Athena and Telemachus Author(s): Michael Murrin Source: International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Vol. 13, No.

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Athena

and

Telemachus

MICHAEL MURRIN
of thisarticle Theargument is that,onceonetriesto interpret theHomeric deities like poems,major Athenawill inviteallegorical andthat,in fact,Athenain the Odyssey shouldbe seenas readings A closereading of the initial between andTelemachus Athena reveals discussion three polyvalent. distinct functions of thegoddess,whichcarry overintootherscenes: herpsychological roleas pruwhen one considers andhis development Telemachus towardsmanhood; her dence,especially function as familydaimon or goddessof the household, when onewishesto understand why she whenshedoes;andfinally intervenes one her when realizes what true themilitary intent goddess, hadbeenthroughout thepoem.Thescholiasts all three but for support provide interpretations espethefirst. in theworkof modemacademics, Theseinterpretations alsoappear bothcritciallystress ics andhistorians of religion. who do not show how theycameto Theyshowthatthe scholiasts, theirinterpretations, and modernscholarswho are moreexplicitand certainlyhold different and have different haveprovidedaccounts for these nevertheless, assumptions methodologies, samethree in thepoem.Theyshowthatthescholiasts rolesofAthena ofthe werenoterratic readers I but for is their the claim own. poem. simplypresent readings, polyvalency my

Early in the Odysseythe goddess Athena in disguise visits Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and now a person on the verge of manhood. They have a discussion about his desperatefamily situation and work out a plan of action,which Telemachusimmediately begins to implement, once the goddess has departed. The scene seems uncomplicated,but I hope thata carefuland completereadingof it will show thatthe goddess makes this seemingly straightforward At interchangepolyvalent. Such a claim is controversial. the end of his influential Homer,the Poetryof the Past, for example, Andrew Ford said Fordwas drawingon bluntly thatHomer'spoetry"invitedno reading,no interpretation."' theoriesof oralperformancethathave markedmuch Americandiscussion of Homersince the pioneeringwork of Milman Parryand A. B. Lord.Since I too take seriously the arguments thata long period of performance preceded Homer and thathe himself might have I must, therefore, be very clearaboutmy own procedure. given such performances, had to I am a historicallierarycritic,thatis, I take seriously what ancientinterpreters this scene as as what have about well own Homer's written. say my early contemporaries readers,in fact,made, perhaps,the most influentialreadingof Homer's Athena in history, that of the goddess as prudence, a readingthat often accompaniedtexts of Homer in the Essayon theLife EarlyModem period.2Sometimesit came throughthe Pseudo-Plutarchan and Poetryof Homer,sometimes through the brief statements of scholiasts. The latter 1. Ford, thePoetry 202. Homer, ofthePast, 2. Robert ontheLife andPoetry in Pseudo-Plutarch, 4-5. "Introduction," Lamberton, ofHomer, Essay Michael of Chicago, of English, 1050East59thStreet, Murrin, IL University Chicago, Department 60637 USA. International Vol.13, No. 4, Spring2007,pp. 499-514. Tradition, Journal of theClassical

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especially interestme here because they appear solely as interpreters,devoid of the theory and many of the assumptions that make such readings seem so strange to us. They show, moreover, that in the more restricted area of Homeric criticism the reading of Athena as prudence had a life of its own, detached from the interpreterswhose readings survive in tractsand who often representeddifferenttheoreticalapproaches,from Stoicto Platonic to rhetorical.3 Furthermore,this reading of Athena still has influential modem support, though again, with differentsuppositions. This reading of the goddess, however, does not account adequately for everything that happens in the scene between Athena and Telemachus. It does not answer why Athena chooses to help the youth. Nestor lateris astonishedthat the great goddess should look after someone so young (Od.3. 371-79).4One scholiastsuggested an answer, and in the last century the great scholar of Greekreligion, MartinNilsson, had another,though his position like that of the scholiastmust now be put in historicalperspective. The double reading sketched so far still does not accountfor a crucial section of the divine-humanconversationin BookOne of the Odyssey. Forit the scholiasts again provide evidence elsewhere in their commentson Homer and so do modem historiansof religion. It concernsthe militarygoddess familiarto us from the Iliad,as well as from other writers of the Archaicperiod and from iconography. The threereadingscomplement each other and, takentogether,explain how the goddess makes this scene polyvalent. The readings are historical,those made by others,but the claim is my own.5

Athena as Prudence An unknown person named Heraclitus,who composed a tractcalled HomericProblems sometime in the first or second centuriesof our era, read the scene between Athena and Odysseus' son psychologically,as stages of an internalmonologue in Telemachus(HomeAthena functions as phronesis or prudence, an ric Problems, 62-63). In this interpretation interpretation the scholiasts share with Heraclitus.6The E scholiast draws the moral: Telemachusalone as wise sees Athena, while the suitors are among their cups (to Od. 1. 3. Onethinks of Comutus theStoic, he studiedthegodsgenerally andnotHomer inparthough
4. 5.

