Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Divine Intervention In The Odyssey

Good Essays
1106 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Divine Intervention In The Odyssey
The divine intervention of the gods in human affairs is a familiar aspect in the epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer. Throughout the first five books of the tale, there are several occurrences where gods interfere in the lives of both Odysseus and his son Telémakhos. Sometimes these interferences are to push forwards Odysseus' nostros, for example Athena encouraging Telémakhos of the possibilities of his father being alive and to go out and find him; however Poseidon, Odysseus' divine antagonist strives in the opposite direction, trying to prevent Odysseus from ever returning home. Ultimately all of the involvement from the gods in some way focuses around Odysseus and his homeward voyage.

In the first book Athena introduces the idea of divine intervention when she gets Zeus' consent to travel to Ithaka to speak to Telémakhos.

"my own heart is broken for Odysseus,/ the master mind of war, so long a castaway/ upon an island in the running sea/"¦His daughter will not let Odysseus go,/ poor mournful man; she keeps on coaxing him/ with her beguiling talk, to turn his mind/ from Ithaka" (67-77) She speaks with sympathy about Odysseus predicament, because she is the goddess of battle and wisdom she a natural liking for the brave and clever Odysseus. "I shall visit Ithaka/ to put more courage in the son, and rouse him/ to call an assembly of the islanders" (113-5) Arriving in Ithaka she assumes the form of Odysseus's old friend Mentes. Athena speaks in a muted prophecy and in human disguise because she cannot just appear in all her divine glory and tell Telémakhos that her father is still alive. She convinces Telémakhos to set sail and search for his father. With the support of Athena, Telémakhos finally learns to takes some initiative and he calls an assembly, and embarks on a journey to find his father and finally bring him home. In addition to the physical journey he will be taking, he is also embarking on a metaphorical journey into manhood to preserve his father estate.

Devine intervention is taken to a further level in the following book, where Athena forms the disguise of two more people; another one of Odysseus' old friends Mentor, and Telémakhos himself. While disguising herself as Mentor she delivers a very motivational speech to Telémakhos about the greatness of his father and foresees a fruitful journey ahead. Athena maintains quite an influential grasp on Telémakhos until she realizes that he is indeed going to embark on this journey and then she disguises herself as Telémakhos and goes into town to collect a loyal crew to man his ship. "she roamed the town/ taking each likely man aside and telling him:/ "meet us at nightfall at the ship!'" (407-9) Athena has now become quite actively involved in seeing that Telémakhos sets out to find his father she even goes so far to assembling his crew. Never again in the following books does a god go so far as physically helping a mortal to this extent, where they simply point them in the proper direction and let them figure the rest out on their own. "Reason and heart will give you words, Telémakhos;/ and a spirit will counsel others. I should say/ the gods were never indifferent to your life." (31-3) Since Odysseus is the one who is on the real journey, by helping out Telémakhos, Athena is indirectly furthering his return home without interfering with Odysseus's learning experience from his expedition. She later reveals her divinity by shedding the form of Mentor and changing into an eagle staying behind to protect Telémakhos's ship and its crew. " If grey-eyed Athena loved you/ the way she did Odysseys in the old days"¦ never have I seen the gods help any man/ as openly as Athena did your father"(235-9) In the previous chapters of the Iliad, the god Poseidon had developed some resentment for Odysseus in the battles of Troy. "Poseidon, bears the fighter an old grudge/ since he poked out the eye of Polyphêmos"¦Naturally, the god, after the blinding"mind you, he does not kill the man; he only buffets him away from home" (90-9) Poseidon keeps Odysseus trapped on the island with Kalypso, but we do not see Poseidon actively preventing his homecoming until after Odysseus escapes from the island. After Odysseus has spent eighteen days at sea, Poseidon is returning home from a trip to the land of the Ethiopians, when he comes across what his fellow gods have done in his absence. He stirs up a storm, which nearly swallows Odysseus under the sea. This shipwreck delays his freedom from exile, but the goddess Ino comes to his rescue and gives him a veil that keeps him safe after his ship is destroyed.

