After Odysseus has finished his story, King Alcinous, moved by Odysseus' tale, makes sure Odysseus is well prepared to set back out. He orders some of his people to be crewmen on Odysseus' ship. The Phaecians give Odysseus lavish gifts made of bronze. Alcinous even holds a celebration that features a banquet , Demodocus' singing, and an offering to Zeus by killing an ox, so Odysseus will have a safe journey back. Once Poseidon realizes Odysseus had arrived in Ithaca, he becomes furious that the Phaecians helped him and calls on Zeus for permission to attack Odysseus. When Odysseus awakes, he can hardly recognize Ithaca. Athena explains that he is indeed home, and that he must plan to attack the suitors.
Why do you think Athena disguised Ithaca so Odysseus wouldn't recognize it?
Why is it important for him to be in disguise at his own home, after being away for so long?
This is yet another time when Athena has intervened in the life of Odysseus. She disguises him and Ithaca itself in order to protect the mortals.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus must be in disguise because he is already too well known. People have been told that Odysseus will kill all the suitors as soon as he comes home, so the suitors will run away as soon as he gets to Ithaca. It is also possible that the suitors would try to kill Odysseus in order to take his wife, Penelope. Thus, Odysseus cannot be himself because it could put him in danger.
Ithaca was disguised by Athena because Poseidon was angry at the Phaeacians for helping Odysseus. If Odysseus thought the Phaeacians had tricked him, Poseidon would not hurt them. Athena made all of these disguises in order to protect those who are good.
Well Athena is back again and helping Odysseus. I think she hides Ithaca because she wants Odysseus to realize a lot has changed and Odysseus needs to come to terms with that.
ReplyDeleteI think she hid him so he could make a silent entrance and take the throne and return in modest form. She is aware of his bravado and when he thinks he is the center of the universe he becomes irrational and crazed. Poseidon seems disgruntled with Odysseus and asks for punishment for the Phaeacians, eventually they realize who is dissatisfied and sacrifice to Poseidon.
I also think Athena wants Odysseus and Telemachus together when Odysseus returns to his full capacity as king, and so she asks him to stay hidden until she finishes what is necessary.
Things are finally returning to semi-normal for Odysseus. Its almost like he has been quenching for this and Athena has poured the glass to the brim, but asks him to wait to quench himself. Hopefully he will be able to resist temptation to return to his position prematurely.
Odysseus has been through so much in these past books and I think what Athena did was not for the best. When Odysseus woke up he once again saw a land, which he perceived to be full of savages. I think Athena did this because she knows Odysseus is used to this routine of being trapped on a mysterious island. This stressed out Odysseus so much and I do not see the benefit of that. In the end Athena did reveal Ithaca. This also caused Odysseus to be mad with the Phaeacians, who only tried to help Odysseus. It was very crucial that Athena disguised Odysseus as an old man. Odysseus has been gone for several years, and people would be very shocked to see him. They might not even believe it that he has returned after all these years. Something even more important is that the suitors, if Odysseus was revealed, might attack when they first see Odysseus.
ReplyDeleteI think that Athena disguised Ithaca so Odysseus didn't immediately run home and find Penelope and Telemachus. Bu disguising the island, Athena could keep Odysseus in check so he didn't reveal himself to Ithaca, and the suitors before she could disguise him and tell him her plan. Which brings me to the next part of this post, Athena disguised Odysseus so he didn't make a scene. Of course the people of Ithaca would be overjoyed when their king came back after 20 odd years and word of his arrival would travel fast, right to the suitors and his family. By keeping Odysseus' arrival a secret, he could surprise the suitors and kill them quickly.
ReplyDeleteEvery time Athena intervenes in Odysseus' life, it has an important purpose to it, and this time is no different. After being away from home for twenty years, there is no doubt that Odysseus would be overjoyed to finally reach his home land. There is a high chance that his emotions would get the best of him and he would rush to find Penelope and Telemachus as fast as he could. However, things have changed vastly since the last time Odysseus was home. I think that Athena disguises Ithaca so that he can take some time to realize things aren't the same way that they were before. The suitors have completely taken over his palace, and it is important for Odysseus to have a plan on how he is going to confront them before they harm him or he gets himself into trouble. Athena is helping Odysseus so that he can understand what he will be facing before he immediately tries to take over his authority as king.
ReplyDeleteAthena always has a plan for Odysseus. She knows the right thing to do at the right time and is always intervening for important reasons. At last Odysseus is back in Ithaca after his long journey, but he can't walk around like a king if he hasn't been there for twenty years. There would be tons of chaos, some happy and some angry as Odysseus walked the streets. Penelope would be ecstatic, but for the suitors it would be the most disappointment of all. The chances of the suitors killing Odysseus or Penelope are high if they found out that he was home. Athena knows not to risk this chance and uses her powers to disguise him.
