In book thirteen, Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca after receiving great help from the Phaeacians. However, when Poseidon spots Odysseus in Ithaca, he gets angry. Why did Zeus let Poseidon punish the Phaeacians and not directly Odysseus? When Odysseus reaches Ithaca, he did not recognize it at all because of Athena’s mist. Why do you think Athena did this? Odysseus then starts to blame the Phaeacians for deserting him on an "unknown" island; however, Odysseus just doesn’t recognize his own native land. Do you think it is right that Odysseus blames the Phaeacians for sending him to a “no-man’s-land” when it is really Ithaca? At first, Athena disguises herself as a shepherd, but soon enough reveals herself to Odysseus. Why does Athena decide to reveal her true identity to Odysseus? Why now? Why did Athena continue to help and have faith in Odysseus with his journey, while most of the gods turned against him? Athena then decides to transform Odysseus so that no one will recognize him and he can chase the suitors away. How does she disguise him? Do you think it will be successful? Why or why not? Feel free to answer any of these questions or talk about something different.
I think the reason why Zeus only told Poseidon to punish the Phaeacians was because he likes Odysseus. Athena, who is the child he likes the best, favors Odysseus. Maybe Zeus favors him because of his daughter.
ReplyDeleteOdysseus maybe did not recognize his native land because he had not been there is 2o years. So many things can change in that amount of time. He also might not recognize his homeland and blame the Phaeacians because he has no one else to blame. Knowing Odysseus’ character, he would not blame himself. Athena reveals herself to Odysseus because she favors him. Throughout this whole epic, anything good that happens to Odysseus is some how connected to Athena. Maybe she felt safe with him and did not mind showing her true identity.
Athena disguises Odysseus as a poor man with ragged clothes. I think it will be very successful. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, I am sure her ideas will most likely end in success.
In book 13, I thought Zeus allowed Poseidon to punish the Phaeacians because he might of felt sympathy towards Odysseus. I think he realized he had been through a lot and wanted to cut him some slack. On the other hand, as Maggie said, it also could have been because of Athena. She was his favorite, and did like Odysseus, so he might of felt some connection and thought Odysseus didn’t need to be punished this time. When he finally reaches Ithaca and doesn’t seem to recognize it, I thought it had to do with Athena wanting him to realize a lot can change when a person is away too long. It reminded me of how people often times move away from their hometown, and come back to visit, not recognizing it at all. I think he was so overwhelmed and eager to get home, that when he did and everything he expected didn’t happen, he needed someone to blame. Blaming the Phaeacians, didn’t make much sense because it wasn’t their fault he didn’t recognize his native land. As we have seen already in this book, Odysseus tends to blame things on everyone else around him, when most of the time the situation has nothing to do with them.
ReplyDeleteZeus let Poseidon punish the Phaeacians but not Odysseus because he had already decreed that Odysseus would get to go home unhindered. However, he said nothing of the escorts, and Poseidon had to take his anger out on someone. During their conversation, there was a lot of mutual respect between the two brothers, even though Zeus was the higher of the two.
ReplyDeleteAthena disguised Ithaca because she did want Odysseus to do something stupid like run straight to his palace blindly. He then blamed the Phaeacians, which is in my opinion a justified act. Then Athena in disguise comes along, so Odysseus immediately cooks up a tale of deceit. Overjoyed at Odysseus' cunning, Athena reveals herself and they begin to formulate a plan. I think that she revealed herself to him because she was so happy to meet another entity that was nearly as crafty as herself. She has always loved Odysseus for this reason.
Athena then disguises Odysseus as a shriveled and weak old man. The most interesting aspect of this disguise is that she made Odysseus' eyes lose their "brilliant shine." Both of them have the bright eyed attribute. Anyways, she disguises him to make sure that he will be protected against the wrath of the power-hungry suitors. Athena truly loves this hero.
