The Odyssey Athena Quotes

And now Athena, looming out of the rafters high above them,
brandished her man-destroying shield of thunder, terrifying
the suitors out of their minds, and down the hall they panicked –
wild, like herds stampeding, driven mad as the darting gadfly
strikes in the late spring when the long days come round.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 22, lines 311-315. After protecting Odysseus by deflecting spears and arrows, Athena now wields her shield of thunder high above the suitors. She sends them into a panic down the hall. In an epic simile, the terrified and fleeing suitors are compared to herds stampeding after being driven demented by biting flies. Athena, by joining by Odysseus and Telemachus’ side as Mentor, has turned the tide of the battle in their favor.

Athena crowned the man with beauty, head to foot,
made him taller to all eyes, his build more massive,
yes, and down from his brow the great goddess
ran his curls like thick hyacinth clusters
full of blooms. As a master craftsman washes
gold over beaten silver – a man the god of fire
and Queen Athena trained in every fine technique –
and finishes off his latest effort, handsome work…
so she lavished splendor over his head and shoulders now.
He stepped from his bath, glistening like a god.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 23, lines 174-183. While a maid bathes Odysseus, Athena removes his beggar disguise and transforms him back to his handsome self. An epic simile compares the goddess to a skilled craftsman working with precious metals and pouring gold over beaten silver to make something beautiful even more so. Odysseus is left shining "like a god."

"Do as your heart desires –
but let me tell you how it should be done.
Now that royal Odysseus has taken his revenge,
let both sides seal their pacts that he shall reign for life,
and let us purge their memories of the bloody slaughter
of their brothers and their sons. Let them be friends,
devoted as in the old days. Let peace and wealth
come cresting through the land.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 531-538. Zeus agrees with Athena after she pleads that there should be pacts of peace between the two sides in the war between Odysseus and the suitors. Since Odysseus has taken his revenge, Zeus says that there should be an end to the bloody slaughter.

"Laertes!"
Goddess Athena rushed beside him, eyes ablaze:
"Son of Arcesius, dearest of all my comrades,
say a prayer to the bright-eyed girl and Father Zeus,
then brandish your long spear and wing it fast!"
Athena breathed enormous strength in the old man.
He lifted a prayer to mighty Zeus’s daughter,
brandished his spear a moment, winged it fast
and hit Eupithes, pierced his bronze-sided helmet
that failed to block the bronze point tearing through –
down Eupithes crashed, his armor clanging against his chest.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 568-578. Athena gives inspiration and strength to Odysseus’ father Laertes to kill Antinous’ father Eurithes with his long spear.

Odysseus and his gallant son charged straight at the front lines,
slashing away with swords, with two-edged spears and now
they would have killed them all, cut them off from home
if Athena, daughter of storming Zeus, had not cried out
in a piercing voice that stopped all fighters cold,
"Hold back, you men of Ithaca, back from brutal war!
Break off – shed no more blood – make peace at once!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 579-585. As Odysseus and his son Telemachus attack the families of the suitors who want to avenge their deaths, Athena intervenes to stop the slaughter. She asks the two sides to hold back and make peace. The strong goddess, who embodies female power in a patriarchal ancient Greece, manages to stop a second war.

loosing a savage cry, the long-enduring great Odysseus,
gathering all his force, swooped like a soaring eagle
just as the son of Cronus hurled a reeking bolt
that fell at her feet, the mighty Father’s daughter,
and blazing-eyed Athena wheeled on Odysseus, crying,
"Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, master of exploits,
hold back now! Call a halt to the great leveler, War –
don’t court the rage of Zeus who rules the world."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 590-597. Odysseus swoops on the Ithacans who flee in panic after Athena’s order for a halt to the bloodshed. A metaphor compares Odysseus to an eagle. Just then we have a final omen from Zeus as he hurls down a thunderbolt which drops at Athena’s feet. The goddess intervenes to rein in Odysseus. Deciding that there has been enough war, she commands Odysseus to end the killing. She warns him not to invoke the wrath of Zeus by pursuing a second war against the suitor’s families. Woman power has the final word on the fighting in Ithaca.

So she commanded. He obeyed her, glad at heart.
And Athena handed down her pacts of peace
between both sides for all the years to come –
the daughter of Zeus whose shield is storm and thunder,
yes, but the goddess still kept Mentor’s build and voice.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 598-602. The final lines of the epic poem tell how at the command of the powerful goddess of wisdom, the fighting stops. Athena, in her last appearance in The Odyssey, takes on the form of Mentor and brings peace to the warring sides in Itacha.
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