6.

ticular,Porphyrythe Neoplatonist,and Heraclitusthe Allegorist,who had a rhetoricaltraining. Nestor's surprisecontrastswith Athena's role as patroness of ephebes in the Archaicperiod. For her role with ephebes, see Anne Ley,"Athena," col. 235. claims that "thehistory of I do not, however,make this claim in a vacuum. RobertLamberton the interpretation of the poems begins within the poems" (Lamberton & Keaney,eds., Homer's AncientReaders, Introduction,ix-x), and Andrew Lairdsuggests that allegory is "builtinto" of Allegory,"153-54). epic ("Figures N. J. Richardson dates the Odyssey scholiaststo the first and second centuriesof our era.See his discussion in "HomericProfessorsin the Age of the Sophists".Sincethen scholarshipindicates a somewhat earlierdate, but the issue is very complicated, involving both the scholia themselves and two MSS.I summarizefrommy discussion of the Iliadscholia in TheAllegorical Epic, 4, n. 3. HartmutErbsehas edited a modem edition of the Iliadscholia,but we still await one for

Thescholia the Odyssey. minora or D (because attributed to the ancient they were originally
scholarDidymus [firstcenturyB.C.E.]) include interpretations and stories that may date backto pre-Hellenistictimes and might representwhat Athenian school childrenlearned (Erbse1, xi & lxvii). In theirpresentformthey arelaterand include quotationsfromApollodorusof Athens,

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113).The youth has been thinkinghow his fatherwould returnand possess his own property, and at that point Athena appears (Od.1. 113-18).Heraclitusand the Escholiastadd to take thought himself how to evict the suitthat Athenaas phronesisurges Telemachus ors (Heraclitus62. 5, E to Od. 1. 270). His speech to the Ithacanassembly wins sympathy, and the voyage that follows takes Telemachusaway from an evil otiumor inaction.And Athena as phronesistells him where to go. He must visit Nestor for advice and Menelaus 62. 6-7) The whole for any informationabout his father.(Heraclitus,Homeric Problems, shows how Telemachus' intelligence progressively develops. For Heraclitus sequence has its roots farback in is a allegory dynamic,diagrams process.Now this interpretation Greek tradition,beginning with Democritus,who wrote a tracton Athena's epithet, Triwhich he analyzed as reflection,speech, and actionby rules, or in laterparlance, togeneia, as prudence. The scene certainlysupports this reading. In her disguise as Mentes Athena does just what she promised to do in the divine assembly that begins the Odyssey(1. 88-95). She stirs up Telemachusand gets him to act on his own. She does so with concretepracticaladvice. First,he must call an assemblyand make public the fact that the suitors are destroying his property and demand that they leave his home. Second,he must go on a voyage to find out whetherOdysseus is still alive or not. If he is dead, Telemachus should set up a memorial to him and then give his mother away in marriage.If Odysseus is alive, he can wait one more year for his father's return.Eitherway he will have taken the customary steps to solve his problem, exactly what one might expect a prudent person to do. Even today, if a spouse vanishes at sea, there is a problemfor the surviving wife or husband, because there is no proof of death. In American law a spouse has to wait seven years till he or she can legally remarry.8 Telemachusfollows through with Athena's advice and begins to act as the head of the household. Athena, therefore,has accomplishedwhat she promised to do in the divine assembly.She has begun to turn a boy into an adult. All this fits very well the interpretation given this scene by Heraclitusand the ancient scholiasts. This role fits the goddess in other scenes as well, normally ones that concern Telemachusor his parents.In this respectone might say that prudence marks the whole family.It was hardly-wonfor Odysseus. Athena did not look afterhim during most of his wanderings,9and in her absence Odysseus did not always act prudently. He had been
what or vetera, The scholia so they cannotdate earlierthan the late second centuryB.C.E. maiora

7.

