When we first
started reading the Odyssey, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew that
Odysseus was a really famous hero but that is about it. Throughout the book, there
was a lot of hype about how great Odysseus was.
In the beginning
of the book (the Telemachiad), we learn that Athena helped Odysseus and wants
to free him. She goes to Telemachus and tells him what to do. Then she makes
all the preparations for his journey. I was willing to forgive this because
Telemachus hasn’t really had very much guidance in his life and wouldn’t know
what to do. Not only that, the book is called The Odyssey so Telemachus isn’t supposed to be the main hero.
Then we came to
the wanderings section where we learned what had been going on with Odysseus.
During this time, Athena doesn’t get involved too much. She will occasionally make
Odysseus look better or be stronger but only for the purpose of getting people
to like him. Once again, I didn’t mind this too much.
When Odysseus
finally reaches Ithaca, Athena disguises it for fun. After she feels he has
grieved enough, she reveals herself and his city. They admire each other’s
trickery and then she tells him exactly how to get his palace and wife back.
This was disappointing. Odysseus is supposed to be (according to what we have
heard) really smart and creative. Yet when given the opportunity to finally showcase
his talents and be the victor in this story, Athena does all the work for him. She
disguises him as an old beggar so that he can test his servants. She also makes
the suitors even more malicious just to anger Odysseus. When Odysseus is
debating on saving Amphinomus (one of the nicer suitors), Homer says that it
doesn’t matter since Athena already slated him to die. Homer also makes a point
that Athena wants a bloodbath, even though it will cause a lot of political
drama (given that all the noblemen’s sons will be slaughtered). When the big battle
does happen, Athena enables Odysseus and Telemachus to kill the hundreds of
suitors. To prevent all the noble people rioting and murdering Odysseus, his
father, and son, Athena just erases all their memories. They forget the fact
that they ever had sons. Then the story ends, and everyone is happy.
I found this
infuriating. Athena controls the entire climax of the story and Odysseus is
remembered as the hero. I was also not a fan of Odysseus as a character. I
found him to be egotistic and very harsh (especially when it came to the slave
girls). Thus, to have Athena do almost all the work regarding his success was
extremely disappointing.
Well, she is a goddess. I get where you're coming from - were Athena a character in the story, her meddling would be really aggravating, and it would rob the climax of its import. But I feel like Athena can't be judged by our mortal rules on what makes a good story. The Greeks are living in a world where this divine intervention is totally normal - in that context, based on what we've seen of the fickle nature of the gods, the fact that Odysseus managed to get a goddess to stay completely on his side for an entire epic could be seen as just as much of a victory as actually reclaiming Ithaca.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's fair to say that Athena does *all* the work "for" Odysseus (and don't forget Telemachus's contributions to the bloodbath!), but she sure is a powerful ally. He still has to actually string the bow, or fight the beggar, or kill all these suitors--and at one point, he gets weak in the knees and she has to tell him to swallow his fear and get back into battle. We are supposed to see this slaughter in the hall as an "ordeal" for Odysseus, whose outcome is not certain and which entails risk. Can we imagine Athena as a kind of "coach," giving pep-talks, framing strategy, including specific "plays"? Or is she more like the "author," orchestrating events and essentially controlling the main character like a kind of avatar?
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