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She is the goddess of wisdom, battles and war, Athena, daughter of Zeus was born from a wound out of her father’s forehead, with vibrant grey eyes, fully grown and clothed in her mothers armour. She was Zeus’ most precious and most admired daughter and was given the gift of the olive tree which could provide food, oil and wood.
Her duty and endeavour in life is to protect her land against all enemies and trespassers. A trait which is particularly common in Greek literature, Athena portrays godly intervention and guidance. Throughout the book Athena, is not only an immense help to Odysseus, but other characters as well such as his son Telemachus, his wife Penelope
and his crew aboard his ship. Odysseus is depicted as a character who is almost faultlessly superhuman; Athena was a huge part of this portrayal as she was there to help him whenever her help was required. Imagine if you had somebody to turn to at anytime, any where and simply pray for their aid and you would receive it.
It all began at the beginning of the story when Athena was courageous and insistent enough to challenge her father, Zeus. She begged him to allow her to support and direct Odysseus through his travels so that he might one day reach his home, Ithaca. She saw something extremely exceptional in him, and that he didn’t deserve to spend the rest of
his days held captive on Calypso’s island. Like all other gods, Athena was able to transform in to any shape or form she pleased. Athena would either visit Odysseus’ as herself or cloaked as somebody else and was outlined in blue. In some circumstance she would send Hermes to give orders.
Athena’s disguise as Mentor and Mentes proved extremely helpful to Telemachus during his exploration. The main relationship Athena has in the book is that with Odysseus. During his whole life, Athena had guided him to decipher good from evil and right from wrong.
At times Odysseus felt as though he had been abandoned by her, such as when he was imprisoned on Calypso’s island. Though it was all part of Athena’s master plan to succeed in his homecoming. With her help, Odysseus was able to overcome numerous battles such as reaching the help of the Phaecians and avoiding the spell
of Circe. One of the most essential and gratifying roles Athena plays is reuniting Odysseus with his son. By her doing this, they are able to plan their revenge against the suitors together. Athena remarkably veils Odysseus as an old, wrinkled beggar so that he was able to assemble vital information and allies without revealing his identity to
the rest of the town. Because of her close connection with Odysseus, she knew when it would be suitable to reveal his true identity and replenish his strength, energy and youth. At the end of the book, the families of the men Odysseus had killed in battle decided that they had a need for vengeance. During their battle against Odysseus, Athena
intervenes; she stops the conflict and insists them to put away their swords. She tells them if they wish to ‘die gently and in old age’ they must resolve their discrepancies and shake hands.
Overall like every character has a role to play in each story or myth, Athena plays a role which is of guidance and leadership. This was her role in the story so essentially, without Athena’s help; the return of Odysseus would have never taken place.
