Odysseus

Observing the relationship between the polytheistic gods and mortals in the time of Homer seems, in comparison, is odd to our Judeo-christian traditions found in our society. Where some may see a omnishient and powerful being as a inactive in the our everyday dealings, the Gods in Homer's time were consistently involved in either hindering or aiding those they found to their liking or disliking. In the epic poem â€Å"The Odyssey†by Homer (translated by W. H. D.Rouse) Odyseuss is constantly helped and indered throughout the story by a multitude of Gods. —–To begin, in the VII book Odysseus has been blown off course and has been shipwrecked at the island of the Phaecians due to a storm fabricated by Poseidon the God of the sea and earthquakes. Poseidon's motivation to commit such an act was Odysseus's lack of paying proper homage for the pillaging done during the Trojan War and the blinding of his cyclops son, Polythemus. One appauling point of this example is how defined and clear the motivations of Poeseidon were.Usually when an event of tragedy appens to those who are religiously inclined they often ask â€Å"Why would God do this? † and the typical answer used by religous leaders is that God works in mysterious ways that us humans cannot begin to understand. Rather than the Greek Gods residing in an entirely segreated realm from mortals they allow themselves to share in human traits and motivations . —–Contuing on Odysess's dilema on the island of the Phaecians, he is found by the Phaecian princess Nausicaa who was instructed to make her way to him via the Goddess Athena.Athena is the Goddess of wisdom and has built a mentor and savior like relationship with him. After Odysseus's part to play in the troJan war the Goddess advocated on behalf of Mount Olympus. When the Trojan war was happening Gods took sides, at times they interrupted the war and other times they let the two sides brawl it out. Since there was such a n abundance of Gods to follow in the greek polytheistic religon humans favored certain Gods to pray to and worship and in turn the Gods favored certain humans and gave special attention to.The way the gods treated their followers were as if they were using them as pawns on a great chessboard, pushing them all in different paths as if it were somesort of entertainment. Athena knew that Odysseus was a proper man and could win over the Phaecians, but she chooses to intercede his natural path and gifts him with the knowledge of their culture and turns him invisible so he may enter the castle. The Goddess could have Just as easily Just transported Odysseus into the castle properly dressed and fully groomed, but she took a less involved route.The Gods seem to favor slightly altering information available to humans or effecting relationships and Just watching how it would play out. —–Athena doesn't forcefully push Nausicaa to find Odysseus rather she Just implies it and also she supllies miniscule aid on the path to the castle. On the occasion gods appear to humans as their normal selves, but usually they work behind the curtain. The idea of the gods as tricksters who misdirects individuals for simple entertainment is so odd to compare to our modern way of thinking from a judeo-christian point of view.It doesnt seem right that such a powerful deity should nave a sense ot humor. This most likely branches otttne tact that having a sense ot humor is to human and recognizable to us. On the contrary, once we establish these gods in the same category as humans the idea becomes clearer.