Analysis of the Gods

The gods of the Odyssey are no doubt powerful, but as individuals they differ in their uses of their power. Athena is most proactive about helping mortals, namely Odysseus and Telemachus, but she can only do it with the will of her father, Zeus. This shows the hierarchy the gods have as a society. And not only does Athena help them, she does it simply because she wants too. She takes the task upon herself and leads them to success. It is also important to note that the mortals hardly ever succeed without the help of the gods. Odysseus needs Athena and Hermes's help to escape Calypso's island, and also needs the help of Hermes again to outsmart the goddess Circe. When Odysseus almost drowns at sea, Ino gives him a veil that protects him from the wrath of Poseidon. This suggests an extremely intertwined relationship between mortals and gods. It is almost taken as common knowledge that humans cannot do things without the help and bidding of the gods, as seen when Odysseus defeats the suitors of Penelope at the end of the epic, because Athena gives him the strength and helps him to do it. It is as if he could not do it on his own.