anduse andgeography, in fable, names nowcalltheexegetical scholars scholia, history, explain vardrawnfrom collection of theartsandrhetoric. notions Theyarea Byzantine philosophical Thesourcesdate backto the firstcenand appliedto singleplacesin Homer. ious sources scholia are whichhavetheexegetical 1, xii-xiii).Thetwo mainmanuscripts (Erbse, turyB.C.E. T (Townley) andVenetus 1, xvii, xxvii).Buffibre B,buttheyalsocontainthe D scholia(Erbse both B is eleventhcentury, datesTto thetenthcentury xlviii).Venetus (Heraclitus, Alldgories, its text and exegeticalscholia,while a laterhand addedD. Sincethis essay concernsthe butforthe willbe drawn editionof its scholia, fromDindorf's normally Odyssey, myreferences the that of both an edition include and Amsterdam would Erbse Iliad poems prints D schothey on the internet D in Iliadem, ed. H. van Thiel,is now available lia (1656). TheScholia (http:// has all the scholia. edition that There is no kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/volltexte/2006/1810).
280-81. 153.5, cited by FelixBuffibre, LesMythesd'Homere, Etym.Orionis,

hasalready toldherthat knowsthatOdysseus is stillalive,andTelemachus of course, 8. Athena, his mother opposesa new marriage. adamantly until hisdeparture from herafter thathedidnotseeorrecognize 9. Odysseus Troy saystoAthena and of subtle a has made careful inPhaeacia he arrived (Od. 13.314-23). analysis this Jenny Clay Wrath The 200-02. wholescene.Seeespecially ofAthena,

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recklesswith the Cyclops, insisting on meeting him, and then he revealed to him his true name and so broughtupon himself and his men the wrathof Poseidon. By the time of our story prudencehas become habitual.The best example would be the probablestory, the Cretanone, he will use regularlyin the second part of the epic, which he first tells when he meets someonehe takes to be a shepherdboy on what to him seems an unknown beach (13. 256-86), a story so differentfrom the real one he told the Phaeacians. The othermembers of his family have prudence as well. It seems almost habitualfor Penelope. In the IthacanassemblyAntinous says she is valued for her craftwork,an activcleverness, and wisdom (2. 116ity associatedwith Athena, and for her good character, treats the 22).10Penelope story given by Odysseus disguised as a beggar (19. sceptically and does believe afterthe slaughterof the suitors, testing him in the not him even 309-16) matterof the wedding bed (23.174-80). She tricksthe suitorsfor three years, weaving and unweaving the shroud for Laertes(2. 94-110), using all the defences a woman who has no one to protecther can use in such a society.Yetone can question whether it was prudent for her to appear in public, forcing the suitors to give her gifts, despite the fact that Odysseus sees what she is doing and is pleased, and the test of the bow likewise could raise doubts." Prudence seems innate to her son, as indicatedby his epithet, rTEnwvupvoc He shows it in practiceby the way he greetsMentes with all the expected (thoughtful).12 social courtesiesand tries to shield his guest from the suitors. The goddess and the family fit each other. The meeting between Odysseus and Athena disguised as a shepherd boy in Book Thirteenof the Odysseywell illustratesthis point, for it is a mirrorscene.13 Odysseus has just told his Cretanstory,when the goddess her and smiles, drops disguise, complimentshis cleverness,saying: G pOTc1V 1 UEiVWEoI EaTEi oCU O)X( PTOc; KEPWaI, ~v 'TrI

ap4>r ... EiS6TEC

CVTcO

&y&? 6' Kal pioloolov, TE ... 1ouv,a KEp&OIV KaI priTI KAEoplal

OEoi0ol

... you and I both know since sharppractice, you are far the best of all mortal men for counsel and stories, and I among all the divinities am famous for wit and sharpness ... (Odyssey13. 296-99)14

10. Athena, of course, was craftsgoddessin theArchaic SeePierre "Athena," period. Demargne, Bronze Bennet, 961b-962b. Shelmerdine, John citingCynthia pointsoutthatHomertransforms in the treatment of textilesinto examplesof shiningand fragrant cloth.See Age practices andtheBronze "Homer Age,"533. 11. Seetheexcellent of heractionsin Od.18 & 19by SheilaMurnaghan, discussion and Disguise in the 127-39. Recognition "Odyssey", 12. Stephanie Westto Od.1. 213in Heubeck, onHomer's A Commentary West,and Hainsworth, vol. 1. Henceforth citedas Stephanie West. "Odyssey", 13. Talking of thisscene,Jenny comes thegoddessandOdysseus Claysaysthatthebondbetween froma similarity in theirnatures Wrath showsthe (The 42).Thewholescene,however, ofAthena, reserved andcareful treats oneof Clay's Athena, 206). points(194-202, way in whichOdysseus 14. All English of Richmond from are the taken from the translation Lattimore. quotations Odyssey

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In fact,the goddess and the family finallymake such a harmony,it brings to light another function of the goddess, one not envisaged by Heraclitusand the scholiasts,who limited Athena to prudenceand a set of psychologicalinterpretations, where the emphasis went to the human being and not to the goddess. Yetshe has as much existence as any character in the poem, and it is to the goddess herself that I now turn.