Athena is bothered that Poseidon is preventing Odysseus return home, and she sees this as unjust and tries to do everything in her power to set this straight. While discussing Odysseus's fate in the divine assemblies, she continuously complains of the unfairness that Odysseus is trapped on the island, and begs Zeus for justice. Zeus just reminds her that it is in the divine plan Odysseus is to return home, and it is only Poseidon that is preventing this return. "Yet all the gods had pitied Lord Odysseus,/ all but Poseidon" (31-2) Athena delivers a speech in favour of the hero Odysseus and prevails on Zeus to intervene. He sends his messenger Hermês to go to Kalypso's island and get her to set Odysseus free. "send him back in haste./ His life may not in exile go to waste./His destiny, his homecoming, is at hand" (119-21) Kalypso finally frees Odysseus, and points him in the right direction to an escape. She provides him with the idea of making a raft and provides food supply, but she never physically helps him in his escape. This is for the reason that he has to learn on his journey by experience, without this factor the events mean nothing. Through learning on his own, he is gaining knowledge to assert and preserve his own humanity.

The nature of divine intervention throughout to the first five books is in some way related to Odysseus' nostros. All of the gods, excluding Poseidon are intervening in his life according to the divine plan and what his fate entails. He is destined to reach home eventually, and it isn't until Poseidon is brought to justice that he will do so. Without Athena's positive influence in the greater scheme of things and her intervention in the affairs of Telémakhos and Odysseus, his homecoming would only be further delayed.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Throughout The Iliad, Homer offers us a glimpse into the lifestyles of the ancient Greeks and their beliefs. They are a very spiritual and in many ways superstitious people. The main thing to note throughout The Iliad is the interaction between the gods and the humans. Any way one looks at the situation, they can immediately see that humans are mere pawns to the gods in their game of chess. The success and failures of the humans depends on what god would be helping which group and at what particular time. This essay will explain the three main reasons the gods in The Iliad intervened with humans: Firstly, gods who act on their own personal motives, secondly, gods who act as favors to other gods, and finally gods who act as favors to humans.…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    1: Athena explains to the gods that Odysseus remains trapped on Calypso's Island and needs help, and the suitors plan to murder Telemachus. Zeus agrees that it is time for Odysseus to return home, but that it will not be easy. Zeus explains, "He shall build a raft, and a hard voyage he shall have, until twenty days he shall come to land on Scheria, the rich domain of our own…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    While free will is still fully in play in the Odyssey and the choice is placed firmly in the hands of the mortals, the gods have no qualms about trying to influence mortal decisions through any means necessary. Whether it be going down to earth and giving characters advice while disguised as a mortal, like Athena did in the first book of the Odyssey towards Telemachus, or sending down messengers and sending people prophecies. In the first book, after Homer’s invocation of the Muses, it opens with a scene in Olympus wherein the gods hold a council discussing a mortal who went against all the warnings the gods gave him. Athena manipulated the conversation towards her interests in helping Odysseus make his journey back home to…

    • 1704 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In book one, the Council of the Gods is gathered, with all but one: Poseidon. Athena intercedes for Odysseus, who she admires deeply. She intends to help him get home. For this, she has a plan divided into two parts. The first, to send Hermes, her brother, to Calypso's island to tell her that she must let Odysseus go. And the second, that Athena herself must go to Ithaca and set Telemachus, Odysseus' son, on a journey for answers about his father's whereabouts.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Odyssey by Homer is the story of Odysseus, a very brave, strong and smart Greek mythic hero who embarks on an epic journey. His journey fulfills all the requisites of a Hero’s Journey.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The gods have played their part altering the course of the hero’s voyage. Seemingly, in the epic harmony does not last long and challenges follow Odysseus like a plague. Calypso, the audience believes holds the last installment of the global journey, our hero has yet more battles ahead of him. In fact, the king of Ithaca wandered the Mediterranean and its coastal lands for 10 years before finally arriving home. As waves crash against the raft, “he was seen sailing the ocean”(284). The sea near the land of the Phaeacians is only one region Odysseus has been driven to. All these occurs as a number of loyal citizens and a hopeful family await his return, a period when others dependence on him shines through. As Odysseus is under the angry waters…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The engrossing story, The Odyssey, tells the tale of the heroic Odysseus’ journey to reach home after the Trojan War. In the first four books, the reader learns about Odysseus through other characters eyes. They follow the footsteps of Telemakhos, the son of Odysseus, and his awakening to save his father. Telemakhos’s house is being overrun by his mother's’ suitors, however dear Penelope can’t help change that. Telemakhos is then visited by Athena, in which she arouses him and gives him the confidence and steady mind to search for word on his father. Telemakhos and the reader can interpret from the stories told about Odysseus that he was an important warrior and is thought to be dead. Therefore he is held to a higher respect than most Trojan…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Odysseus’s and Dorothy’s journeys begin with the departure. The departure of Odysseus’s journey starts when Odysseus is asked by Menelaus to leave Ithaca and fight the Trojans to get Helen back. At first Odysseus refuses the call to travel to Troy because he does not want to leave his beloved wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. Athena, who is the goddess of war and wisdom, is Odysseus’s supernatural aid throughout The Odyssey. Athena protects and stands by Odysseus’s side through the Trojan War. Finally, Odysseus leaves Ithaca to go fight in the Trojan War. Odysseus then enters the belly of the whale when entering the…

