Athena's Plan

We have discussed Athena's role in the section of The Odyssey where Odysseus wakes up on the shores of Ithaca. It was largely agreed upon that she has a great admiration for Odysseus and his cleverness in his deceit and trickery, and that her role is partially, if not mostly, as an audience to his schemes, as evidenced by her compliments to him and telling him to apply his skills to trick the suitors and dispatch with them rather than plotting for him as she did for Telemachus. However, I feel that this is somewhat a simplification of her role and that, in fact, she has plans of her own for Odysseus.

The first thing which struck me while rereading this section at the end of Book 13 was Athena changing Odysseus's appearance. Even though she had told him to think of ways to strike the suitors, she didn't simply tell him what was happening in his house and left him to his plots, which a reader could only assume were likely to have been successful. Instead, she inserts herself into the situation further by giving Odysseus a new appearance. There are two significant aspects to this action. First, this is entirely Athena's idea, no input from Odysseus was given, which contradicts the idea that she simply wants to watch him do his stuff and enjoy the show. Second, while she could just as well have given him a disguise, she chose to do something to his appearance which Odysseus could not undo himself when the time came. Athena would be required again to change him back into his original guise, which implies, though does not require, that she had some indication already of when she would need to do that. In other words, she likely had a plan for how Odysseus would set up and approach the suitors before she changed his appearance.

Athena even hints at her plan by telling him what effect the change will have, to make the suitors and Telemachus see him as ugly, and telling him who to go to first. While it could be argued that she is only giving him initial conditions which will set up a show she wants to see, the more obvious explanation (to me) is that she is setting up a situation which is likely to guide Odysseus towards carrying out a plan she has already finished plotting. It is unlikely that she would have given him a first step to take (talking to the slave) if she wanted to see the full extent of his creativity in action, even if the majority of her plan is to allow his abilities to lie carry him forward from that point forward.