Goddess Athenaas FamilyandHousehold

The previous discussion has shown how Athena functions psychologically and helps Homer explain how the young Telemachusbegins his maturationprocess. When one turns to the goddess herself, however, that analysis leaves some important questions unanswered. We do not know why the goddess favors this particularfamily, and do not know why she interveneswhenshe does. The D scholiast has an answer to the first question, though he is talking about the parallel scene in the first book of the Iliad,where Athena appears to Achilles and persuades him not to attack Agamemnon. Though she makes herself visible in a public assembly,Achilles alone sees her. The D scholiast remarksthat Achilles can see Athena because she is a family or household daimon(to II. 1. 198). By implication the others, being outside the family circle, would not, therefore,be able to see her. The scholiast makes this observation probably because the scene itself is rather awkward. Achilles suddenly turns around in the midst of a heated argument and addresses what the onlookers would think was blank air.In the Odysseya quiet conversation with a visitor resolves this difficulty,for the suitors, who are listening to Phemius and his lyre, do not overhear the whispered conversation.At the end Telemachusknows he has met a deity but not the identity of the divine being who has visited him. The D scholiasttacitlyasssumesa Platonicviewpoint, one popularduring the second or GoldenAss, said in century of our era. Apuleius, the author of the Metamorphoses was the hero'sguardiandaimon, anotherbook thatAthena in the Odyssey just as therewas of another Platonicthinker one for Socrates(De deoSocratis. 24. 178),and Maximus Tyre, of the same century,drew the same parallel between Socratesand the Homeric heroes, again with emphasis on Athena.15 a Plato himself started this line of thinking among his followers. In the Symposium, of or Socrates in Eros in which a of friends Love, group give speeches praise dialogue repeats for them the discourse of a certainDiotima, who classifiedErosnot as a god but as a daimon,an intermediary spirit between the gods above and human beings below 201a-203a).Diotima/ Socratesconcludes the preliminarydiscussion with a (Symposium remarkthat later Platonistswould develop: "Thereare many spirits, and many kinds of 203a)Forthe D scholiastHomer's Athenais spirits, too, and Love is one of them."(Symp. another.Homerindeed has Athenaconstantlytravellingbetween Olympus and our earth, all these interventions,directly intervening in the affairsof human beings. In the Odyssey of this family. or indirectly,concern the family of Odyssus. She is the daimon This analysis of Athena, while it is based on assumptionswe no longer share,neveras theless provides a rationalefor much of what happens in our scene and in the Odyssey a whole. Yet it also widens considerably the analysis of the second-century Platonists,

15. SeeBuffibre, Les 287,525. d'Hombre, Mythes

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from one person to a family.The D scholiastdoes not presenta rationalefor this extension of Athena'sfunction,but MartinNilsson, the great historianof Greek religion in the last century,supplements the ancient reading effectively, though with a similar caveat. His theory of the household goddess, which had wide influence initially, now is no longer accepted as a broad generalization.I will returnto this point later. For Nilsson Athena began as a household goddess of the Bronze Age.16Hence she continued to preside over arts and craftsin the Greekhistoricalage.'7 She appears without armoron the Parthenonfrieze and sits next to Hephaestus, her male counterpart.18 Beside her is the peplosor robe Athenianwomen wove and presented to her at the PanaAs household goddess, however,Athena looks afternot just the palace but the thenaea.19 royal familyand its possessions, hence her hatredof the suitors,whom we see initiallysitting on the skins of Odysseus' cattlewhich they have killed (Od.1. 108). Book Seven of the Odysseygives us a glimpse of Athena's wider activities in this respect. After she has insured a safe arrival for Odysseus in Scheria, she flies to Erechtheus'house in Athens (Od. 7. 78-81). According to Nilsson this is typical of the BronzeAge. Athena lives in a palace not a temple, and palaces employed craftsmenand women in greatnumbers, hence her patronage of arts and crafts.20 It is a small step from a role of palace goddess to that of the protectorof the royal family that lives there. Nilsson's theory then answers the second question I asked at the beginning of this section: why does Athena intervene when she does? She did not help Odysseus during most of his wanderings but intervenes now that the royal household has reached a crisis. In our scene Telemachus realizes that he faces ruin unless he takes immediate action.21 The theoryalso explains the ending of this scene. Nilsson argued that deities in Crete This connection carries and Mycenaemanifested themselves to mortals often as birds.22 over into Homer,where the gods sometimes change themselves into birds but never into other animals.In every case the metamorphosisinvolves Athena,whether alone or paired with anotherOlympian.23 In Iliad5. 778-79 she and Heraset out to help the Achaeansand are compared to doves in one of those similes that probably indicate an identification: they are doves. In Iliad 7. 58-62 Athena and Apollo alight on a tall oak as vultures to Athena takes the formof a bird three times, always at cruwatch the battle.In the Odyssey cial moments.After their conversationshe leaves Telemachussuddenly, flying upwards.

