Glory Of The Goddesses

Athena once said, "Everyone needs the gods" (3.48). The goddesses of Ancient Greece drove and structured people's lives. We know this because of Homer's Epic, The Odyssey. The Odyssey follows the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, on his journey home after the Trojan War. With many roadblocks, including ravenous sea monsters, screeching sirens, suitors, and the loss of most of his men, many people help him reach the final destination of returning home, along with saving his wife from the suitors, reuniting with his dear son Telemachus, and finally ruling Ithaca. The three secondary characters who have the strongest influence on Odysseus's journey home are Athena, Calypso, and Circe. Odysseus's interactions with these three goddesses demonstrate that the gods have more influence on his journey home than any of his other interactions and show the reader how highly regarded the gods were in Ancient Greek life.

Athena's actions prove how important she is as a goddess by introducing the solution to getting Odysseus home and using her goddess powers to transform Odysseus to smoothly execute his plans. Athena meets with her father, Zeus, to propose her idea. This is a tricky subject because Zeus’s brother is Poseidon and “Odysseus destroyed the eye/of godlike Polyphemus” (1. 69-70), Posiedon’s son. With a kind, gentle heart, Athena says, "Calypso forces him to stay with her/He has no ships, no oars, and no companions/to help him sail across the wide-backed sea" (5.13-15). Athena’s risky proposal starts the whole journey of bringing Odysseus home. Zeus ends up sending Hermes to Calypso's island to tell Calypso to let Odysseus go. Calypso says, "I am quite ready to send you off now" (5.161). Athena starts the journey for him, and not only that, but also uses her power to allow him to smoothly get him through his journey. When Odysseus shows up in Ithaca, he goes to Eumaeus's house, a kind citizen of Ithaca. No one should see him because of the fight that would ensue. Homer says, "She wrapped around his shoulders/ a massive leather deerskin, and she gave him/ a threadbare satchel and a walking stick" (13.434-438). Athena uses her magic for deception, a key theme in the novel, to transform Odysseus in order for the suitors to not see him. This also leads to an exciting plot moment when he is revealed. Although these things may seem small, without Athena's request to her father and her use of magic to display deception, Odysseus's journey would not have happened, making Athena a pivotal figure in the Epic.

Calypso provides Odysseus with critical support on his trip home through the hospitality she gives him while he is on Ogygia and when he is leaving her island. Odysseus's men eat the sun god's cattle leaving Helios to rage at Zeus. Zeus strikes Odysseus's ship killing the men, stranding Odysseus all alone. Odysseus is left unaided until Calypso frees up her island for him. Odysseus says, "On the evening of the tenth,/ the gods helped me to reach the island of/ the dreadful, beautiful, divine Calypso" (12.447-449). Calypso refuels him as well: "Odysseus sat there. / The goddess gave him human food and drink" (5.196-197). Calypso allows Odysseus to stay on her home island, gives him food, and a place to sleep, embedding Xenia, a major theme of this Epic. Her generosity allows Odysseus to come home and not burn out. After being introduced to the idea of Odysseus coming home, Calypso helps out. She says, "I will provide/ water, red wine, and food, to stop you starving,/ and I will give you clothes, and send a wind/ to blow you safely home" (5.164-167). Calypso shows the last bits of Xenia and sends Odysseus home with all the stuff he needs. Calypso's willingness to allow Odysseus on her island, give him food and a place to sleep, and send him home with all the supplies he will need greatly influences the ease with which Odysseus comes home. Without her, Odysseus would not have made it.

Next, Circe not only shares her home with Odysseus, providing him with a place to stay for one year, but she also provides him with lifesaving advice for his journey to the underworld and back, making her a pivotal goddess in the story. Like Calypso, Circe gives him a home. She says, "I know you and your men have suffered greatly" (10.458). Calypso gives all the men a place to sleep. Odysseus says, "Then every day /for a whole year we feasted there on meat/ and sweet strong wine" (10.466-468). She provides everything they need, just like Calypso. Next, before the men leave, Circe leaves them with crucial advice. She says, "Go to the house of Hades and the dreadful/ Persephone, and ask the Theban prophet,/ the blind Tiresias, for his advice./ Persephone has given him alone/ full understanding, even now in death./ The other spirits flit around as shadows" (10.491-496). Circe allows them to go into the underworld, which is uncommon. There, they find out about Helios and the sun god's cattle on the island of Thrinacia. Although Odysseus's men do die because they did not listen, Odysseus, knowing this knowledge and persisting in his hunger, led him to not die along with his other men. Without Calypso, the knowledge she gave, and the warm home she provided Odysseus would not have had anywhere to go and might have been dead.

In all, Athena, Calypso, and Circe are the most influential and important goddess side characters by using their specialty talents and Xenia to keep Odysseus on track to his goal of getting home. Homer used these Goddesses and their ways to show how the gods were important for anyone in Ancient Greece by showing how they affect Odysseus. The gods and goddesses were monumental in both Odysseus's life and many others, giving the moral framework for building their lives just like in Ancient Greece. 

Work Cited

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.