughter? Wasn’t this/ Your plan, to have Odysseus pay them back/ With a Vengeance? Do as you will,’” (24.486-489) and suggests to her to bring peace in Ithaca. This is the moment when Athena realizes that she interfered too much. Even though her original plan was to help Odysseus, it results in more trouble for him. He is the king of his people and yet, she prompted him to act rashly and killed all the young men left in Ithaca. The poem ends with Athena directly interfering in the riot and ordering the Ithacans to keep
Throughout literature characters have relied upon entities greater then themselves to furnish them with aid as they meet the many challenges they must face. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus’ epic journey and the many obstacles that bar his return home. But Odysseus is not alone in this struggle and receives aid from many gods, especially the clear-eyed goddess Athena. There are times when Odysseus beseeches the gods for aid, but other times he is too foolhardy to receive aid from even the immortal gods. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey revolves around the cyclical phases of his dependence, independence and his return to reliance upon the gods’ aid.
Athena aided Ody in his journey home by providing guidance and advice on difficult obstacles. She gives Odysseus a lot of advice on how to handle perilous obstacles. For example, Athena tells Odysseus to go home in a disguise. This is the reason that she transforms Odysseus back into a poor, shriveled beggar from a godlike man. The new disguise allows Odysseus to get home
The gods interfere with Odysseus on his quest in one of two ways, for the better or for the worse. Zeus, Athena, Hermês, Persephone, and the Nereid Ino all help Odysseus return home. On the other hand, Poseidon and Hêlios, the embodiment of the sun, hinder his journey home. While the nymph Kalypso and the witch Kirkê balance between helping and hindering. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and daughter of Zeus, plays the most crucial role in the story. Odysseus' patron goddess practically weaves the outcomes with her own fingers. At the very beginning, Athena pleads for Zeus to offer help to Odysseus, who is trapped on Kalypso's island. "O Father of us all, if it now please the blissful gods that wise Odysseus reach his home agai...
She transforms him into the beggar which allows him to get close to the suitors. She guides his arrow and protects him in the battle against the suitors (22.303). She “turned their shot” so that their arrows would not kill Odysseus. She arrives in the form of Mentor and fights along side Odysseus (22.233). Without Athena, Odysseus would have had an almost impossible job of succeeding in his homecoming. In the end Athena patches things over nicely between Odysseus and the angry fathers of the suitors. Again she protects Odysseus from being killed by “blotting out the memory of sons and brothers slain” of the suitors ' fathers (24.536). Although Odysseus does achieve much of his success seemingly through his own scheme and wit, Athena 's assistance cannot be over
In every journey the hero also has a mentor. In this story Athena, the gray-eyed goddess of wisdom, has taken on this role for both Odysseus and Telemachus. Athena was by Odysseus’ side as a guide for much of the beginning of his Journey. Athena also is a guide to Odysseus when he’s not even aware o...
Athena, the Greek goddess of both wisdom and war, is often considered the craftiest of all Olympian gods. She was born of a headache, and erupted from Zeus’ head fully armed and ready for battle. However, beside all this pomp, she is a rather caring, if war-loving, immortal. Throughout the entirety of The Odyssey she conveys an entirely platonic, almost motherly love for Odysseus. It is this that makes her significant character in Homer’s work. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as a, if not the, major female figure throughout the entire epic poem. With her affection for Odysseus and her frequent appearances she plays a major role throughout the entire poem. Evidence of this integral role will be presented as proof of her importance to the story.
...o all guests saved Odysseus and helped him return home to his wife, son, and kingdom. Even though people from many different kingdoms and islands took Odysseus in their home and showed him great kindness on his return home, the individual who helped him most was the goddess Athena. In many occasions Athena assisted Odysseus. One such example is when Odysseus was fighting of the suitors and they threw spears at him. "Re-forming, the suitors threw again with all their strength, but Athena turned their shots, or all but two (p 566)." Another instance which Athena aided Odysseus was when she disguised him as a beggar on his arrival to his homeland. "Would even you have guessed that I am Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, I that am always with you in times of trial, a shield to you in battle (p 444)." "Your goddess-guardian to the end in all your trials (p 539)."
