As the story progresses, we gain more confirmation that
Athena is constantly orchestrating the whole the story, while still playing a
large role in the story. This arrangement becomes most obvious during the
scenes leading up to the climatic slaughter of the suitors. We know from other
passages that Athena’s continues to test Odysseus at every turn. When Odysseus
first arrives at Ithaca Athena tests his wit and patience by shrouding his view
of the island. Odysseus concocts a solid fake identity and passes the Athena’s
test. Once Odysseus is reunited with Telemachus, they plot to get rid of all
the suitors. Telemachus expresses some desire to spare some of the suitors, but
Athena tells Odysseus that he has to kill them all. Odysseus doesn’t question
Athena and so they plot to kill all of them.
Once they are inside of the palace and the plan is in place,
Athena takes a back seat to watch it all go down. It seems that everything has
come to a perfect ending for Athena’s story: Both Telemachus and Odysseus have
completed their journeys to heroism. Telemachus is even described as “Prince
Telemachus, son of King Odysseus…”. It seems that the weeping and fearful boy
we saw at the beginning of the story has reached the peak of his development
and “come of age”. Odysseus’ climatic reveal and theatrical speech almost seems
like a performance put on to please Athena.
However, it seemed that Athena’s perfect entertainment
production has a little hiccup. Even though we just saw Telemachus reach a new height,
he makes the mistake of leaving the storage room door open allowing the suitors
to get some weapons. This causes a moment of fear in Odysseus and he asks for
Athena/Mentor’s help. After he asks for help “Athena hit new heights of rage,
she lashed out at Odysseus now with blazing accusations: “Where’s it gone,
Odysseus—your power, your fighting heart? The great soldier who fought for
famous white-armed Helen, battling Trojans nine long years – nonstop, no mercy…”
(22. 446). It seems that Athena’s plan to slaughter all the suitors as gone
awry and now she has a little miniature blow up at Odysseus for messing up her moment.
Yet she still turns it into an experience for Odysseus and
Telemachus. “But she gave no all-out turning of the tide, not yet, she kept on
testing Odysseus and his gallant son, putting their force and fighting heart to
proof” (22. 446). Even though her ideal fight didn’t happen, she was still able
to continue to shape the story and make the bloodbath into a test for Odysseus
and Telemachus to prove their bravery and wit.
great post, Athena's role in the Odyssey is really complex and one of the most interesting parts is during the battle. It's interesting that, like you say, even when there is a small problem in her carefully orchestrated plots, the climactic battle still succeeds.
ReplyDeleteAthena is really interesting. She sets everything in motion and tries to get everything perfect. She sort of acts as an Obi Wan Kenobi to Telemachus. She brings him out of his shell and gets him to go on an adventure.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I found Athena to be a really interesting character in the story because though she seems to be on the outside of the plot, she is very much intertwined with Odysseus and Telemachus by guiding them and helping them numerous times throughout the books. It's interesting to think that the story is basically scripted by Athena, which in turn gives the other characters very little agency.
ReplyDeleteI think that Telemachus leaving the door open and still winning in the end is sort of what cements him as a hero. Heroes in this world have heroic flaws that both separate them from the gods and make them heroic: the flaw is the only thing wrong with them. Maybe Telemachus' flaw is forgetfulness, and without a flaw he can hardly be as heroic. I quite like your post.
ReplyDeleteGood post! You managed to quote a great part of the story. You see how Athena is playing a role similar to the Gamemaker of the Hunger Games. She is doing her best to put on a show, and has to guide the characters through the fights. Despite all this, I found Athena's anger at Odysseus surprising. I did not expect her to yell at her favorite hero no matter how badly he messed up.
ReplyDeleteAthena's little "blow up" here could also be seen as a kind of urgent pep-talk. She does seem a little angry, but it has to do with Odysseus's fear and hesitation (she doesn't berate Telemachus for being such a doofus as to leave the door open). And it's important to note, as you do, that she doesn't do everything in her power to ensure that they win--she does want to "test" Odysseus's heroic status with this battle. But between these moments, she pauses to deflect a few volleys of arrows away from our heroes, and her intervention is still absolutely vital to the "success" of the slaughter.
ReplyDelete