Odysseus and Athena

Introduction

Reading Greek works provides important information about the relationships between gods and humans. While the gods and humans have very related personalities Greek gods have a definite amount of energy which, given the motivation of an arrogant mortal, they are all too willing to control their own entertainment without considering the consequences for others. In Ajax, Sophocles begins telling the story of Ajax sometime after the events in Homer's Iliad. In the course of the play, Sophocles says that he feels slighted by Ajax because he received the armour of Achilles. As a result, decides to seek revenge and eventually kills himself hit in his honour, leaving the question of whether suicide is an honorable action or not.

In the work, the relationship between gods and humans is an evil; the gods do not act as partners or advisors, but also act as administrators strict. In the poetry of Sappho, however, the relationship is very different. Sappho, a Greek poet, whose life is shrouded in mystery, describes the relationship between humans and the gods like a loving father, prepared to give assistance when needed. There is a striking contrast evident in the connection between gods and humans in the Ajax of Sophocles and Sappho's poetry therefore, mainly on the different types of nature, gods parents who take on each. 

Relation between Athena and Odysseus

The connection between Athena and Odysseus has been examined in numerous distinct manners. Some select to portray Athena as a mother number towards Odysseus, because of the way she nurtures and carries him. A feature present in the gods of both the works of Sappho and Sophocles is a paternal character. Both in poetry and the gods play a similar event for parents, although with different styles of parenting, providing advice, warnings, and assistance to human beings. In nature the parents of the Ajax of God is revealed from the beginning, when Athena is a summary of events surrounding the Ajax of Odysseus. Athena brings Odysseus to witness the crazy state of Ajax, later saying:

"We consider, then, and never allowed to speak great words against the gods ..." (154-6).

Here Athena uses Ajax to Odysseus teach a valuable lesson about the meaning of humility and respect, the advice given to Odysseus Athena is reminiscent of a father telling his son to be humble and not disrespect elders. Characterization of Athena in Ajax is that of a stern mother, while looking out for their child while at the same time proactively rebuked him for his arrogance and disrespect for the future (Alexander, p. 489). 

Like Athena behaves like a mother in Ajax, acts as a mother Aphrodite in Sappho's poetry. The nature of Aphrodite in Sappho's poetry is that of a protector of the mother of Sappho, the speaker, requests for assistance desperately Hebrewtic, a situation that the reader learns that it has happened before. This characterization of the mother of pampering is evident in the first fragment, which tells Aphrodite Sappho,

"To whom I can talk this time to welcome ...