Athena in the Iliad
The Trojan War, as described in Homer's Iliad, signifies a fundamental paradigm change in human thought from a focus on war as a solution to challenges, to a more amicable and interaction-oriented viewpoint. The goddess Athena is instrumental in Homer's work in bringing about this change. Importantly, the goddess does not attempt to stop the war; instead, she works in very subtle ways to promote the change that she knows must occur.
Athena often uses her relationship with her son, Achilles, to promote the new way of thinking. In the first book, for example, she advises Achilles to cool his anger against Agamemnon. Here it is important to note that she is not recommending that he stay out of the battle. Instead, she promotes active and critical thought before entering battle. This is a very subtle change from using war as a solution to everything, but it is a change in the direction of a more humanistic way of thinking.
In Book 19, Athena also advises wisdom when she provides Achilles with divine food to strengthen him. Achilles refuses to eat while he mourns Patroklos. Athena recognizes the lack of wisdom in this and encourages Achilles to gain strength for the battle ahead.
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