Homers Odyssey Homer\'s Odyssey Continues

Homers Odyssey

Homer's Odyssey continues in the spirit of divine intervention the Iliad has set forth. The gods, mighty characters that dispose of human lives as they fancy, are far from perfect creatures, destined to see that divine justice is made above all else. The world of gods in Greek mythology is far from perfect and the divine world in the Odyssey illustrates that.

In spite of their superiority over all men, the gods are presented in the two Homeric epics as characters subjected to emotions and possessed by feelings and desires similar to those men are. In the Odyssey, when human characters are rising through their actins to the virtues of gods, they are often characterized as "godlike." It is, in fact, the humanity that lends its attributes to the Greek Pantheon and Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Helios or Circe become representations of human behavioral patterns. For example, "the actions of Poseidon and Helios in the Odyssey recall the ruthlessness of the gods of the Iliad…The divine background of the Odyssey shows little change: the gods, like human kings and overseers, may show favor to certain selected mortals, and may at times even feel under some ill-defined obligation to step in and exercise their authority in support of the just cause, but this is not their normal or perennial preoccupation."

As seen from the Iliad, the role gods play in the development of the epic is not that of overseeing that justice is done in the human world. Gods may be at times on the side of just causes, as Rutherford explained, but this is often a transitory phase in their interference with the human world. Their seeking for justice is more related with their favoring a certain character than with their overall attitude or character.

When considering the divine characters in the Odyssey, Jenny Strauss Clay points out that the Muse the poet is praying at, at the beginning of the epic, a goddess herself, is above all the one being able to know every detail of past actions of men and gods alike. Not only are Muses able to know the past in detail, but they are also able to distinguish between mortals and gods, even when the latter are not meant to be recognized. The author is thus empowered by divine inspiration from the Muse to know everything related to the human as well as the divine world.

Although, the world of gods appears to be far less perfect than their divine character should make it, some times, Homer describes the place of their dwelling, mount Olympus, as closer to what the monotheistic religions of the our age are envisioning as "heaven": "clear-eyed Athena passed away, off to Olympus, where they say the dwelling of the gods stands fast forever. Never with winds is it disturbed, nor by the rain made wet, nor does the snow come near; but everywhere the upper air spreads cloudless, and a bright radiance plays over all; and there the blessed gods are happy all their days."

Although, gods are supposed to be happy all their days, they are very good at pursuing their often selfish interest that favor one or other mortal or people. Depending on the moods of the gods, people are helped in their pursuits or, on the contrary, kept from achieving their goals. For example, Poseidon is capable of anger and revenge, keeping Odysseus away from the land and making him wonder the sees, as a punishment for having blinded the Cyclop Polyphemus, the result of his unification with the nymph Thoosa, daughter of Phorcys.

Gods in Odyssey are not only subjected to human feelings, becoming weak or strong, good or evil, depending on their inclinations, they are also very likely to loose their temper because of what they might interpret as lack of respect or the insufficient reverence shown by their mortal protejes. All stranger are shown the outermost respect in the Helenic world and a part of it is also due to the supposition that they might be gods in disguise. When Athens makes her appearance among the men of Phylos, at the banquet presided by Nestor, she is the first to be offered a cup of wine and asked to make a prayer to Poseidon, the God they where making their offerings.

Comparing the divine world in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Wolfgang Kullmann emphasizes that unlike in the Iliad, in the latter, "men themselves, not the gods, are responsible for their sufferings beyond their destined share. Gods, on the contrary, guarantee "poetic justice" when they warn men against doing evil."

As Kullmann points out, the mortals in the Odyssey are less likely to act as mere objects of higher powers that manipulate them as they wish, but their actions, although still coordinated by gods at times, are more inclined to be the result of their own actions. Kullmann places Zeus' introductory discourse that reveals the basic principle he is using when leading the world at the origin of the whole development of the epic. Injustice, in this case, is not tolerated in the human world and the repercussions are pointed out by Zeus as merciless towards those who dare to disobey this rule.

In both human and godly world, no one appears to be perfect, except for the place where gods dwell, which as noted before, it is described as a place of perfection. Although many mortals are indicate in the Odyssey as "godlike," including Odysseus, they have their weaknesses which sometimes lead them to foolish doings. At times, they need the guidance of gods in order to regain their strength or faith or simply come back on the path they started on in the first place.

Rutherford notices that the presence of the gods in the Odyssey is less consistent than in the Iliad. In the Odyssey, "the gods are less well-known to us; and their characters are obscure to the characters of the poem. They move in disguise among men (esp. xvii 482-7). Although they are said ad sometimes seem to uphold justice, there are disturbing exceptions (in particular the punishment of the Phanicians by Poseidon, endorsed or at least condoned by Zeus himself hardly corresponds to any human canons of justice)."

Reconsidering the principle laid down by Zeus in his speech to the other gods, at the beginning of the epic, it appears to work only when it concerns his rule of the mortal world. If another god should ask him his assistance in his revenge, he may as well give it, even if it involves an act of injustice. Thus, although far more superior in powers and perceptions than all the humans together, gods are in the Odyssey still tributary to what makes the world below them human: they can still be revengeful, blind or simply indifferent to human sufferings. Good and evil resides in them just as it resides in the human world and it dictates their actions in respect to their assistance or ruling of the mortals.