Throughout the entire Odyssey thus far, the gods clearly hold a heavy influence upon the fate of the characters in the story, namely Odysseus and Telemachus. However, these influences are always committed from the shadows. Despite the fact that the events we are talking about are clearly caused by the gods, the gods themselves stay away from the spotlight. Supernatural occurrences ranging from the dissipation of the Greek fleet on the return from Troy to Odysseus's escape from the island of Ogygia, facilitated by Athena, Zeus, and Hermes. However, the mortals which these gods' actions affect never actually see their benefactors (or sometimes nemeses) face to face...
Until now.
Book 13 of The Odyssey begins with the culmination of Odysseus's tale of adventure, bravery, and suffering which he was recounting to his hosts, the Phoenicians. King Alcinous, being the gracious, kindhearted host that he is, takes pity upon the traveler who has suffered so much, and sends him on his way home to Ithaca in a fast ship and plenty of treasure. Despite all that he has been through, however, it seems that his immortal nemesis, Poseidon, is not yet finished. Long story short, Poseidon sinks his ship (again) and essentially alienates the Phoenicians, who really didn't do anything wrong.
In a strange twist of fate, Odysseus lands on the shores of his home, Ithaca. Finally, after all that he has been through, his divine benefactor (benefactress?) Athena reveals herself to him. Throughout the story she has assumed various forms and assisted Odysseus, though she has never told him her identity. Finally, as Odysseus reaches Ithaca, she reveals herself as Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.
It is now more than halfway through the story, and you can't help but wonder, "why now?" Why, after so much suffering that Odysseus has been put through, why now does Athena reveal herself? This observation leads to a question which I posed in my first post regarding the influence of the gods, which is that perhaps the gods have a higher motive for their actions, rather than just personal preference (Ooh, spooky... not really). At any rate, the answer of this question is up to the individual reader to decide.
I find it interesting that there are a few different kinds of influence that a god can have on a character in the Epic. The bigger gods, like Zeus, decide on a person's fate. An example of when Zeus has a say in fate is in book 5, when Odysseus' fate is being decided. Zeus says to Athena, "My child what nonsense you let slip through your teeth. Come now, wasn't the plan your own? You conceived it yourself: Odysseus shall return and pay the traitors back" (pg. 153). In this passage in book 5, Athena is asking for permission of Zeus to help send Odysseus home. It is Zues's job to have the final decision though. There are also gods that have an influence that is just as important as deciding ones fate. Athena and Poseidon both have impacts on Odysseus, but in different ways. Athena helps to guide Odysseus and help him get on track with his journey, and Poseidon tries to kill him and set him off track of his goal. I just find it interesting that gods have such high power and influence, but only Zeus has control of fate.
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