In the first book of the Odyssey, women, mainly the goddesses, played different roles during Odysseus’ adventure to return home to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. Other than the Muse from the beginning of Book I that told the story of Odysseus that led to him and his crew being captured with Calypso who posed as seductive and predatorily toward him and his men, Athena, Goddess of Wisdom had played a big role in the story. For example, most gods have their own opinions and tend on pitying mortals for their actions however, I felt like Athena had the sense of helping Odysseus get back to his home of Ithaca. She spoke to her father Zeus about Odysseus: “But my heart breaks for Odysseus, that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long far from his loved ones still, he suffers torments off on a wave-washed island rising at the center of the seas” (Book I, 57-60). …show more content…
Her words urged him to act with his home being invaded and him and his mother, Penelope being unable to resist. Though they invaded and plan to take her for themselves, I see Penelope as a woman who intends on being loyal to her husband and that she has faith for his
Haley Lindsey is twenty one years old and the youngest in a family of seven. Due to the age difference between herself and her siblings, she was never extremely good friends with her brothers and sisters, but she still loved spending time with her family growing up. They played a major role in helping her become the person she is today. Haley has the most contagious laugh and can always be seen smiling. People are drawn to her fun-loving, crazy, and positive personality.
Athena, for instance, aided Odysseus on his journey to guarantee that he would safely return home to Ithaca. When Poseidon casted strong currents of winds in Odysseus’ direction, Athena “countered him at once. The rest of the winds she stopped right in their tracks, commanding them all to hush now, go to sleep… so he could reach the Phaeacians, mingle with men who love their long oars and escape his death at last.” (Homer 89). Athena protected Odysseus from the wrath of Poseidon and helped him throughout his journey because she favored his heroic qualities.
Within Ancient Greece people were polytheistic, worshipping many different gods and goddesses and using their stories to explain the unexplainable. One of these divine, important figures to the Greeks was Athena, a very wise goddess who often shared her knowledge with the Greeks. She was worshiped largely by the Greeks, especially in the city of Athens which patronized her for her impeccable skills. Since her traits were admired by people of many different professions and she is seen competing with other gods and mortals in a very large number of myths, she is one of the more widely known goddesses. Athena was born from the head of Zeus, king of the gods, fully grown and dressed in armor ready to win battles due to her extraordinary brainpower and extremely sharp reflexes (Downing and Ceccarelli).
It was through Athena’s persuasion that convinced Zeus to have Calypso to let Odysseus leave her island. In response to Athena, Zeus said, “You conceived it yourself: Odysseus shall return and pay the traitors back” (Homer, Odyssey, V.26-27). The only reason Odysseus was free and performed the actions that he did after leaving Calypso’s island was all attributed to Athena. Whenever Odysseus appeared to be in a perilous situation, it was Athena who always aided him. “But Zeus’s daughter Athena countered him at once.
In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, there are many female characters who play the role of a villain. Calypso, Scylla, Charybdis, and the sirens are among the women with the largest, negative impacts on Odysseus’ journey home. Though some women, such as Athena, Eurycleia, and Penelope, are loyal to Odysseus throughout the poem. With such a wide range of female characters, they all contribute different things throughout the book, whether the impact of their actions is negative or positive. Regardless of the outcomes, Homer has quite a modern view of female representation in his poem.
Despite having to obey the orders of Telemachus as the man of the house, Penelope is able to curb the marriage proposals from the suitors by tricking them on multiple occasions into believing she will marry one. Next, Circe
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.
Women are weak, helpless, and have no real purpose other than to serve men and take care of children. . . or so they were perceived in history. In the Odyssey, one can see that Homer’s portrayal of women challenges the depiction of women during that time period. Throughout the book, many women intervened in Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, for better or for worse. One will see Penelope, Athena, Circe, and other women impact Odysseus’ expedition home.
Here, Odysseus tells Athena that she is all he has left and through her immortal powers, she is the only god still on his side who can help him in his time of need. Therefore, through Athena’s encouraging words, she is able to make Odysseus feel uplifted and more useful, especially as Odysseus is, at this point, very hopeless and miserably
1) Athena played a huge role in ensuring Odysseus’ safety and acceptance on Skheria. On page 99, it quotes “so on this night the goddess, grey-eyed Athena, entered the palace of Alkínoös to make sure of Odysseus’ voyage home.” When Nausikaa was sleeping, Athena disguised herself as Dymas’ daughter, a good friend of Nausikaa, and instructed her go to the washing pools in the morning to do the laundry. Athena intentionally sent Nausikaa to the area where Odysseus was sleeping. She knew Nausikaa, the daughter of Alkínoös, would be able to assist Odysseus in the asking of Alkínoös’ and Arêtê’s assistance in his voyage home.
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
When she does feature in the epic poem it is usually during a time when she is being instructed by a male figure or when she is weeping. Penelope lacks in self decision making, instead she is ordered around for other’s needs. “Making decisions must be men’s concern, and mine in particular; for I am master in this house.” Penelope is shown to be on a low section of the social structure than her son Telemachus. Reason being is that in ancient Greece women were strictly controlled by the men in their lives; first by their fathers then later, at the age of 15, by their husbands.
Athena uses her role as the puppeteer to allow the entire epic to slowly unfold. Without Athena there would be no epic about Odysseus returning home from the brutal Trojan War for the reader to enjoy and the term “odyssey” would not be used to describe a long journey. Athena is the key to the entire story; consequently The Odyssey is her story. The Odyssey is Athena’s story because she plays the role of the puppeteer that causes the events to take place.
Even after this, Athena feels like she deserves more credit for Odysseus’ journey home than he gives
Athena is known as the goddess of war. Odysseus was aided by her ideas on how to regain power through her tactical skills. The fact that the goddess warrior was on his side through the journey home, reclaiming his land, and killing the suitors was a huge advantage. Athena is very intelligent in how she strategizes and won wars in the past. Some may argue that Odysseus is the real hero but there were many times throughout The Odyssey where he needed Athena’s protection and input of logical ideas.