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The Influences Of The Divine In Homer's Odyssey

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The Odyssey Final Exam - Written Test

In Greek mythology, the influences of the divine are greatly impactful to the mere mortals they oversee. Written by Homer, the epic poem The Odyssey offers detailed insight into the perilous journey of Odysseus’ homecoming, as well as the involvement of many deities and human characters in the myth. After the Trojan War, Odysseus finds himself and his crew lost at sea with little hope of coming home to Ithaka and his family. As they continue their course in hopes to find Ithaka, they also encounter many immortal beings that will forever impact this odyssey. Throughout The Odyssey, it is evident that the divine harness the ability to both help and hinder common civilians, most notably of these civilians are Odysseus and Telemachus.

The divine intervention in Odysseus’ life displays that godly powers can impact the lives of humans in many different ways. For example, just after Calypso had sent Odysseus off to his journey home, vengeful Poseidon sees him approaching an island and unfortunately for Odysseus the powerful god decides to “give him a rough ride in, and will” (V, 300). Poseidon’s godly powers called for vigorous “Hurricane winds...on which Odysseus’ knees grew slack, his heart/ sickened” (V,305-308). Out of rage for the pain that …show more content…

This is especially apparent when referring to the lives of Odysseus and Telemachus, and how they have been impacted by the gods. In the life of these two prominent figures, they have experienced the pain but also the gift of patronage from various deities. Odysseus on the bad side of Poseidon, also leads to his son to be hurt. But both Telemachus and Odysseus are not only backed by Athena, but other ambrosial beings as well throughout the myths. In the end, it is assumed that from these two character’s experience that there is no definite way a god can impact someone’s

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