Athena And Telemachus, By Michael Murrin

One of the first examples of deception in the Odyssey is the Greek goddess Athena, and her many human disguises. Throughout the book, Athena uses many different disguises, like her disguise of Mentes when she first meets Telemachus, and Mentor when she helps kill the suitors in Odysseus’ home. Her disguises, although they may be deceitful, are actually very helpful to the advancement of Odysseus’ journey. Without her, Odysseus would most likely still be stuck on Ogygia with Calypso, and Telemachus would have lost all hope in his father’s return. Athena helps to instill a sense of strength, hope, and courage to both men throughout the book, and these disguises help her to save Odysseus’ family without sticking out among the mortals.

Odysseus respected Athena enough to know that whatever she did, it would be successful and he would not be recognized by his people. If Odysseus didn't trust her, he wouldn't have let her change his

Determined, she influentially announces to the gods, “But my heart breaks for Odysseus, that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long…” (Homer 79). Stealthily, Athena carries out her plans to get Odysseus off of Calypso’s island while Poseidon, the antagonist, is not present. As a result, he cannot interfere with her arguments. This wise action emphasizes Athena’s loyalty and caring gesture toward Odysseus.

Athena is constantly helping Odysseus throughout the book, and making sure he stays safe. She has no regards for Odysseus’ crew members, as she only cares about Odysseus. He tends to think very highly of himself because he is in the God’s favor. When Odysseus is caught up in a bad situation, he often brushes it off like it’s nothing because he knows that Athena will help him. This is not a good mindset to have, because he is not always sure Athena will swoop in and help him out of his mess. Alongside this, Athena only cares for Odysseus, and she only saves him. His crewmembers are not necessarily favored by the Gods, so they might be hurt because no gods are looking out for them. Athena made Odysseus prove his worth in Book 22 of the Odyssey. She had helped him so much along the way, but she finally decided to test him before he killed all of the suitors. Odysseus was frustrated that he had to work for his help from the gods, as he is usually handed assistance from

Athena has many roles in Odysseus’ journey. Several of these roles involve craftiness, warfare and also disguise. When Odysseus is in the cave of Polyphemus, he says an invocation to Athena about weapon-making (Homer 1054). Athena must have heard him, for her response was helping Odysseus make a sharp spear-like

Athena’s navigational skills and quick thinking made Odysseus’ victory feasible. She provided a disguise for Odysseus, came up with a battle plan, and kept his anger in check by letting the suitors continue their taunts against him. Athena “had no mind to let the brazen suitors hold back now from their heart-rending insults-she meant to make the anguish cut still deeper into the core of Laertes’ son Odysseus” (Homer page 419). Additionally, she helped Odysseus battle the suitors, “looming out of the rafters high above them, brandished her man-destroying shield of thunder, terrifying the suitors out of their minds, and down the hall they panicked” (Homer page 448). Saving Odysseus’ and his servants’ lives, Athena acted against the suitors and, undoubtedly, won the battle for him by scaring off the suitors who were not already dead.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle, is the most powerful and influential non-human being in The Odyssey. Athena was the one to start Odysseus’s journey home. By stating that her heart broke for Odysseus, who was away from home for 20 years and had suffered much, Athena was able to convince Zeus to make Calypso release Odysseus, although it was against Poseidon’s wishes. Also, Athena could be credited with helping Telemachus become a true man instead of the boy he used to be. Disguised as Mentes, Athena’s advice to Telemachus about the suitors and his mother was to either drive the suitors away or throw his mother out of the house and take over the house. After this, Telemachus, for the first time, stood up to the suitors and told them to leave, or he would call the gods and Zeus would punish the suitors. However, as benevolent as she may seem, she is additionally unforgiving. When she had decided that all the suitors shall die, she stuck to it. Even when Athena told Odysseus to beg

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, can be classified as this because she helps Odysseus throughout his entire journey to his home, Ithaca. She favors him because of his cleverness. She appeared to him and told him, “I shall not be far distant then, I myself desire battle” (994). She told him this so that she could help him and his son defeat the suitors that wanted to marry his wife, Penelope. When he was talking to his son about his plan to defeat all the suitors he said, “Athena counseling me, will give me word, and I shall signal to you” (999). Athena is helping him to devise a strategy to beat the suitors and get his wife back. These are some of the many ways Athena helped and blessed Odysseus along his journey

Whenever Odysseus faces tough situations, Athena helps him out by giving him good advice and supporting him. Their friendship shows how important it is to have someone who believes in you and helps you through tough times. With Athena's help, Odysseus manages to make it through all sorts of dangers and eventually gets back home safe and sound. A quote from the book that supports this claim is “still you have failed to recognize Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, who’s always at your side looking out for you in every crisis”. Book 13, Line 300-303.

The most powerful female force in The Odyssey is the goddess Athena. She, more than anyone else, brings about Odysseus’ homecoming. The poem opens with her pleading with Zeus to take pity on Odysseus. Zeus issues the command to Calypso to free Odysseus. Athena guides Odysseus every step of his voyage to Ithaca. She tells Odysseus that it is she “who always stands beside [him], shields [him] in every

Just like Odysseus, I’ve had people guide me, I have come across problems, and I have had some things make me stray from my personal Ithaca. Throughout Odysseus’ journey, the goddess Athena helped guide him and so he became known for his

In the beginning of Homer’s The Odyssey Athena the Greek goddess of wisdom called him “The cunning hero”(Homer 332). That nickname she used to refer to Odysseus was an endorsement by a goddess, and a claim of glory. Further explored in the Odyssey its self Odysseus was routinely glorified as a hero not a villain like he was in the Aeneid. This can be explained by the personal bias of the writers of both stories and how they were related to their own

Though Athena is a female, she is not known for her beauty or stature, but for her wisdom. Whenever Athena creates her plan to rescue Odysseus, everyone is thoroughly surprised because no one had yet to think of one. The rest of the gods at the assembly had known that Odysseus had been trapped but were not sure of how to rescue him without facing Poseidon’s wrath. The gods did not expect a plan from Athena because she is a female, she is not supposed to be smart or have an opinion. Athena exceeds everyone’s expectations and uses her wisdom to rescue Odysseus. Additionally, Athena proves herself when she gives Odysseus the plan to disguise himself once he reaches Ithaca. Athena constantly saving Odysseus shows her critical thinking which she applies to show her wisdom. Most people do not expect that from her because she is a woman and she cannot be thinking superior to men, but Athena proves that wisdom is one of her prized traits. Because Athena is a female, most people would think of her as beautiful, but she proves her important trait to be wise.

In the epic poem, “The Odyssey” by Homer, it starts with Odysseus on the island of Calypso twenty years after he left for the Trojan War. The gods are were discussing what to do with Odysseus. Athena wanted to let Odysseus return home safely, while Poseidon didn’t. Athena disguised as Mentor, a family friend of Telemachus, visited him at a party. Telemachus talked to Athena, and she told him the procedures on how to find out if Odysseus is alive or dead. Telemachus followed Athena’s advice and gets ready for his quest to find his father, but Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors, did not want to leave without knowing who would be Penelope’s husband. The other suitors did not care if Penelope chose or not, so Telemachus decided to go on

In various encounters throughout the book, Athena, the goddess of wisdom influences the lives of Odysseus’s family in order to improve their fate due to her favoritism for the persistent mariner attempting to return home and respect of his cleverness. Her preference to Odysseus is seen in the beginning of Book 1 stating to her father, Zeus that she is concerned of the whereabouts of Odysseus and pleads for support to deliver him