ReplyDeleteWhen Odysseus woke up on the beach in Ithaca, I think Athena also disguised the scenery because of the same reason: chaos. Odysseus would have must likely gone crazy since he hasn't been back to his homeland in twenty years and who knows how many things could go wrong. Overall, I think Athena did the right thing by disguising Odysseus and his land, just like she disguised herself in previous chapters.
Athena didn't want him to become "anguished." When she took away the mist he was very relieved to be home and that was all he was thinking about. The main goal was for him to kill the suitors. He had to stay on track and stick to the goal and Athena's plan. If he is not disguised the suitors will run away from him and he wants them punished. He will be treated very differently if he is not disguised.
ReplyDeleteI think Athena disguised Ithaca because she wanted to protect Odysseus. She knows how much Odysseus' family cares about him and how much his people have missed him over the years, yet no one is aware that he is and will actually come home to Ithaca. She disguised Ithaca in order to keep Odysseus unaware of his surroundings so he wouldn't immediately go back home to Penelope and Telemachus, not knowing that the suitors actually had taken over, and not knowing how upset Penelope is now that Telemachus is out searching for his father. Also she didn't want the gods to get mad, especially because Poseidon was already furious with the fact that that Phaeacians had helped Odysseus get back to Ithaca. It's crucial that Athena disguised Odysseus because not only will the suitors most likely cause him harm if he was noticed and wasn't disguised but also the towns people and citizens would be so overwhelmed that he had actually come back to Ithaca after all of these years.
ReplyDeleteI think it was crucial for Athena to interfere at this point so that Odysseus could carry out each of his plans without problems. First, she needed to disguise Ithaca because if he had woken up and known it was Ithaca, he would have immediately raced home to his wife and son because they were the only things that mattered to him. He would have gotten there to have to go through the obstacles of people stopping him along the way to question him and spread the word that their king had finally returned. Also, he would have run into the suitors or they would have found out about his return and they would by ready and willing to kill him because they wanted Penelope for themselves. If on the off chance he was able to kill them all, Penelope would be blind-sided by his return and would not be ready for it, and Telemachus would still be looking for him so they would be worried about their son. Finally, Athena had to disguise Odysseus so that none of these things would happen. If he started wandering the island before she got a chance to talk to him, he would have figured out it was Ithaca and ran into the same obstacles.
ReplyDeleteIt was extremely important that Athena disguised Ithaca for two main reasons. One, if there hadn't been a fog, Odysseus would have rushed home, to only be killed by the suitors. The second, is that in the time period when there was fog, Athena was able to put Odysseus into a better mindset, so she could talk and influence him, to then make a plan to retake his house.
ReplyDeleteThe main reason that a disguise was necessary was so that Odysseus would be well aware of what was going on and have a better idea on how to deal with the suitors. this also gave Odysseus time to talk with Telemachus and prepare him as well.
After Odysseus arrives home after years of suffering, Athena disguises Ithaca because she is afraid that he will be too happy at the sight of his kingdom. Although she wants him to rejoice because he has reached his homeland, she needs him to keep his mind on task, instead of celebrating too early. There is much work to be done before he can meet Penelope again and publicly announce his return. He must gain the trust of the people of Ithaca and find out a way to kill or get rid of the suitors. If he becomes too overjoyed at the sight of his home, he would be unable to focus on the matter at hand. Athena disguises Odysseus for his safety. As a result of Odysseus being away for so long, the suitors have developed a strong hatred for the man that stands in the way of their marriage to the beautiful Penelope. It would be a shame if one of the suitors were to kill Odysseus after all of his, Athena's, and Telemachus' hard work to get Odysseus back to his Ithaca. If Odysseus is disguised, he will not have to fear, as nobody will know that he is home.
ReplyDeleteWhen Odysseus arrives home the first thing he would naturally want to do is to run to go see his wife at the palace. Athena knows that Odysseus must first succeed in killing the suitors and then he may go rejoice about making it home safely. By disguising Ithaca, Athena keeps him from getting overexcited about being home. I think that Odysseus must remain in disguise in Ithaca to make sure that nobody finds out he is home and potentially ruins his plan of killing the suitors. If the suitors find out he is home, they may prepare to attack him or force Penelope to marry one of them before he arrives. Disguising himself and Athena disguising Ithaca are both smart moves that ensure that Odysseus's plan of killing the suitors goes smoothly.
ReplyDeleteAthena disguised Ithaca because, if there was no fog then Odysseus would of rushed home and then he would be killed by the suitors. I beleive that the main reason for te disguise of Itihca was so that he could not get to anxious and happy to be home. He is in disguise so that no one realizes its him because everybody is waiting for him to come home, and the it will ruin his plan. If the suitors find out that odysseus is home they will end up either looking for odysseus. Athena is helping odysseus right now by disguising Ithica and giving odysseus a disguise. All of these were to protect odysseus and even his family. After being away for such a long time odysseus wants to just go home to his family and relax, but there may be consequnces if he does this, so Athena intervens at the right time to help odysseus.
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