    • 1312 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The third step of the Odyssey is meeting the mentor, Odysseus does this when he meets and is helped by Athena. Athena, the Goddess of wisdom, and becomes Odysseus mentor. She help Odysseus, even though she is not supposed to. Athena helps Odysseus by pleading with the gods so that he could go home. She tells him how to get through certain dangerous situations and leads him to King Alcinous.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Odysseus once agaian from what has become familiar to him. He is called to journey alone once again to gain what it is that he has wanted for so long. For Telemachus his call came due to the perils he was facing in his own home with suitors competing for his mother's love. They started to eat him out of house and home and began to disrespect his mother. Before this Telemachus had stayed quiet, and had not taken action.…

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the start of The Odyssey, Odysseus has yet to return from the Trojan War and his son Telemachus believes that he is dead. Suitors have occupied his home during this time and are pressuring Odysseus’ wife Penelope to marry one of them. Meanwhile, Telemachus is unable to do anything without his father. Athena, disguised as an old friend of Odysseus’ named Mentor, encourages Telemachus to seek news of his father. At the end of the conversation, Telemachus is aware that he was in the presence of a god but doesn’t know what god is helping him. He plans to visit the kingdoms of some of Odysseus’ war companions in hopes of finding his father’s whereabouts. Book II opens with Telemachus calling an assembly of all of Ithaca’s men, including the suitors, and for the first time Telemachus publicly denounces the suitors and makes clear their crimes to all the men of Ithaca. However, the suitors maintain throughout the conversation they are innocent and have done no wrong.…

    • 1098 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Odyssey

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Zeus is the king of the gods. All of the other gods and mortals look up to him. If anybody needs approval of something, they go to Zeus for the answer. For example, when Odysseus was trapped on Calypso’s island, Athena went to Zeus to get him to help Odysseus off of the island. So Zeus sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to Calypso to tell her to release Odysseus form her island. Zeus is very important in Greek literature, and culture.…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A familiar theme in many Greek classics is divine intervention. In the great epics of this time period, the gods would play an immense role in the lives and fates of mortals. In The Odyssey, written by Homer, Athena particularly favors Odysseus, great kind of Ithaka, and his family. Throughout Odysseus’ struggles and times of need, the goddess acts like a guardian angel and takes an essential and irreplaceable part in the story.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Odyssey, Ithaka is illustrated as a place of danger and struggle, yet Odysseus yearns to reach his homeland. On his journey home, Odysseus is presented with homes in which he knows he will be safe and with an abundance of comfort. One major example of a comfortable home was the island of Kalypso, in which he was promised all the riches and immortal life. Before he embarks on his journey home, Odysseus expressed to Kalypso his longing for home and how incredibly he longed for his wife. In the passage, the portrayal of his longing for his wife is prominent. Odysseus desires to be at his home, Ithaka, not only for his power and pride, but for the love his has for his wife.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Odyssey and Calypso

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During Odysseus’ journey in ‘The Odyssey’, Odysseus runs into a couple problems. He leaves home ready to fight in the Trojan War. Although he had plans on coming home, he never made it home. His wife Penelope and his son Telemachus assumed that Odysseus was dead. It was not until Athena came to Telemachus and gave him everything he needed to make it to his dad. What Telemachus did not know was that Odysseus wanted to come home, but he could not because he was being held prisoner on an island named Ogygia. Odysseus wants nothing more to return home and see his lovely wife Penelope.…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics