Athena visits Telemachus in the form of Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus to awaken him from his boyhood and be prepared enough to support his father, Odysseus when he comes back to Ithaka. Furthermore, she continually helps Telemachus in the form of Mentor when he is visiting Pylos and Sparta. The primary objective of Athena’s disguise is the transformation of Telemachus from a scared little boy to a confident warrior. Similarly, Athena uses her disguise on Odysseus as well, when he finally arrives at Ithaka. Her disguise as a shepherd boy to Odysseus serves a purpose of testing Odysseus. It is evident that when people after such long years visit their home, they are automatically lured to go back to their houses and their family. Even the strongest of men get tempted by their emotions. Contrary, if Odysseus directly made his way back to home after reaching Ithaka, it would mean certain death for him. Athena doesn’t want to make her plan of successful homecoming of Odysseus to go in vain at the very end. Athena’s disguise tests him, and Odysseus passes the …show more content…
Odysseus is master of disguise, and the quality of knowing when to disguise and when to reveal helps him make his homecoming successful. Moreover, disguise is one of the central themes of Odyssey, which allows Odysseus identify the true nature of people, help him gain crucial information and assist him in proper