The Epic Immortality of Cult: Divine Relationships in Homer’s Odyssey

The famous epic poem, the Odyssey, was written down by Homer some two thousand years ago, and as an oral tradition of song it has existed for far longer. It is the second oldest piece of literature in the Western canon, and yet it is retold, studied, and admired to this day. Classicist and mythographer Gregory Nagy describes this phenomenon as poetic immortality. Nagy asserts in ‘Poetic Immortality of the Hero’ that the divine opponents and complements of epic heroes are typically paired with them in cult and resemble them. Veneration in cult is essential to the immortality of heroes and gods. When we look at Homer’s Odyssey we see many parallels drawn between Odysseus and his divine counterparts, specifically Athena and Poseidon. While the goddess is his constant supporter, the sea god is Odysseus’ mortal enemy. The relationships between divine and mortal characters in the Odyssey have larger implications that extend beyond the text itself. Nagy’s schema can be used alongside the symbolic parallels between these characters to theorize the ineffable motivations of the gods, while also explaining the importance of epic story to cult belief through the present day.

Throughout the Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as the divine protector of Odysseus, and it seems the goddess’ chosen charge is a man much like her in many ways. The “very-clever Odysseus” (4.763) is described time and again as a resourceful man and brilliant strategist with a knack for victory. These traits link him implicitly to the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy and provide an explanation for Athena’s special interest in the hero. In Book 13, Athena says, “We both know tricks, since you [Odysseus] are by far the best among all men in counsel and tales, but I among all the Gods have renown for wit [metis] and tricks.” Odysseus is, then, an earthly extension of the goddess and her will; he is also, by nature of being mortal, far less powerful than she and dependent on her in many ways. This dependency is especially salient to our understanding of Odysseus’ glory (kleos) because Odysseus would surely have died early on in his journey — or perhaps at Troy — if it were not for Athena’s constant help and support. Athena appears throughout the Odyssey as a sort of “guardian angel” for Odysseus, though arguably far more powerful than that term typically implies. In Book 3 of the Odyssey, Nestor speaks of the relationship between Odysseus and Athena, testifying to the clear favor she shows him: “for I never saw the Gods showing such open affection as Pallas Athena stood by him for all to see.” Clearly, we are meant to see Odysseus and Athena as working in tandem; the aid that the goddess provides the mortal explicitly links them through the action of the Odyssey. In this way, Odysseus’ deeds are also Athena’s, though I do not mean by this statement to rob Odysseus of his free will or autonomy. It is important to note that although Athena encourages Odysseus during the battle with the suitors, she does not fight for him; Odysseus is not simply a puppet of the goddess’ but an impressive fighter on his own. This is imperative; Odysseus gains the goddess’ help because he is worthy of it, his own strength makes aiding him a worthwhile exploit for Athena.

The link between Odysseus’ actions and Athena’s divine will is exposed by Odysseus’ relationship to Poseidon. The sea god is Odysseus’ enemy, seeking vengeance for the blinding of his cyclops son Polyphemus; “For his sake Poseidon, shaker of the earth, although he does not kill Odysseus, yet drives him back from the land of his fathers” (1.74–79). As Athena lends protection and help to Odysseus, Poseidon stands as a constant obstacle to the hero’s return home. The sea is an omnipresent motif in the Odyssey; the perils of sea-travel are a constant threat as Odysseus wanders the Mediterranean, and the sea god’s rash, easy-to-anger characterization mirrors the natural threat Odysseus faces from the ocean. But it is not simply because the ocean is a dangerous place that Poseidon is characterized unfavorably in the Odyssey; he counts Athena among his rivals as well (recall the gifts each deity made to the city that would become Athens, and Athena’s decisive victory over Poseidon there). This story provides further context for the enmity between Odysseus and Poseidon; it makes logical sense that the mortal counterpart of Poseidon’s rival would also be his rival by extension. However, Odysseus’ mortality places him in a more precarious position when faced with Poseidon’s wrath. Tiresias instructs Odysseus that his troubles will only be over after the hero undertakes a last journey to a land where his oar is mistaken for a winnowing-fan; in this land that knows nothing of the sea, Odysseus must offer a sacrifice to Poseidon — a twofold honor as it would also introduce Poseidon’s cult to a land where it had not previously existed. Only then is Odysseus free to live out his old age in peace, having given up the glory of battle and fulfilled his pious obligations as a mortal to both deities.

The nature of epic story — and storytelling in general — is important to consider when discussing the relationships between Odysseus, Athena, and Poseidon, because it belies the cultic importance of these relationships. I posit that epic story is a form of extended prayer through which gods and heroes are remembered and revered. In Homer’s day, when the Olympian gods were an integral part of a robust belief system and cultural way of life, this aspect of epic would have been much more explicit. When Homer refers to “grey-eyed Athene” he refers not just to the conceptual figure we picture today but to a real and powerful goddess with the ability to affect lives. As worship of the Olympians declined through history, epic story like the Odyssey became the last vestige of true veneration of the gods in popular culture. Gods are nothing if no one believes in them, but the incorporation of epics originally sung in worship to the gods into the literary canon has extended their life long beyond that of the civilization that birthed them.