house and palacegoddess 16. He arguedthatAthenahad a strikingsimilarityto the Minoan As pre-Greek, as she would abbreviated [hereafter 491). MMR], Religion (Minoan-Mycenaean of theperiod. on Mycenaean Greek culture thenbe a partof theMinoan overlay American 17. NilssonatMMR, fromCrete," 491,n. 19citedD. Levi,"Gleanings Journal ofArchaeolwas associated withenergy, thatthe realnature of Athena who argued 294-302, ogy49 (1945): a military Burkert thinksshe is primarily skill,and craftsmanship. goddess,but,of course, as this other well side of her (GR, 140-41). activity accepts 124. Greek abbreviated as GR), 18. Walter Burkert, (hereafter Religion 19. Ibid.&also140-41 20. In LateHelladic IIIA,the periodjustbeforethe Mycenaean, palacesalreadyincludedworkandtheBronze "Homer Age,"517. shops.SeeBennet, hasgoneto the 21. Athena, theenemyof Odysseus, ofcourse, canalsointervene because Poseidon, in his honor(Od.1.20-26). a sacrifice to receive Ethiopians see MMR, 330-40. 22. Forthefulldiscussion, 491-92. 23. Ibid.,

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The readingof 6pvc 6 6' cc avoTraia(Od.1. 320) has been much disputed both by ancient and modem commentators,but in all but one of those readings she takes the form of a bird.24The suddenness of this departure leaves Telemachus with the courage and strength to carryout the instructionshe has received. He thinks of his father and, astonished, recognizes the presence of a deity. It is this departurewhich convinces him that some god or goddess favors him, just as in the BronzeAge the bird showed the divine being to worshippers.Assured of divine protection,he can put into effect the advice he has received. Laterhe will learn who that power is. At Pylos Athena, who has taken the form of Mentor and has been talking to Nestor, departs suddenly as a lammergeier(Od.3. 37172). Later still she does much the same thing, appearing first as Mentor to encourage Odysseus in his battlewith the suitors,and then she flies up as a swallow into the rafters (22.239-40). Nilsson's thesis then both explains why Athena interveneswhen she does in the Odyssey and why our scene ends the way it does. scholars, however, no longer acceptNilsson's thesis. He had argued for a conMany the between old palace goddess and the city goddess of historical times. The tinuity on the cult of the gods in his palace. In the gradual change to a carried Mycenaeanking the became the templeof the state gods, who formerlyprotectedthe king republic, palace and now did the city state.25 Opponentsargue that the extentof BronzeAge influenceon and that no archaeologicalevidence supports the notion Homer has been exaggerated,26 that a BronzeAge goddess becameAthena.Some of them, nevertheless,allow that Mycenae and Athens may be exceptions. In these two places temples of Athena were indeed a At Athens beneath the so-called old temple of continuationof the Mycenaeanpalaces.27 the goddess are the walls of a Mycenaean palace with column bases, and Mycenaean sherds were found there during excavations.28 Accordingly,in the Catalogue of Ships 2. Athena sets the mythical king Erechtheusdown in her own rich temple at Athens (11.

that,however one prints the Greek,Athenaflew away as some bird. 25. MMR487, also 563. 26. John Bennet,"Homerand the BronzeAge," 511-12. In fact, the BronzeAge is now passe for many Homerists.Thereare, of course,crucialdifferencesthat separateHomer fromthe Bronze contrastswith direct rule in Homer Age: the sophisticatedpalace culturewith its bureaucracy (522-23),as do burialpractices(520).Thereis now, however,a reactionamong some scholars, who wish to refocuson BronzeAge influence.See Ian Morris,"Homerand the IronAge," 538. In a recentinterpretation the contestof the bow which initiatesthe slaughterof the suitorsis a BronzeAge memory.See SarahMorris,"Homerand the Near East,"608 & especially 621. 27. Ann Ley,"Athena," in Brill'sNew Pauly,vol. 2, cols. 233-34. 28. Nilsson, TheMycenaean 159,henceforthMOGM.See also MMR,485. Mythology, Originof Greek

24. TheB scholiast another of saysshe fliesawaylikea bird,so in the shapeof a bird,assuming and thosesimilesthatpointto an identification, Aristarchus readav6o"Tala as in II.5. 778-79. butthe it might be thenameof a bird. thebirdmight be aneagle, Liddell-Scott thought guessed of thiswordis as thenameof a passaboveThermopylae. is thattheonly occurrence problem thatthegoddessflewthrough an opening Themodemcommentary Crates' supports reading, in theceiling R a of thehall.Scholiasts & variant the cite and she flew E,H, Q, argue through as "unseen," a neuter smokehole in the roof.Theyalso citeHerodian, who readsdcvoraica thisreading forhis translation. Thegoddessfliesawayso fastthatsheis Popeaccepts plural. invisible withasI havesaid,optsforCrates' West, (Od.1.413-14). Stephanie instantly reading outthesmoke wouldnothaveone.West concludes hole,sincea two-storied megaron sensibly

