A prominent and recurring topic throughout Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey is the interaction between the gods and the mortals. One of the main questions that arises from this observation is: Do the gods help the mortals for a mere entertainment purpose or do they actually have an interest in the lives of said mortals? This topic can also lead in to analyzing how the mortals feel about receiving help from the gods and if they always embrace help from them. Some of the most important events in these epics take place due to various conflicts and resolutions between mortals and gods.
Throughout the Odyssey Athena plays a large role in Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca and remains involved even once he returns. When Athena initially sticks her neck out …show more content…
No, I wandered on, my heart forever torn to pieces inside my chest” (13.359-64). Odysseus makes a valid argument here when he claims that Athena had never been there previously when he had faced some sort of disaster. It seems that Odysseus felt sort of abandoned, so it is understandable that when Athena confronts him, after ten years, he is kind of wary of her motives. Athena claims the reason why it took so long for her to intervene was because she “could not bring [her]self to fight [her] Father’s brother” (13.388). Once again, this rationale seems reasonable until you remember that Odysseus was stranded for ten years. If the reason that Athena told Odysseus was in fact true then what suddenly changed between her and Poseidon after ten years? Her reasoning can also be debunked by the fact that even when she ended up helping Odysseus, Zeus was actually the one who faced the potential wrath of Poseidon. This leads back to the theory that Athena was just silently observing Odysseus the whole time and she eventually got bored and wanted something more to …show more content…
Athena’s reasoning for doing this was supposedly so they could derive a plan for Odysseus to take over the suitors that had taken his palace, but what if Athena’s actual reason for doing this was to drag the whole ordeal out even longer to provide her with even more entertainment. If Odysseus had arrived back to Ithaca as himself and attempted to fight the suitors then the whole story would have been over right then and Athena would have had nothing left to do, so instead she came up with a complex plan in order to prolong the inevitable. It is also written that “Athena had no mind to let the brazen suitors hold back now form their heart-rending insults—she meant to make the anquish cut still deep into the core of Laertes’ son Odysseus” (20.317-20). This adds to the assumption that Athena was trying to make as much of an entertaining scene as possible. She knew that as Odysseus got madder and madder he was just going to cause a bigger scene once his identity was revealed. Even before Odysseus revealed his identity and the massive slaughter began, it is evident that Athena received some amusement in watching how the suitors treated
Throughout the Odyssey Athena plays a large role in Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca and remains involved even once he returns. When Athena initially sticks her neck out …show more content…
No, I wandered on, my heart forever torn to pieces inside my chest” (13.359-64). Odysseus makes a valid argument here when he claims that Athena had never been there previously when he had faced some sort of disaster. It seems that Odysseus felt sort of abandoned, so it is understandable that when Athena confronts him, after ten years, he is kind of wary of her motives. Athena claims the reason why it took so long for her to intervene was because she “could not bring [her]self to fight [her] Father’s brother” (13.388). Once again, this rationale seems reasonable until you remember that Odysseus was stranded for ten years. If the reason that Athena told Odysseus was in fact true then what suddenly changed between her and Poseidon after ten years? Her reasoning can also be debunked by the fact that even when she ended up helping Odysseus, Zeus was actually the one who faced the potential wrath of Poseidon. This leads back to the theory that Athena was just silently observing Odysseus the whole time and she eventually got bored and wanted something more to …show more content…
Athena’s reasoning for doing this was supposedly so they could derive a plan for Odysseus to take over the suitors that had taken his palace, but what if Athena’s actual reason for doing this was to drag the whole ordeal out even longer to provide her with even more entertainment. If Odysseus had arrived back to Ithaca as himself and attempted to fight the suitors then the whole story would have been over right then and Athena would have had nothing left to do, so instead she came up with a complex plan in order to prolong the inevitable. It is also written that “Athena had no mind to let the brazen suitors hold back now form their heart-rending insults—she meant to make the anquish cut still deep into the core of Laertes’ son Odysseus” (20.317-20). This adds to the assumption that Athena was trying to make as much of an entertaining scene as possible. She knew that as Odysseus got madder and madder he was just going to cause a bigger scene once his identity was revealed. Even before Odysseus revealed his identity and the massive slaughter began, it is evident that Athena received some amusement in watching how the suitors treated