I think that Zeus allows Poseidon to punish the Phaeacians because I believe that Zeus might have some sympathy for Odysseus. After seeing him go through so much pain, loss and anguish, I think that he thinks that Odysseus deserves a break. He still might not like him, but he does feel for him and because of that he decides to let Odysseus go and instead only lets Poseidon punish the Phaeacians.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Odysseus was unable to recognize his homeland because he had not been there in 20 years, and just as Maggie said a lot can change in 20 years. I also thought that it was interesting that his first though was to blame the Phaeacians for landing him on some random piece of land. It really shows how Odysseus can sometimes be quick to blame other people before actually taking a step back and thinking it over. If he had, he might have been able to realize that he was wrong. I did not find it very surprising when Athena revealed herself to Odysseus because throughout the entire book, everything he has done has been influenced by her. I also thought that it was huge step in the relationship between the two when she finally decides to forgo her disguises and reveal her true identity. This shows that she feels comfortable around him and that she clearly favors him. It will be interesting too watch their relationship grow and see how much Athena really favors him over anyone else.
To be honest, I'm really not sure why Zeus punished the Phaeacians rather than Odysseus. If he was angry at Odysseus, it doesn't make much sense to punish the Phaeacians when he really has nothing against them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was necessarily the mist that made Ithaca unrecognizable to Odysseus; rather, it was him being away for twenty years. In that time, I would think the Island had changed somewhat.
On another point, I don't think Odysseus was that angry at the Phaeacians for sending him to what he thought was the wrong island. I think it was Odysseus being typical Odysseus and quickly placing the blame on someone else and not waiting to realize that he was, in fact, on the right island.
Later on, Athena disguises Odysseus as an old man. Because of Athena's great wisdom and our study of the trojan war and Odysseus in 4th grade, I am pretty confident that their plan will be successful.
Zeus is trying to keep the peace. Poseiden wants revenge and Athena wants Odysseus to be safe. Poseiden is angry at the Phaeacians for helping Odysseus so Zeus convinces Poseiden to attack them. This way Athena is happy and so is Poseiden. Poseiden is satisfied with this because he fears Zeus' wrath and he is happy that he can get away with killing the Phaeacians.
ReplyDeleteAthena wants Odysseus to prove himself. She favors him but she also wants him to be worthy of that favoritism. She gives Odysseus the opportunity to flex his wits and he does so which makes him worthy of Athena and so she reveals herself.
Odysseus now looks like an old begger so that he will go unnoticed by the suitors and Telemachus.
Zeus allowed Poseidon to punish the Phaeacians because he is the leader of the gods, and as such he doesn't often pick sides. He had promised Athena that Odysseus would return home, but at the same time he doesn't want to anger his brother, so he creates a compromise.
ReplyDeleteAthena covered Ithaca in mist so that Odysseus wouldn't make his own presence on the island known. If he had recognized the island, he might be so overjoyed that he would alert others, but if the suitors knew he was back, they might try to kill him. Athena needs to give herself some time to explain the situation and ensure Odysseus' safety.
Athena disguises Odysseus as a shriveled old beggar. I think it will be successful because his disguise is nearly the exact opposite of who he really is. Odysseus has always been described as a strong and bright eyed, but Athena has transformed into a dim, weak beggar. The suitors will never suspect such a drastic change.
Although it is a little bit unfair that Poseidon takes his anger out on the Pheaecians, one boat is not much of a sacrifice for what could have happened. If Poseidon didn't have someone to take his anger out on, he might do some very drastic things, that would result in far more deaths. Also, there was a prophecy about the boat sinking so it's not like the Pheacians didn't see it coming.
ReplyDeleteI think Athena made the mist because if Odysseus recognized the home land, he would feel free to do whatever, because he is king. What he is not aware of is that his island is in control of suitors. If he went straight to the castle to carry on living the way he did before the war, he would surely be murdered by all the suitors.
Athena finally reveals herself to Odysseus in this book. I think she does this because it's the last stand or something like that, when Odysseus is finally going to get rid of all the suitors. I think that she has helped Odysseus so much because he is the only mortal that measures up to her wit, and cunning. She is the goddess of wisdom and such, so naturally, she likes people who posses those attributes.