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546-49).29 StephenScully accordinglypoints out that the critiqueof Nilsson must ignore Homeric stories that support him.30 One could also modify Nilsson's analysis and preserve his insights that help to WhetherAthena began as a household goddess in the explain this scene in the Odyssey. Bronze age or not, she certainlypresided over many household activities in the Archaic and classical periods, particularlyweaving and women's work. Homer shows her performing this functionin BookSix, where the goddess interactswith Nausicaa.3'The goddess initiatesthe whole action,coming to Nausicaa in a dream,appearingas a friendwho gives her practical advice. She tells the princess she will need clean clothes for her approachingmarriageand so doing will win for herself a good reputation (Od.6. 25-30), the same rationaleshe used for Telemachus(1. 95). Latershe appearsas the craftsgoddess to Odysseus, takingon: "the shape of a woman / both beautifuland tall, and well versed in glorious handiworks."(13. 289) This function itself might account for Athena's anger at the suitors,who are destroying the economy of Odysseus' household. So far we have accounted for much that happens in the discussion between Athena and Telemachus, but there remainsa long section we have not yet mentioned, one which a different tack. requires

Athena as Military Goddess Athena goes to Ithacaready for battle: XaXKC), PptiOu, p oTorapov,TC.6pitvrai oTiXac av6p&pv KOTEOCETaI o ppIpoTraCTp1. ipo&ov,ToriiVTE Then she caught up a powerful spear,edged with sharp bronze, heavy, huge, thick, wherewith she beats down the battalions of fighting men, against whom she of the mighty fatheris angered.
EIRETO oqi 6'daXKIOV EYXo~, dKaXpeVOV

1.99-101) (Odyssey

Commentatorshave been uncomfortablewith this passage, since Athena comes to talk with Telemachus, not to fight with the suitors.32 The scholiastsnoted that it did not appear in the Massaliotictext (MTto 1. 97), and they pointed out that the referenceto the spear reflects a passage in the Iliadand should be omitted here (MV to Od. 1. 99). Stephanie and suggests on papyroWest, the recentmodem commentatoron this passage, agrees33 evidence that would the text with lines borrowed from other parts scribes logical expand of Homer.

29. For Erechtheus and theSacred see MMR,563-64;Stephen Scully,Homer City, 35. See also Ley's discussion of Erichthoniosin "Athena", cols. 234, 237. 30. Scully,34 &n. 48. 31. As crafts goddess Athena was connected to young women in the Archaic period (Ley,

cols.235-36). "Athena",

32. Interestingin this respect, however, is Susan Deacy's claim that, when Athena assumes the form of Mentes,she takes on human vulnerability.See "Athenaand Ares,"293. 33. She points out thatAristarchus is behind both criticismsbut thatearlierpeople also had doubts (to 1. 96-101).

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Other scholiasts removed the difficulty by interpretation.The E scholiast explains that her spear with which the goddess dominates heroes indicates the combative power of phronesis. Thewise man throughspeech puts down disorder(E to Od. 1. 96). This is an awkward reading,an attempt to fit recalcitrant matterinto the general ancient interpretation of Athena as prudence, almost the only reading presentedby Heraclitusthe Alleand the scholiasts. There is, of course, a phronesis in war,34 gorist, the Pseudo-Plutarch, and the scholiastsmake that connectionwhen battle is imminent.Before the theomachy in the Iliadthey contrastAthena as prudence, who looks after the Achaeans who fight justly and prudently,to Ares, a god troubled in mind and fickle, since he has changed sides for the war at Troy.35 Similarly,for the OdysseyHeraclitus argues that Odysseus could not have defeated the suitors without guile and, therefore,needed the phronesis of this of Athena (Homeric Problems 75. 9). Yetguile forprecisely purposeforms part Athena's advice to Telemachus, and battle is certainlyher intent. The passage,even if it is a pastiche, reminds us of the warriorgoddess of the Iliad.36 Thereshe sweeps through the rankswith flashing weapons, as the Achaeans rush to bat2. 446-54).Not long tle, excitingunflaggingstrengthfor struggleand war in every man (11. describes how Athena after the Odyssey was finished, Archilochus (circa 680--circa 640) At about the same time stood beside warriorsin real battleand stirredup theircourage.37 Greek sculpture began, in which only attributes distinguished one youth or girl from another. Sculptors represented Athena armed with helmet, shield, lance, and aegis.38 Beforeand afterthe Odysseywas completed, war was Athena'smajoroccupation.39

