The Odyssey is written by the Greek bard / poet, Homer. The epic poem is considered to be written around the 8th – 7th B.C.E. However the elements of the epic suggest it takes place in the twelfth century B.C.E., a time the Greeks believed when the deities seen in the epic roamed the land and there were more heroic demi-god like morals as champions of different lands. This was a time period when Greek civilization was in a peak of its history and perhaps associated this success as a result of divine blessings given to them by the deities they worshipped and sacrificed too. Leading to the fact of why there are so many instances we see the various deities have, whether it be direct or indirect, influence on the various characters in the epic. …show more content…
Agency is defined as the capacity of an entity to act in any given situation independently and to make their own free choices. A decision or desire of some higher being produces every step of Odysseus’s journey. Zeus even says in the beginning of the epic that he wants to plan for Odysseus’s return home. Thus through every step of the journey he had some sort of divine agency in his aid that enabled him to get past the challenges another god, Poseidon. These are seen through countless examples in the epic but something to be noticed is that unfortunately others do not have as much favor with the gods as Odysseus had. In Book XVIII we see Odysseus finally back home and engaging in some interactions with the suitors under the guise of a poor man. One that stands out is the one he has with Amphinomos after this suitor gives him some food and kindness. For despite Odysseus’s attempt to try and save him from his revenge plot, Amphinomos was destined to be doomed. “for in his spirit he saw the evil, but still could not escape his doon, for Athene had bound him fast, to be strongly killed by the hands and spear of Telemachos (Book XVIII line 154-156). ” Athene urged Odysseus to kill all the suitors but he had not decided upon Anphinomos’s predetermined death however Athene had no matter his moral character. Odyessus …show more content…
By the end of Book I we see an empowered Telmachos not afraid to threaten the suitors and order his mother around. Unbeknownst to those characters it was described that it was Athene’s divine power that free him from his melancholy and indecisiveness. This interaction is described “Now, I will make you a prophecy, in the way the immortals put it into my mind, and as I think it will come, though I am no prophet…I for my part do not know…The gods have not made yours a birth that will go nameless hereafter…(Book I line 200-223). ” Athene creates uncertainity and necessity of the search to send him on a journey toward the world his father has become familiar with. She in fact even orders Telemachos to ship out with twenty men. Here the divine agency works in ways to conform Telemacho’s own needs into