Double Standard of Divine Intervention in The Odyssey

A reoccurring topic in class discussion has been the divine intervention throughout The Odyssey. Although the book at its core is focused on Odysseus’ long return home from the Trojan War and his son, Telemachus’, journey to become a man, multiple gods influence the character’s choices and plot development. Zeus supports Odysseus and allows for Athena to guide him on his voyage home. Hermes is sent to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. Circe tells Odysseus where he needs to go and gives him advice on how to deal with the Sirens. Tiresias (who although not a god is a monumental prophet in Ancient Greek literature) warns Odysseus with a prophecy about his life. Helios gets Zeus to kill Odysseus’ crew when they eat his sacred cattle. Poseidon is angered when Odysseus blinds his cyclops son, Polyphemus. He puts many obstacles in Odysseus’ path back home and punishes the Phaeacians for helping Odysseus return home.

Despite the dramatic impacts these gods have on the story line, they pale in comparison to Athena’s role. Athena is present from the first book of the poem. She starts Telemachus on his voyage, using disguises to both convince him and others to join him. Towards the end of the poem, she notifies Telemachus when it is time to return. In terms of her interaction with Odysseus, she provides him guidance while under a disguise and in her true form. She also disguises him and accents his splendor on multiple occasions. As the epic poem comes to a close, she protects Telemachus and Odysseus in their climactic battle against the suitors that have plagued their household for years.

The story shows a clear distinction between the ways the gods interact with Odysseus and Telemachus as opposed to how they deal with other mortals. Odysseus and Telemachus are in the favor of the gods. Odysseus is saved, spared, and otherwise assisted on numerous occasions throughout his journey. To contrast, other mortals are only punished and killed by the gods. Odysseus and Telemachus are the only characters that are benefitted by the gods.

I first noticed this double standard in Poseidon. Although Poseidon despises Odysseus, he does not kill him. I do not mean to minimize Odysseus’ hardships, but he is merely inconvenienced for many years because of Poseidon. On the other hand, Poseidon sinks a Phaeacian ship and places mountains in their harbor when they anger him. Not only are the people who help Odysseus killed, the entire land suffers when their ship dependent economy is destroyed along with the harbor. Their only wrongdoing was assisting Odysseus, but their punishment is dramatically harsh. At any point in the poem, Poseidon could have simply killed Odysseus. He proves it is something he is willing to do when he punishes the Phaeacians, but he chooses not to kill Odysseus.

This phenomenon is observable in the other gods, not only Poseidon. When Odysseus and his crew land on the island of the Sun, they have already been warned about the god Helios’ cattle. They all swear that they will not kill and eat the cattle of the sun. After they have run out of food and are suffering from hunger, the crew give in and feast on the cattle. Odysseus does not have any but is distraught upon hearing they violated their oath. Helios convinces Zeus to kill the crew, but Odysseus is spared. Odysseus is punished in the sense that he is stranded, but he still survives. Initially this seems to be justified considering Odysseus did not eat the cattle, but it contradicts how Athena, Odysseus, and Telemachus deal with the suitors in Ithaca.

Athena instructs Odysseus and Telemachus to kill every single suitor. In our brief introduction to the suitors before their slaughter, a few characters are specifically developed while the majority remain nameless. Antinous is the suitor that readers despise the most. He is incredibly rude to Penelope and Telemachus and overindulges in their food in the years leading up to Odysseus’ return. When Odysseus returns disguised as a beggar, Antinous shows him no respect and even throws a stool at him. His disrespect reaches the point where the other suitors warn him to restrain himself because Odysseus could be a god in disguise. In the context of a fictional story, the reader is satisfied when he is killed. The same cannot be said for all the suitors. If the rest of the suitors remained nameless, it could be assumed that they were similar to Antinous. In that case, it would be understandable that they receive the same treatment as him. However, there is one suitor, Amphinomus, who stands out. He shows concern for the waste of Odysseus’ food and warns the other suitors to return home before Odysseus carried out vengeance on all of them. Even so, Athena insisted that it is his fate to die along with the rest of the suitors. Amphimonus does not seem to deserve to be slaughtered along with rest of the suitors. The faults of the other suitors are placed on him as well, which is different from Odysseus surviving when the rest of his crew breaks their oath.

Since Odysseus is the main character of the epic poem, it makes sense that he receives special treatment. Additionally, since Athena supports Odysseus, it is understandable that the other gods would not kill Odysseus. The Odyssey is a poem about the feats of a great warrior and his cunning tactics that he uses to navigate challenges, but he receives divine assistance that no other character receives. If he is favored by the gods, how much credit do we give to Odysseus for these accomplishments? It is undeniable that there are cases in which Odysseus is clearly a hero. In some of his stories and the way in which he deals with the suitors, both his strength and craftiness are exemplified. Despite this, it is also clear that Odysseus owes a lot of his success to the gods. His life is spared by the gods on many occasions. Many of “his” clever ideas come from divine intervention such as Circe, Athena, and Tiresias. His strength is dramatized by Athena and she offers him protection.