34. I wish to thankStephenScully(Department who of Classical Studies,BostonUniversity), meof thisfact. reminded andtheAchaeans, nottheTrojans 35. They assume Aresshould Hera (B&TtoIl.20.33&60). support to theShieldGoddess of Myce36. Thewarrior goddessgoesbackto theBronze Age,in particular nae.Painted frombehind,only herfeet,hands,and headproject fromthe largefigure-eight a excavators laterfounda goddesswearing shieldshewears.Nearor in the samesanctuary in the at An Athena later See stood citadel boar'stuskhelmet. GR, Mycenae. Burkert, temple in the back of Mycenae havebeencalledAthena Theshield-goddess 42,140. maynot,of course, allow fora Mycenaean col. 233.Ley does,however, Mycenaean period.See Ley,"Athena", thatstresses thepolitical andmilitary of thegoddessin herrelationship to derivation functions with thatMylonas that Andit is interesting the the theprince (col.234). figuregoddess argues in thewaythatthePalladium rather thehomeland (animageof Athena eightshieldprotected in thecyclic havefoundsmall from fallen heaven) epics.Recently archaeologists protected Troy of someMycenaean of thepalace, withinthecircuit andshrines, strongindependent temples of Idomeneus, wearsthesamekindof helholds.SeeScully, thecharioteer 34&n. 46.Meriones, andHomer, metas thegoddessin Mycenae. SeeLatacz, 262-63&ns. 19 &21.Forthewar Troy see Ley,"Athena", col.235. goddessof theIliad, et Elegi 37. Archilochus, ed. M.L.West, vol. 1. SeealsoBurkert, Graeci, 94, in Iambi GR,140. Frag. InthebriefHymn11sheandAres is alsothemilitary Athena Hymns. goddessin theHomeric to theworksof warandthe sacking of towns.Hymn28stresses the storythatshewas attend in fromthesecond bornarmed. to date but These are difficult prooimia rhapsodic range general tohisediM. later. West's Introduction halfof theseventh to the fifth or See L. century possibly Lives 5. tionandtranslation of themin The Homeric Homeric Apocrypha, Hymns, ofHomer, cols.23838. Theearlierst showAthena withhelmet,spear, andlance(Ley,"Athena", portrayals fromEleusis, dated as on anearlyamphora 39).Evenwhenthegoddessdoesnotweararmor, 124.Onher a spear(Demargne, shestillcarries SeealsoBurkert, GR, 675-650, "Athena", 958a). theAthenian womenwove thebattle withthegiants(141). peplos for war.Sheexistsat its 39. DeacysaysthatAthenais muchmorethanthe intelligent planning in its and and excitement terror Ares," 286). ("Athena veryheart,

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Considerour scene. WhenAthena arrives,Telemachushas been daydreamingnot of legal matters or searches but of his father's return and the scattering of the suitors (Od. 1. 114-17).Athena begins her story of Odysseus expressing the same wish (1. 253-54).40 She then constructs a sinister portraitof the boy's father,of a warrior who lives at the edge or even outside of the normalwarrior's code, yet the kind of person who would do just what Telemachuswants.41Her own disguise reinforcesthis sense, for she appearsas Mentes the Taphian.Elsewhere the poet connects Taphiansto slave trading and raids.42 This Taphianbegins his tale in wrath at what Telemachushad told him about the suitors (Od. 1. 252). In the story Odysseus was seeking poison for his arrows(1.260-64) and not for huntscholiastsso explain the way he will later kill the suitors with single shots (EQV The ing. to 1. 261). Now in the Iliadarcherswere not held in high regard,but they could be quite effective.Alexander(Paris)not Hectorstopped Diomedes (II.11.369-400), and he did not have poison on his arrow heads. Ilus of Ephyre,fearing the gods, had already refused to give Odysseus what he wanted. Now Ilus was the grandson of Jason and Medea and would have known about poison.43He had reason for his scruples,for poison arrowscan be terrifying. We do not know whether Athena tells Telemachusa true or false story,but it is clear that she is preparingthe young man for a battle of annihilation.StephanieWestcalls poison arrows an early form of chemicalwarfare,44 and an anecdote from later history will illustratewhat she means. It comes from the Portuguese explorationsof the WestAfrican coast in the days of Henry the Navigator.45 One of his principal captains, Nufio Tristao, sailed to a river in Senegambia.Two small boats with more than twenty men altogether went up streamwith the tide. They were attackedby men in twelve boats with seventy or A few died before the Portuguese could reachtheircareighty bowmen, who hit everyone. in all and men avel, twenty perished. The poison was so effective that only a slight wound, as long as it drew blood, was enough. They had to cut cables on the caravelitself to escape, and here two more were hit trying to raise the anchorsbut survived afteran illness of twenty days. Only seven survived on the ship, five of whom had to bring the ship home, four boys and an old sailor who did not know how to navigate. Athena gets Telemachusto think about this kind of warfare and closes her story with the wish that Odysseus would returnand killthe suitors (Od. 1. 265-66). The story of Odysseus and the Taphiansintroducesthe practicaladvice Athena gives Telemachus, which we have analyzed earlier. If we look back at that for a moment, it forms a unit to itself and allows for a peaceful solution to Telemachus' problem. But Athena will not have it so. She closes her long speech with plans for a slaughter,the best way to remove the suitors from the palace forever. Meanwhile the prospective victims listen to Phemius'story of the wrath of Athena, visited upon the Achaeans as they sailed to Od.1. 255ff. 40. Stephanie West 41. Jenny outsidetheOdyssey butpartof theepictradition whichwould Claypointsto thematters of Wrath Athena's Athena, (The 187). of justify portrait Odysseus 42. Stephanie Westto Od.1. 105.ShecitesOd.14.452,15.427,16.426and remarks thatMentes in his speeches. lackof scruples showsa certain 43. HTto Od.1.259,citingApollodorus of Athens,andStephanie West on thesameline.Thepoet Greek to theArgo at 12.90andknowsof Jason on Lemnos. SeealsoAdrienne refers Fire, Mayor,

