Preview

What Is Athena's Role In The Odyssey

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
151 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Athena's Role In The Odyssey
Athena's role in the Odyssey is helping Odysseus get home. At first Athena talks to Zeus, they speak about how she pities Odysseus and how he should come home. Her exact words were, "My own heart is broken for Odysseus (Homer 3)." Zeus agreed. That the man,Odysseus, should come home. Then Athena left Zeus and went to see Telemakhos. She left as Mentes,so that when she saw Telemakhos he would not know she was Athena. Telemakhos showed xenia to the xenos and when she was satisfied Telemakhos asked Athena who she was. She told him that her name was Mentes. They then had a conversation about many things, one of which was Telemakhos's father. She had told him that his father is truly not dead but "only detained somewhere on the wideseas, upon some

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Athena is pivotal in assisting Odysseus by aiding in his struggle to return home and in Ithaca. She supports Odysseus throughout the epic. Athena first helps by explaining Odysseus’ predicament to others on Mount Olympus. Athena begs “Olympian Zeus” to “care for him in [his] lofty heart” (Homer 1.72,73). Athena knows that if she is able to convince the other gods and goddess to be on Odysseus’ side it would positively impact his…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    marriage. In addition, Athena also appears before Odysseus as a young girl directing him to the…

    • 1887 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athena continues to show her care giving side after pleading with her father Zeus to free Odysseus which he does after he sent Hermes to tell Calypso to free him and she does which shows that she has a sense of decency despite her sexual ambitions to keep him on her island. After building a raft and sailing out to sea, he continues to receive bad treatment from Poseidon after he conjured up a storm that knocked him down into the water. Watching him being tossed like a rag doll around in the sea, a goddess named Ino, like Athena, showed a caring side for protecting Odysseus by providing him a scarf and with it he abandoned his raft and belongings and “dove headfirst into the sea, stretched his arms and stroked for life itself” (Book V, 411-412). While swimming toward the shore, he also had assistance from Athena who calmed Poseidon’s storm and stopped the winds by “commanding them all to hush now, go to sleep” (Book V, 423) and eventually he would make it toward land.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Drag Queens/Kings Notes

    • 5288 Words
    • 22 Pages

    * Athena often goes to the aid of people in the guise of men in The Odyssey.…

    • 5288 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Athena was the goddess of power and wisdom, and she cared a lot for Odysseus, who was struggling to find his way back home, so she helped him in some difficult situations. However, she was kind of passive while he was fighting, letting him fight his own battles as she sat back and watched him prevail. She also helped Telemachus so he could earn a name for himself in battle. She is confident, smart, a great warrior, and she is also the goddess of the womanly arts. Athena lived on Mount Olympus with all the other Greek gods, and she was a big supporter of Odysseus while the other gods debated whether to help him. Athena also has an important role in the town she live in as an protector from all enemies. Athena got her name from another town name…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women were a very big important part of the Odyssey. They were involved in almost every single important thing in The Odyssey. The women that played a huge part were Athena, Penelope, and Calypso. All the women were related to helping Odysseus get things done. I will tell you all about the women in the story.…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Telemachus meets Athena she exclaims how he looks remarkable similar to the hero she patronized, "You must be, by your looks, Odysseus' boy?" (8), through her description of their similarities readers are able to be introduced to Odysseus without even meeting him. The effect of comparing father to son brings a dramatic element that leaves readers awaiting for the reunion of the two. Elaborating on Athena's guidance to Odysseus, and eventually Telemachus, her help shows that the gods are reoccurring throughout the epic and in Greek…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Athena (Roman name: Minerva), goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, is one of the most beloved and well known gods of the Greek myths. According to Greek mythology, Athena sprang from the head of Zeus, fully grown and wearing battle attire. Athena is always portrayed with her armor and helmet, carrying her shield and lance. Athena is also a gifted craftsman; she created the bridle to tame horses, along with many other crafts and useful objects. Her favorite bird is the owl, which is the symbol of wisdom, watchfulness and the hunt. Athena made all of her followers live a life of purity, and she created a big impact on Greece’s history. On of the most famous myths involving Athena is the origination of the city of the Athens’ symbol. The story begins when Poseidon and Athena have a dispute over who is to rule Athens. Whoever greats the best symbol to represent the city would become patron god or goddess. Poseidon, god of the sea, produced a freshwater spring for the Acropolis. Athena chose to present an olive tree, one of her many symbols. Because olive trees are deemed very useful, Athena became crowned patron goddess of Athens, and she has been ever since.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    She was mentioned in many quests and stories of Ancient Greece, such as the story of the Greek hero Odysseus. She was known for giving advice to mortals and even to Zeus the King of the Gods. In one case she helped Odysseus the hero of the Trojan War. Odysseus won Athena’s favor with his intelligence and clever nature. Throughout the war Athena, placed thoughts and ideas in his head that helped him during his adventure. Even later she appeared to him before he entered the capital where his wife Penelope lived (The Gods and Goddesses). She tried to convince him that Penelope thinks he was dead and that she has remarried, but Odysseus can see through her lie. Athena is impressed and, disguises Odysseus as a beggar so he can enter undetected and gives him the help and advice he needed to kill his wife’s suitors and become king…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Athena Role Model

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When studying modern mythos in terms of comic books, I kept myself in the lense of female superheros being the goddesses of today. I use the comic books as the goddesses’ mythic narrative, but it also moves beyond written and into a visual medium which seems to be a very intriguing thing to the culture of our world today. The pictures and narrative storyline of the female superheroes provides a clear understanding of their purpose in the world created by the writers. When I posed a question of are these writers using these characters as tools to maintain a patriarchal culture or are they strong female role models created to instigate a change in the views of the world, the answer I arrived on was that they were no different from the heroines…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This shows his importance because a normal person without any divine powers is unlikely to get help from a god or goddess such as Athena. Odysseus proves his help from the gods by explaining to his son Telemachus, “ suppose Athena’s arm is over us and Zeus her father’s,” ( Homer Part 2). Athena helps Odysseus by assisting him with valuable information for his journey home. In the hero’s journey this same concept is explained, “ a character who has mastered the laws of the outside world and come back to bestow wisdom upon them,” ( Campbell 3). The hero’s journey is just like this when Athena explains how and what will happen when Odysseus returns…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 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
  • Good Essays

    Athena In The Odyssey

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ak to the people they are watching over such as the instance in the Odyssey where Athena comes to Ithaca to visit Telemachus and reassure him that his father will be coming home and recommends a journey for the boy and to wait a year to allow him to make it home (pg.296). Though Telemachus may have not known it was Athena this is an example of a seen and heard Goddess which allows for her to reassure the boy. It is also seen with Achilles and Athena in the Iliad when Achilles is about to fight to the death with Agamemnon, on lines 205 and 206 it says “Athena came sent by the white-armed goddess Hera who loved and watched over the two men” (pg 194). In this scene it goes on to display a scene of the gods taking their power of visibility and…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good 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

    I am the sea goddess Thetis. In most myths, my parents are Nereus, the man of the sea, and the sea nymph Doris, the daughter of the sea god Oceanus and Tethys. Nereus is the offspring of Gaia and Pontus. My siblings are the fifty Nereids or sea nymphs of whom I command ("Thetis"). I do not have a story concerning my birth; however, I was born in the sea.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays