In The Odyssey, by Homer, Athena influences the lives of Odysseus and his family. In Greek mythology, gods challenge and control mortals. Gods also provide support to mortals and thus, mortals depend and act on behalf of the gods and their decisions. Athena, daughter of Zeus, is the goddess of wisdom, and both Telemachus and Odysseus benefit from her power. Athena possesses the ability to disguise herself and others, and this skill allows her to give advice and guidance. For example, Athena uses her power of disguise to help Telemachus on his journey to find his father. She continues to use this power to disguise Odysseus as a beggar to allow him to reunite with his family and prove his power and worth to Penelope among the suitors. Telemachus and Odysseus are ultimately victorious because of Athena’s power; in fact, Athena is the hero of this epic poem.
Two female characters are Penelope and Athena. Penelope is the beautiful wife of Odysseus. She hasn't seen her husband for twenty years and fears he is dead. She is pursued by many suitors who wish to take Odysseus' place. She weeps for Odysseus nightly. Some criticize that she doesn't kick the suitors out of her home because she likes attention. However, she has been without her husband for so long while he has been entertained by goddesses. If she wanted a little attention, then that would not be such a horrible thing. Nevertheless, she remains steadfast in her faithfulness to her husband. She even puts off the suitors using trickery that would make her husband proud, promising to remarry once she has finished weaving a shroud for Laertes,
Athena is a major character throughout the book of The Odyssey and is known as the goddess of wisdom and battle. Throughout the course of the book, it is evident that Athena has a weak spot for the main character, Odysseus. Odysseus is trying to return home after the Trojan War, as the other Greek hero’s have already done, however he faces multiple challenges a long the way. Fortunately, for Odysseus, Athena was there to guide him through a few of these troubling situations.
In The Odyssey, the character Odysseus can be considered a hero because he demonstrates many characteristics that are attributable to most heroes. After the battle at Troy, Odysseus strives to sail back to his homeland (Ithaca); however, he encounters some issues along the way and Poseidon attempts to make it impossible for Odysseus to return home. At the beginning of this journey, Odysseus wants to make it back to Ithaca with all of his crew alive. This selfless goal displays Odysseus acting for the greater good because he knows that these men have families that depend on them and would like for them to come home. Along the journey home, Odysseus and his crew come across a cyclops and become trapped in the cyclops’ cave.
World Literature Paper – Role of Athena and Penelope in The Odyssey Homer’s, The Odyssey is an epic which was written many years ago. At that time, in Ancient Greek society, the dominant role was played by men and the women were considered and given an inferior position. But The Odyssey was often considered a women’s epic because women played an important role. Women in The Odyssey are portrayed as powerful, wise and controlling because they ensure that the illusion of male success will go on - they speak as men through women.
Another time she helped Odysseus was when she protected him from the suitors' arrows. Without the providence of Athena Odysseus wouldn't have survived the events of The Odyssey. In book 1 of The Odyssey it says how "The story of Odysseus begins with the goddess Athena appealing to Zeus to help Odysseus, who has been wandering for ten years on the seas, to find his way home to
The conversation between Athena and Odysseus in the middle of book 13 reveals how each of them feels and thinks about the other at this stage in the epic. When Athena is first coming to meet Odysseus, after he has landed on Ithaca, she decides not to appear as herself to Odysseus, but first as a “young man… a shepherd boy”, and she then changes back to herself (13.252). She does this to get an honest opinion from him, as if she had appeared as a god, he might not have been honest with her. She also wants to hear his story, and see if he is actually thinking about her. After he does not “recognize” her because of her “endless” shapes, she is angry with him and accuses him of “never getting tired of twists and tricks” (13.340,56,32).
My own fame is for wisdom among the gods --deceptions too.” (The Odyssey 13.379-384.) She acts as his advisor and protector, aiding him constantly through his journey to return to Ithaca. She even addresses the other gods about Odysseus’s situation, and “if it... pleases the
Odysseus’ Journey to Heroism The Odyssey is an epic poem by Homer, set in 800 B.C between Ithaca and Troy. This epic poem portrays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca’s journey back from Troy. Penelope, Odysseus’ wife waits for him at home along with their son, Telemachus. Suitors think that Odysseus has died, so they harass Penelope and Telemachus because they want to become king.
Odysseus’s Tumultuous Journey Heroes in today’s literature often take on difficult challenges that put themselves in constant danger to better themselves. Joseph Campbell came out with a book in 1949 called “A Hero with a Thousand Faces” which he introduced the “Hero’s Journey” formula that Odysseus closely follows. The Odyssey is a Greek mythology following Odysseus, a Trojan War hero who faces many dangers trying to get back to his homeland of Ithaca. At his homeland of Ithaca suitors are eating out his home and trying to marry his wife while Telemachus sets out to find his father, but eventually comes back unsuccessful. Finally, Odysseus comes home and takes back his home and family.
Odysseus has grown from the man he was before, as now he finds comfort and safety in obeying the gods when in the past he did not consider their wishes. Odysseus has only returned due to Athena and he has recognized that and his compliance is founded in his appreciation and respect for her. Odysseus is now a hero due to the obedience he now has to the gods, founded in a sense of humility. Through Odysseus’ experiences on his journey, he learns the value of obedience and dangers of arrogance and ultimately, become a hero through the lessons learned.
The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.
Odysseus doesn’t allow Athena to take full control and fix the situation entirely. He instead asks Athena for guidance and an opportunity to be able to execute his ideas and plans. Fortunately, Odysseus was successfully with his nearly all of his plans, but these grand triumphs are slowly feeding his pride and ego.
Athena assists Odysseus not simply for her enjoyment, but also to help the hero Odysseus destroy the villainous suitors, which completes fate. Since Athena is a goddess, who holds much power, the poem seems to validate her deception. The text suggests it is not uncommon for gods to disguise themselves while visiting the mortal world or assist humans in their own acts of deception, and therefore deception and trickery are not presented as erroneous in the
The Epic Battle Between Link and Athena! What defines a hero? Is it the way they are born, the way they act or, the way they look?Athena appears to be the goddess of war and link is a very important character from a game called legend of zelda. Athene from the Odyssey is a great goddess but link from the Legend of Zelda makes a better hero than Athena will ever be.