Post by: Hortencia Angel
The readings to be covered were Books 13-14, 16-17, and 19. The page I chose to focus on was Page 484 within Book 13. The reason I chose this section was because it was intriguing and did spark a bit of annoyance. In Book 13 Odysseus finally reaches his homeland Ithaca. Upon arriving and waking up Odysseus is encountered by Athena, of course disguised as a stranger and man. Odysseus goes up to him to question him what land he has woken up to. Athena describes the land of Ithaca in great detail as everybody knows it by. Odysseus, after hearing this, decides to make up a story to tell. This is the part that intrigued me the most because it is not the first time that Odysseus makes up stories and exaggerates. In this section, Odysseus seems to not be able to hold back the temptation to tell stories, whether true or made-up. The question is, why does Odysseus do this? Is it because he couldn’t resist boasting about his many travels, wanted to impress this stranger, or out of fear of not knowing who to trust? Its not the first occasion that Odysseus has shown signs of bragging and pride.
It should also be noted that right before Athena appeared before him, Odysseus was questioning the Phaeacians’ fulfillment of sending him home. At not recognizing Ithaca when he woke, he began to think they betrayed him and possibly stole his gifted goods. A slight irony given what had actually happened to the Phaeacians’ ship after dropping off Odysseus. This moment reminded me of the several times when Odysseus tells the story of his struggles to others telling them how his crew betrayed him such as in pg. 440.
Odysseus, unaware that the stranger whom he encountered was actually Athena, creatively told his story. Athena after hearing this shows her true self and reveals her identity. She tells him, “You cunning, elusive, habitual liar! Even in your own land you weren’t about to give up storied and sly deceits…” (pg. 485) Her words in this passage are a bit confusing and it’s hard to interpret her actual response to it. Even though she knows he was lying about his story she still offers to help him and does so. Though she calls him names we might see as insults she nonetheless praises him for his abilities. This scene again makes us wonder to what extent or degree do the Gods influence have on mortals’ lives?
If you tell a kid to not touch fire and he does it regardless he will burn himself and will never commit that mistake again, he will understand fire means danger. In Spanish we have a saying “La letra entra con sangre” meaning that you learn from experiences. This happens almost at the end of his journey and Odysseus has been burnt throughout the course of his long journey. At the beginning he was a a trusting hero that believed in the kindness, respect and solidarity from people. But as it happened with the cyclops he hope his culture of hospitality to be returned and respected but instead he received the pain of the death of his comrades. This is as I can recall (not 100% sure) the first time he lies about his real name and his real story. Athena might understand the hardship of his journey and decided to help him. I do admire the question you leave us with. I believe they do influence in mortal’s live but not directly, it is the actions human take thinking that a “God” will praise them or punishment the reason the Gods may affect the course of our journey.