Ancient Greek Mythology
Homer's Odyssey
8th century BC, Ancient Greek.
When Athene orders a ship to be made ready for the voyage to Pylos, she appears in the shape of Telemachus and everyone thinks that it's him giving the orders.
The goddess Athene seems to orchestrate the whole thing,’ said Miranda. ‘She appears more than once to Odysseus’s son Telemachus in the form of a particular family friend, a man called Mentor. She actually appears as this man. And Mentor advises Telemachus to sail to Pylos and then to Sparta in order to obtain information about the whereabouts of his father Odysseus. Telemachus only suspects something when Mentor suddenly changes into a bird and flies off!’
‘The goddess Athene also changes into Telemachus himself,’ said Quintin. ‘When she goes down to the harbour near Odysseus’s palace on Ithaca and orders a ship to be made ready for the voyage to Pylos, she appears in the shape of Telemachus and everyone thinks that it's him giving the orders. And again, when, as a direct result of Athene’s machinations, Odysseus is released from the island of the goddess Calypso and washes up alone on a shore in the land of the Phaeacians, Athene takes the form of one of the friends of the king’s daughter – a specific friend whom we are told is the same age and a close confident – and visits Nausicaa, the king’s daughter, in her bedroom, taking the form of Dynas' daughter
to persuade her to go down to the shore where Odysseus is lying.’
‘And when Odysseus is then taken by Nausicaa to her father’s city,’ said Miranda, ‘Athene changes once again, this time into one of King Alcinous’s pageboys in order to summon everyone to go to the place of assembly near the harbour to hear him speak.’
‘And when Odysseus arrives at last on the shores of Ithaca,’ said Quintin, ‘Athene appears before him as a young shepherd.’