Academic study of the Odyssey and its attending gods and heroes necessitates the repeated telling of the story and detailed analysis of its characters. The piles of academic papers examining the poetics, symbolism, and importance of the Odyssey look nothing like an ancient Greek cult ceremony, to be sure. There are no burnt offerings; there is no epiphanic experience; but nevertheless these traditions create devotees who keep the gods vital and present in the arena of human thought.

There are, of course, those who still worship the old gods, making offerings and saying prayers at home-made altars. But in the modern world, they are vastly outnumbered by those who worship other gods, or no gods at all. These days explicit, genuine belief in the Olympian gods is hard to find, but subtle, almost frivolous belief is common. The proliferation of epics like the Odyssey throughout modern academia and popular culture keeps the gods alive in the collective imagination of society. Nagy speaks of the “unfailing glory” (kleos áphthitos) of epic heroes, the constancy of which is predicated “on the eternal survival of the epic that glorifies [them].” Kleos is the result of “renown achieved on the battlefield that guarantees you…immortality because your deeds are so amazing that everyone’s going to sing about you forever” (Soloski). When we engage with the gods through retellings of the myths — movies, books, artworks, etc — we offer up our belief in them, however transient it may be. The incorporation into literary canon and subsequent repeated reference in study and popular thought creates an opportunity for stories of the gods to reach a wide audience that crosses cultural lines and prolongs memory of and interaction with the deities it portrays.

Although this cult is very different from those of ancient Greece, it nevertheless creates a framework of belief patterned on the relationships between the divinities and mortals. While we read, we envision the characters and situations we read about; we empathize with their plights and root for the hero to come out on top. At this crossroads of inner vision and empathy, the Odyssey becomes an extended prayer that extolls the strength and superiority of Athena. Without her help, the hero of the story would be dead, shipwrecked or killed by his rival Poseidon. The sea god’s role is especially important given the context of his even older rivalry with Athena. If we follow the typical formula and “root for” the hero of the story, Odysseus, Poseidon is painted as something of a villain. Readers cheer for Odysseus’ victories over the obstacles he faces, including those put in his way by Poseidon. We are glad when Polyphemus is blinded; we are satisfied when Poseidon’s attempts to harm Odysseus are thwarted, either by the hero himself or with aid from the goddess whom he represents. Any glory achieved by Odysseus is ultimately Athena’s glory; he has achieved it either with her help or with the attributes of cleverness and wisdom that are under her purview, and in the end even the mortal hero’s strength must bow to the goddess’ divinity. In this way, Athena triumphs over Poseidon once again and the perennial retelling of the epic extends the victory into eternity.

Returning to Nagy’s schema of divine/mortal relationships, we see that it holds true for the associations between Odysseus, Athena, and Poseidon. Odysseus, as her mortal counterpart, resembles Athena in character and the glory afforded them by the epic story of the Odyssey is shared between them. Thus they are paired together in the new cultic traditions that arise from retellings of the epic. The relationship between Odysseus and Poseidon is parallel to that between Poseidon and Athena, a further resemblance between the hero and goddess, but differs in its result. Odysseus, as a mortal, cannot be the object of a god’s wrath and survive, but to be smote by the sea-god would be to undermine his importance as a conduit for worshipping Athena. In order to keep the glory he achieves with the goddess’ help, he must make peace with the sea-god by offering him sacrifice and introducing his cult to a new land. Thus Odysseus is also paired in cult, albeit minorly, with Poseidon, and balance is restored.

Works Cited

Homer, and Richmond Alexander Lattimore. The Odyssey of Homer . Harper Perennial, 2007.

“The Goddess Athena in Homer’s Odyssey.” The Museum of the Goddess Athena, The Shrine of the Goddess Athena, www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Texts/Odyssey.htm.

Nagy, Gregory. The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. 1979. Revised Ed. Baltimore and London; Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

“The Odyssey: Summary.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/.

Olson, S. Douglas. “Odysseus’ ‘Winnowing-Shovel’ and the Island of the Cattle of the Sun.” Illinois Classical Studies, vol. 22, 1997, pp. 7–9. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23065324.

Sententiae Antiquae. “Terrible, Wonderful Odysseus: The Meanings of His Epithets, His Name(s) and How We Read Him.” SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE, 31 July 2018, sententiaeantiquae.com/2018/07/31/terrible-wonderful-odysseus-the-meanings-of-his-epithets-his-names-and-how-we-read-him/.

Soloski, Alex, and John Green. A Long and Difficult Journey, or The Odyssey: Crash Course Literature 201. YouTube, Crash Course — Complexly, 27 Feb. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS4jk5kavy4.

“When the Oar Became a Winnowing Fan.” Devdutt, 27 July 2018, devdutt.com/articles/world-mythology/when-the-oar-became-a-winnowing-fan.html.