comforting her so she would not go into a nervous break down over all her stress,
Early on in both of their stories, Odysseus and Telemachus learn to practice strong will in initiating their own journeys. Even though Telemachus reaches the cusp of his childhood, the individuals around him plague him into believing he remains a boy. In the Odyssey, gods are considered to control vast things such as fate or choose to intrude in the lives of mortals. One of these goddesses, Athena, desires to aid both Odysseus and Telemachus in their journeys. In disguise, she gives Telemachus inspiration to initiate the steps to adulthood by saying, “you’ll never be fainthearted or a fool, /Telemachus, if you have your father’s spirit; /he finished what he cared to say,” (Homer 27). With this he commences the hardship of finding his father by immediately calling an assembly and defying the men around him who thought him incapable. Meanwhile, Odysseus has already faced trials testing his determination. He evades the many temptations of immortals su...
A female character always aids an epic hero, and Odysseus is no exception. Near the end of his travels, Athena feels sorry for him and decides to assist him and let him go home, and once he arrives, she helps him kill the suitors that plague his house. “That left the great Odysseus waiting in his hall as Athena helped him plot the slaughter of the suitors” (Fagles 390). Not only is this assistance by a woman, and a sure sign of an epic hero, but also a goddess assists him, and only those worthy enough can be helped by the Immortal. Odysseus is also aided and told how to get home by the Goddess Circe. “You must travel down to the House Of The Dead and the awesome one, Persephone, there to consult the ghost of Tiresias, seer of Thebes” (Fagles 245). This is the same person who tried to tempt him, but she realizes he wont stay and decides to help him instead.
Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.
Athena is the goddess everyone wants to have as guardian for his life. She went against her uncle Poseidon to fight for her Odysseus. At one point, we can even think that Athena is also in love to Odysseus because she has never him down. But the real truth is Athena is an amazing goddess who protect Odysseus no matter what because this is the Love she has for him
The gods somewhat shape the lives of the women and men within the Odyssey. Athena, the Fighters Queen (Homer, Odyssey 16.237) was the protector of and assisted Odysseus. After Odysseus went missing, she was by his son, Telemachus’, side (DelGuercio). If Athena did not push him into calling an assembly to the suitors by urging him ‘to find some way of ridding the house of these Suitors’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.10) and basically stating to grow up, ‘you are no longer child: you must put childish thoughts away’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.11), Telemachus would have been killed by his mother’s suitors plan (Smith, 2012). Athena helps him mature, gain confidence and assertiveness to take action against the suitors. Similarly the Goddess helps Telemachus search for his absent father. She helped with the venture to find and search for Odysseus. Athena ‘lulled the suitors there into a state of pleasant drowsiness’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.25), which therefore allowed Telemachus to undertake his journey. However it’s not always positive relationships the mortals and Gods have. The relationship between the ‘wise Odysseus (Homer, Odyssey 1.99) and ‘the Earth-Shaker God Poseidon’ (Homer, Odyssey 1.81) is undesirable. Poseidon will go out of his way to stop Odysseus from returning home. ‘The sight of Odysseus sailing over the seas enraged him’ (Homer, Odyssey 5.70). Poseidon purposely roused up the seas and stirred up a storm to
She knows that it will make him stronger. There is an old saying, which goes along with this situation, ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’” (Lower). Athena is widely alluded to as a guardian angel in this epic, because she is constantly watching over Odysseus and Telemachus. At the climax of the epic, Athena assists Odysseus one last time.
During his absence, many suitors propose to his wife Penelope. Upon his return, Odysseus and Athena decide to kill all the men who seeked marriage with his wife. Athena is excited to see Odysseus back to his god-like self, and asks him to “consider how [he’s] going to get [his] hands on these shameless suitors, who for three years now have taken over [his] house, proposing to [his] wife and giving her gifts.” (XIII, 390-393) Athena enjoys plotting against these suitors, which her language in talking about them shows. It should also be noted that she never asks Odysseus if he wants to kill the suitors. Immediately, she assumes that he is going to kill them. How is Odysseus supposed to turn her down? She is a goddess, and he is a god fearing man. His power to murder the suitors is infinite, with a goddess on his side. He is not abusing his power, but is in fact using the power that is expected of him by