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The Attention Of Poseidon In Homer's Odyssey

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Throughout our readings of both Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey we are given multiple different interpretations and ways the gods handle humans. In the Illiad we can see the gods helping their preferred sides fight in the Trojan War, on one hand they are helping either the Achaeans or Trojans fight, but on the other hand they are ruthlessly slaughtering humans on either side who have not necessarily done anything to them. We see in Homer’s Odyssey how Athena does almost anything to help get Odysseus home but Poseidon does almost everything in his power to prevent that. It may be impossible for a human to gain support from one God without receiving angry attention from another. Avoiding the attentions of the divinities may be the only way to ensure a less chaotic life involved with the gods.
Odysseus receives ample support from the divinities but also ruthless opposition as well. It is hard to tell what governs a relationship between a god and human, but typically the formula is when a god cares for a human that human has no choice but to succumb to the …show more content…

It is presented in the beginning that Poseidon has strong hatred towards Odysseus. This hatred was showcased by Poseidon interfering with Odysseus going home, “The Earthshaker Poseidon would let me go no further, and raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly high that I could no longer keep to my raft,” (271-275). This hatred is explained by Odysseus blinding one of Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus. Polyphemus prays to his father to seek vengeance and that is exactly what Poseidon does. This is an example where a human outright does something to bring out a god’s anger, the only reason Odysseus is able to survive is from other gods like Athena having his back and supporting him, showing yet again he needed a god’s support to survive another god’s

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