The idea of fate is common place in
Greek mythology and especially in The
Odyssey. As we have discussed in class, it seems that more and more often the
characters have little to no agency. Odysseus and Telemachus are victims of
their fate, pawns in a cruel game played by Athena. Just like the suitors,
their fate was decided before they even knew of their quest, but at least they
lived.
Greek
mythology has a group of three women called “the fates” who were said to visit
children three days after birth to decide their lives. This reminds me of the
way that The Odyssey is told. In the
first pages, Homer gives a summary of what will happen telling us Odysseus’
fate even before we are introduced to him. This idea that heroes are predestined
for greatness is not uncommon today, but the main difference I saw with The Odyssey was how little agency the
characters had within their fate. When I think of Harry Potter, there are numerous prophecies that clue Harry in on
the outcome of his situation, but as a reader I still felt like he had options.
I felt
differently when reading The Odyssey.
Athena seemed to be a part of every moment, disguising herself just to be a
part of the story. The goddess was creating an intricate storyline that had to
be followed exactly. Her constant guidance was seen in the first section of the
epic poem as she leads Telemachus around. Athena does more than give advice
about what to do, she uses her supernatural abilities to enable Telemachus’
leadership abilities. At face value, the telemachia seems to be a coming of age
story, but when I looked deeper I saw that everything is orchestrated by
Athena. In reality, Telemachus never changed.
This
directing by Athena continues through Odysseus’ wanderings, but it truly picks
up when Odysseus returns home. As Odysseus prepares for the massacre of the
suitors, we see Athena making sure that each character (Penelope, Telemachus, Odysseus)
is playing their role in the story correctly. When we see a hint of choice in a
character, it is quickly shot down by Athena who needs the perfect ending to
her masterpiece. One example of this is when Odysseus contemplates sparing the
life of one of the suitors who was nice to him. Whenever he thinks that, Athena
reminds him that all suitors must die.
Throughout
the epic poem, the characters are being forced into certain roles. They are
trapped by their fate and the script that Athena created for them. They are
being “guided” by Athena through her story and it seems that the heroes of The Odyssey have little agency.
I definitely agree that there are part of The Odyssey that don't seem natural, and almost "scripted" at times. Specifically the example we talked about in class, where Penelope begins to refer to Odysseus (in disguise) as Eurycleia's "master", but then corrects herself, seems very suspicious. Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteThe gods have surprisingly large roles in The Odyssey. The gods either influence the character's decisions or tell them directly what to do on multiple occasions. Athena does this by taking up multiple disguises, and I think the best example is when she disguises herself as Telemachus. This scene shows how little agency Telemachus has because while he is not doing anything, she is moving his story line along in his place.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the Odyssey was pretty scripted at points. I noticed that in the beginning where Telemachus says word for word what Athena told him when he gathers the town. Although there are many more instances where words seem scripted, the plot overall seems pretty scripted as well with the characters having no agency and their fate being decided from the beginning. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Odysseus seemed to have little agency in many parts of the story. This aspect i find particularly interesting because it made me question how much of the feats and cunning moves that Odysseus and Telemachus made were actually because of their heroic characteristics or was it because of the God's interference and scripting of the story. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment that Athena is entangled in just about everything. Your post made me think of a game, like the Sims or something, with the gods, Athena in particular, as the player. Things happen in a scripted way that isn't necessarily rational because the gods think it would be funny, like someone playing a game. I quite like this post.
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ReplyDeleteI like your comparison of Homer's intro to the story of the Fates in mythology, because I think it's a good one and it shows how little choice the characters have in deciding how the story plays out. I also noticed the part where every time Odysseus pities the suitors, Athena is like "Snap out of it, they all must die." She has so much control in this way and also making people do things, such as when she "inspires" Penelope to go downstairs and face the suitors a couple times. She reminds me of some crazy version of a helicopter parent.
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