One of the major aspects of the last few chapters that we have read is the sheer amount of work the gods, especially Athena, are doing to get Odysseus home. Ranging from convincing people to do certain actions, to messing with other gods, the whole story is basically, "how can I manipulate these people to help this one guy get to where he wants to be?"
We see the first of Athena's manipulation in how she convinces Telemachus to try and find out what happened to his dad and restore order to his household. The effect that this has is fairly large in terms how Athena's plan to help the household of Odysseus does work and makes sure that Odysseus does have a house to return to.
In addition to this Athena convinces the other gods to also help Odysseus, causing him to be able to escape from Calypso's island easily, and also allows him to survive Poseidon's attempts on his life. After all of this Athena gets Nausicaa to wake him up through a long series of manipulations including coming to her in a dream to convince her to wash her clothes and put the idea of marriage in her mind, and then while this happens change the path of a ball to land in a pool so that a seemingly very marriageable man wakes up and wants her help. After this Athena helps him find the castle and tells him how to gain favor with the royal family, and helps him more by announcing his presence to the whole town.
In short, we haven't really been able to see Odysseus as a hero much so far, other than his cunning and physical strength (which was affected by Athena as well), and most of the story has been about how Athena is helping Odysseus. I hope we will be able to see Odysseus solve some problems by himself in the future.
We see the first of Athena's manipulation in how she convinces Telemachus to try and find out what happened to his dad and restore order to his household. The effect that this has is fairly large in terms how Athena's plan to help the household of Odysseus does work and makes sure that Odysseus does have a house to return to.
In addition to this Athena convinces the other gods to also help Odysseus, causing him to be able to escape from Calypso's island easily, and also allows him to survive Poseidon's attempts on his life. After all of this Athena gets Nausicaa to wake him up through a long series of manipulations including coming to her in a dream to convince her to wash her clothes and put the idea of marriage in her mind, and then while this happens change the path of a ball to land in a pool so that a seemingly very marriageable man wakes up and wants her help. After this Athena helps him find the castle and tells him how to gain favor with the royal family, and helps him more by announcing his presence to the whole town.
In short, we haven't really been able to see Odysseus as a hero much so far, other than his cunning and physical strength (which was affected by Athena as well), and most of the story has been about how Athena is helping Odysseus. I hope we will be able to see Odysseus solve some problems by himself in the future.
I guess this gets into the question of how do we define a hero vs. how did the Greeks define heroes. It seems that a lot of Greek myth focuses on great men being blessed by the gods, or rather, that being blessed by the gods makes you a hero. Less tangible traits like confidence or diplomacy were attributed to these higher powers, and these are still valued aspects in modern heroes.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm pretty sure that all heroes in Greek mythology had some help from the Gods. I actually think that this is what makes them heroes. The Greeks worship the Gods so much that anyone that has had any sort of contact with them must be a hero and should be worshiped as such. But its also hard to dispute the fact that Odysseus really is a hero. His role in the Trojan war really makes him one and its important not to forget that.
DeleteYou have a point, Pranav. But what Odysseus had done in the Trojan War is mostly what made him a hero. Also, Odysseus knew, based on a prophecy, he would have trouble returning home if he fought the Trojan War. Him going to fight in the war makes him a hero. However, in The Odyssey, we have not seen Odysseus do anything heroic, like you said, Pranav. He always has Athena by his side as guidance, and I don't think all heroes get help from the Greek Gods. For example, Achilles wasn't guided by a god from what I've read/known.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Odysseus has received a lot of help from the gods, but I guess Athena is helping Odysseus a lot because he's her favorite mortal. I wonder how Odysseus would have done without Athena's help and how successful he would have been.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Odysseus has gotten a lot of help from Athena, but the things that she helps him with, are often things that are impossible for him. For this reason I feel like it's fine that he's getting that kind of help, and it doesn't detract from his heroic stature. Also I feel like it's in just that Odysseus' reputation should be sullied by something he doesn't control, namely getting help.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Odysseus has gotten a lot of help from Athena, but the things that she helps him with, are often things that are impossible for him. For this reason I feel like it's fine that he's getting that kind of help, and it doesn't detract from his heroic stature. Also I feel like it's in just that Odysseus' reputation should be sullied by something he doesn't control, namely getting help.
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