Disguise, And Its Implications

Divine intervention is often an integral part of ancient epic poetry as seen in Homer's The Odyssey. The role of the goddess Athena was an essential part of Odysseus's journey back to Ithaka. Athena also played a vital part in Telemakhos's life before the return of his father. Even Penelope is impacted by the help of the "grey-eyed" goddess, often inspiring Penelope to hold off the suitors as well as putting her to sleep when a situation became too difficult. Athena demonstrates that she is a critical component of development within the father Odysseus and his son Telemakhos as well as guiding Penelope as a beautiful mother waiting for the return of her husband.

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.

After assisting Telemachus, Athena ventures to the Island where Calypso lives to free Odysseus. Odysseus is then given a boat by Calypso to return to home. On the way home, he lands on a strange place which is unknown to him. Athena, cognizant of Odysseus' arrival, travels to the palace of Alcinous disguised as one of Nausicaa's friends. Athena enters the palace and gives Nausicaa advice to venture to river so she would clean herself up to make her presentable to men. In doing this, Athena has sent Nausicaa to meet up with Odysseus at the river. It was then Odysseus' turn to be disguised.

Another instance where Athena uses a disguise to act as a mentor is closer to the end of the book. Athena was disguised as a common man, and walked up to Odysseus, who was unaware of his location. Excited to see another person, Odysseus asks for help in protecting him and his belongings, along with asking where he currently is. Athena accused Odysseus of being uneducated man for not realizing he is in the well-recognized country of Ithaca. Odysseus is ecstatic to find out he has arrived back in his home land, and formulates a lie about how he came to arrive where he did, sure not to give away his identity. Here Athena is using her power to disguise herself to give Odysseus information about his location. In addition to this situation, Lippi mentioned in his article how Athena had assisted Odysseus in upwards of fifty situations (2011). This great amount of involvement Athena had in the story shows how important her and her metamorphosis was to The Odyssey.

     The characters' use of disguises in Homer's Odyssey is a crucial element that helps to catalyze the victory of good over evil.  Each disguise is unique, created for a specific purpose.  Before she talks to Telemachos, Athena disguises herself as a wise old man in order to ensure that her words carry weight and are taken seriously.  She knows that she must assist and encourage Telemachos into searching for his long lost father without revealing her divine nature, so she assumes the guise of Mentor because men were generally given more credibility in those days.  In a similar vein, Odysseus disguises himself as a homeless man in order to exude anonymity so that he can safely return to Ithaka where he

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.

Odysseus tells many lies in the Odysseus, but of those lies, the most interesting one is the one he tells to Penelope. However, this lie is strategically created so that Odysseus can get his revenge on the suitors. The lie that Odysseus tells Penelope about who he is serves to exemplify the endurance that Odysseus has, even though he has suffered much. One interesting persona about Odysseus’s character is that he chooses to hide his identity even when he returns home to Ithaca. In one sense, this is understandable because when Odysseus was in the land of the dead, he learned of how Agamemnon was ambushed and killed in his homeland of Mycenae by a usurper.

    The difference between a wise and a foolish decision is often found in discerning when to conceal and when to reveal. This discretion in concealing and revealing is a major theme within The Odyssey. There is a proper time to deceive and a proper time to tell the truth; thus, it is crucial that one act accordingly. This importance is exemplified in Odysseus' life. When he is discreet in his timing, he achieves his goal. One example of this is the Trojan War. While the other men in the horse want to expose themselves when they hear their wives' voices being mimicked by Helen, Odysseus forces them to stay hidden within the horse (Book IV, lines 306-311). Because of this discernment and

In Epic Poem “The Odyssey” Odysseus is the protagonist. Odysseus’ over-the-top ego caused him to lose his men and his son’s childhood, but taught him a valuable lesson about humility. The Odyssey, written by Homer, tells the story of Odysseus and how he faced misfortune in his attempts to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus is not famous for his great strength or bravery, but for his ability to deceive and trick. To his friends, he was a brilliant strategist. To his enemies, he was a deceiver and a manipulator of the worst kind.

In Homer’s Odyssey women are responsible for many of the problems that Odysseus faced during his journey back to Ithaca. This essay will analyse how far women were responsible and also compare it to far other things caused problems for Odysseus.

Thierno Erdmann Mr. Goodrich English 10A - Pd. 4 11th December 2017 Athena’s Wisdom Homer, the author of The Odyssey, uses language in a distinct way to achieve a specific effect between two of the main characters, Telemachus and Odysseus. The Odyssey is a sequel book to the Iliad, but it has been ten years since the fall of Troy and Odysseus still yearns to come home from the war with the Trojans. In the very first book of the Odyssey, A Goddess Intervenes, there is a specific talk between Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, and Athena who is disguised as Mentes, a trusted family friend, who talks to Telemachus.

     In Homer's Odyssey, disguises help convey a false identity that assist the characters in accomplishing their plans.  Each disguise has its own purpose, such as Athene's image as Mentor to advise Telemachos.  Her purpose was to assist and encourage Telemachos into searching news of his long lost father without revealing her true identity of divinity.  Being old and wise, and especially male, helps put more power behind the words spoken by Mentor because men were received with greater influence than women were.  Similar, Odysseus, through his clever use of false storytelling and disguises as "nobody" and a vagabond, is able to safely return to Ithaka and slaughter the reckless suitors.

”(Homer, Book 1, endnote) Athena has assisted him in the Trojan war and she wants to help Odysseus with his journey back home. She convinces Zeus to help Odysseus return to the island of Ithaca. Analyzing from the text, there is a strong relation between Athena and Odysseus; she is asking Zeus, the king of the gods, to help Odysseus find his way back to the island of Ithaca. Odysseus’ low point in the story was from Book 11 and 12.

Odysseus’s Relationship with Athena Throughout Homer’s epic, we see that the gods have the ability to intervene in the lives of the humans. We see this as the gods constantly involve themselves in Odysseus’s journey to get back home. One of these gods that gets themselves involved with Odysseus is Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Throughout the story, we see that she favors Odysseus highly as she assists him plenty of times on his journey. Being the god of wisdom, and many other things including courage, inspiration, strategy, and skill, it is not hard to see why Athena is fond of Odysseus.

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.