The Role Of Athena In The Odyssey

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The Schemer and the Fighter
Many deities offer help and advice to Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca in “The Odyssey” but none of them provide as much help as Athena. There are many evidence in the epic poem that Athena favors Odysseus over other mortals because his virtues are similar to hers. Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom and Odysseus is a cunning warrior. However, helping Odysseus can also be a disguise of Athena bringing her wrath to those who goes against her virtues. Athena controls of most of Odysseus’s actions after he gets home to Ithaca. While it seems that Athena is helping Odysseus to get what he desires, she actually takes away some of his free will in order to get what she wants.
First of all, Athena benefits herself …show more content…

49-55)
In other words, Athena is telling Odysseus to trust her to help him kill all of the suitors because she is a great goddess and they are only mere humans. Odysseus no longer has to come up with tactics and strategies to help him defeat an enemy that has greater strength than he because he will have the greater strength with Athena fighting by his side. Athena takes away the possibility that Odysseus will come up with a strategy like the Trojan horse or tactics similar to the ones he used to defeat the Cyclopes.
Athena continues to take action for Odysseus after the execution of the suitors. Many of the older men in Ithaca are angry with Odysseus after they learned the truth. As a result, a civil war almost break out in Ithaca. When Athena seek help from Zeus, he replies her with, “’Why question me, Daughter? Wasn’t this/ Your plan, to have Odysseus pay them back/ With a Vengeance? Do as you will,’” (24.486-489) and suggests to her to bring peace in Ithaca. This is the moment when Athena realizes that she interfered too much. Even though her original plan was to help Odysseus, it results in more trouble for him. He is the king of his people and yet, she prompted him to act rashly and killed all the young men left in Ithaca. The poem ends with Athena directly interfering in the riot and ordering the Ithacans to keep

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