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The Gods And Goddesses In Homer's Odyssey

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The gods and goddesses in Homer’s Odysseus perform a key role in the characters’ fates. They act as guides in reaching their destinies although sometimes they are petty, cruel and bent towards destruction of the characters. In this case, the gods have conflicting motives other than the main harmonious purpose utilized by those in union. However, the gods are like the human characters by which they influence their lives. The mortals in the story are experiencing some favour from the divine entity and hence may become violent. This leads to an element of conflict as the wild emotions of the gods are uncontrollable. There are unpredictable and volatile forces that cannot be altered unless there is intervention by an equal force. The gods in Homer’s …show more content…

One of the instances is that of suitors on Ithaca as they behaved in an atrocious way choosing poorly in the story. The gods who could interfere with the choices made by the suitors had the ability to know where the choices could lead them. However, the gods stepped aside allowing the people to make their choices without interference. Though, the choices lead to serious consequences that the suitors could not manage. Athena told Odysseus to try the suitors telling him that he could collect some loaves and learn who were the decent lad (Homer 423). This portrays the fate of the suitor’s that was emanating from the gods due to the suitor’s choices. This confirms the free will representing the actions that were acceptable in the myth. Odyssey represented the free will as it allowed choices to be made by the people. For example, the choice made by Odysseus in disguising himself rather than going direct to tell his wife that he had come home. In addition, the choice that Odysseus wife made to wait her husband for eight years to come to marry him. All these choices confirmed the free will that the people had in the story. Therefore, the goddesses had a significant role in the fates of the main characters because they were powerful. However, sometimes they could change and become violent hence destroying the

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Throughout the story of Odysseus’s journey told by Homer, there are many defining examples of interaction between humans and their gods. The gods primarily interact with humans by either siding with or against them. The gods would often side with humans since they wanted to help them such as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, helping Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, whereas the gods seeking revenge such as Poseidon, who sought revenge on Odysseus for slaying his son Polyphemus, would turn against them. While actual interaction between gods and humans seems to be a rather risible idea, there was much guidance given to humans by the gods throughout the Odyssey.

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Trouble frequently arises throughout his journey as the meddling of the gods often hinders his progress. Almost every action Odysseus takes is influenced by the gods in some way. This creates conflict between the function of fate and free will in Odysseus’ decision making. Thus, it is questioned whether Odysseus’ destiny is acquired through his own free will or through the actions of the gods.

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