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How Is Athena Portrayed In The Odyssey

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In this scene, Athena portrays herself as a shepherd boy to Odysseus who is back in Ithaca, but he is unable to recognize his home because Athena had cast a spell on him. However, Odysseus, upon seeing a young man, makes up an elaborate story about being a wanted man from Crete who fought in the Trojan war and just escaped from a ship of pirates. Athena hearing this is very amused and reveals her true form. She comments that Odysseus is indeed a master, “Here among mortal men you’re far the best at tactics, spinning yarns, and I am a famous among the gods for wisdom, cunning wiles, too.” Athens tells Odysseus that they are alike in tricking people but one would have to be a master at trickery to get past them. I believe since Athena has a liking
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Odysseus is talking to Athena when she tells him he has arrived at Ithaca. Odysseus is shell-shocked and come back saying, “But now I beg you by your almighty Father’s name…/for I can’t believe I’ve reached my sunny Ithaca,/ I must be roaming around one more exotic land–/ you’re mocking me, I know it, telling me tales/ to make me lose my way. Tell me the truth now, have I really reached that land I love?” (13. 367-373).

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In The Odyssey, by Homer, Athena influences the lives of Odysseus and his family. In Greek mythology, gods challenge and control mortals. Gods also provide support to mortals and thus, mortals depend and act on behalf of the gods and their decisions. Athena, daughter of Zeus, is the goddess of wisdom, and both Telemachus and Odysseus benefit from her power. Athena possesses the ability to disguise herself and others, and this skill allows her to give advice and guidance.

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In The Odyssey, both the human characters and the Greek gods and goddesses are responsible for what happened. The plot seems to follow a pattern of humans against humans, gods against humans. The story starts with the Greek gods taking pity on Odysseus and all that he went through. The gods decide it is time for him to go home to see his mourning family. The reason why Odysseus is not with his family is because he enraged a god.

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In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer portrays Greek gods and goddesses as possessing human qualities and faults. Through their actions and emotions, Homer emphasizes the detrimental effects of lust, envy, wrath, and greed in ancient Grecian society. He also never fails to remind readers of the importance of respect for holy figures because of their powerful abilities to create chaos and wonder". Homer wants to prove that gods and humans share a variety of traits, and the only difference is that god don’t allow these flaws negatively to impact their society. To help further his argument, we can compare Greek gods and goddesses to that of Christianity.

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The conversation between Athena and Odysseus in the middle of book 13 reveals how each of them feels and thinks about the other at this stage in the epic. When Athena is first coming to meet Odysseus, after he has landed on Ithaca, she decides not to appear as herself to Odysseus, but first as a “young man… a shepherd boy”, and she then changes back to herself (13.252). She does this to get an honest opinion from him, as if she had appeared as a god, he might not have been honest with her. She also wants to hear his story, and see if he is actually thinking about her. After he does not “recognize” her because of her “endless” shapes, she is angry with him and accuses him of “never getting tired of twists and tricks” (13.340,56,32).

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