“I spoke, they obeyed. But I didn’t mention
Scylla. There was nothing we could do about that,
And I didn’t want the crew to freeze up,
Stop rowing, and huddle up together in the hold.”
231-234, Book XII
This passage was so striking to me because our “Godlike Odysseus” actually grants himself a godly power. He knows more about the situation than his crew does, and so he decides what that their options are and which will be chosen. He could have told the crew everything he knew from the beginning just as Circe told him about the monsters and the rocks and the dangers so they could decide what they wanted to do, but he did not. What if the crew would have preferred to give up, and live with Circe forever? Instead, Odysseus decided for them that they did not want that because it was in his best interest that they comply. According to him, their only options were to either remain oblivious and keep rowing, or be informed and freeze up. He decided their fate for them by leading them to believe they had no reason not to continue.
This is similar to the way the Gods throughout the epic so far have told Odysseus of his fate, they give him options saying either this or that will happen depending on your actions here on out. (Hermes, Circe) But, Odysseus strips his crew of their options and so they are left in the dark while he holds onto powerful information. He navigates and directs them and they have no choice but to follow like sheep. Through all the godly intervention Odysseus has been privy to he, in this moment, is selfish and has detached his crew from their humanity. They are like pawns, the same way Gods arguably make a game of mortal existence when they’re bored. They are just rowers to get him where he needs to go, to protect the more important piece(s) on the board. Their fate is in stone, not etched particularly by anyone on Mount Olympus, rather by a man stranded at sea.
However, “Godlike” and not “God” is fitting to Odysseus because if he had told his crew the dangers to come and let them decide what to do about the risk he could have very well changed all of their fate because they could have made decisions for themselves potentially unforeseen by the rest of the Gods. So, now, is he or is he not powerful beyond mortal extent?
Really smart reading of this choice on Odysseus’ part. He (believes he) knows what will happen, withholds that information, and so (in a way) makes that foreknown future come into being. This is, as you note, both god-like and a very human strategic power move. The notion of choice, of options, is a fascinating one in this section of the poem.
This was a very fascinating interpretation of the text. One could say that Odysseus also did this for his crew’s benefit, as it was probably also in their interests to get home, and so to ensure the crew would not be afraid of what was to come and therefore put everyone in danger by not reacting properly, Odysseus told them nothing. On the other hand, he is exerting a control of information and power over them, and thus influencing their fate while keeping them in the dark. Even the gods have told Odysseus his Fate. That was a very clever contrast you picked here. This was excellent! Great job.