PoisonArrows andScorpion 56. Bombs, 44. StephanieWestto Od. 1. 257ff. andConquest 45. Zurara,Chronicle 86. 252-57. of Guinea, of theDiscovery

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home. The scene is very effective, particularlyin the contrastbetween the quiet discussion, the music and song, and what in fact is happening.46 Athena closes her speech with an example. Telemachus must put away childish things and emulate Orestes, who recently killed Aegisthus and won great glory among men.47Thereis no hint of furies, madness, or remorse,nor will therebe here. Telemachusshows he understandsAthena perfectly,when he speaks to the Ithacan assembly.The scholiastspoint out that he makes the people witness to the laterjust punishment of the suitors (MQ to Od. 1. 272). He can kill the suitors and need not pay any wergeld (2. 14145). There will be death and no recompense,since the suitors refuse to leave his house. This scene like the other referstacitlyback to the public quarrelbetween Achilles and Agamemnon in the First Book of the Iliad,in which Achilles justifies his actions ahead of time, and where recompense is an issue. There the Townley scholiast notes thatAthena'sarrangementwith Achilles turns on this legality.The goddess knows the amount involved before Achilles arranges it, so there was obviously an established with all the legal issues now clear,the two sum for such acts (T to I. 1.213).In the Odyssey can preparevengeance. plotters Athena tells Telemachusto kill the suitors by guile or openly: oTROC KE pvFlOTfipa eI pEyCpoIl TEOlOa KTEIV1CEO Soc i1 ia66Ov. Some means by which you can kill the suitors in your household, by treacheryor open attack. 1. 295-96)48 (Odyssey Action, of course,will requireboth. Here the guile concernsme, well evident in this scene. Athenaconcealsher identity,disguising herself as another,and in an accountwhich might itself be fictionalportraysOdysseus as a man willing to use unorthodoxmeans in battle. and here the palace Guile and ambushin war,of course,can be legitimate.They took Troy, will become a giant trap. The hall, where they are sitting and talking, has only one exit, and that will be blocked by Odysseus, Telemachus,and the loyal men of the household. The poet catches the quality of this trap by a simile. He compares the suitors to fish, caught in a net and dragged up on land (22. 384-89).49 the second betweenAthenaand Odysseusin Book13,whichinaugurates 46. Theconversation discuss The two a similar follows after its of the pattern. roughly preliminaries Odyssey, part then the the beach-and treasures on to do with the matters first-what killings. plot practical thetwo scenesinvolvesrecogbetween a battle. Thedifference concludes Athena anticipating SheilaMumaghan herself to Odysseusbutnot to Telemachus. reveals nition. Athena directly bothin the Homericepics and remarks thatfailureto recognizea god can cause disaster, and for thisby his careful In BookOneTelemachus (Disguise hospitality compensates hymns. n. in the 68 & 14). Recognition "Odyssey", 47. Inthedivinecouncil Zeusspeaksof theeventas recent (Od.1.40-43),andwe laterlearnthat killedhim.Nestoraddsthat before Orestes ruled seven 304-07) (3. years Mycenae Aegisthus wherehe had livedin exile,in Athena's camehomefromAthens, Orestes city. translation. 48. I havealtered slightlyLattimore's or lonians boaststhathe caughtthe Greeks 49. TheAssyrians also used the samesimile.Sargon des 284a: Eastern Near the in the sea like fish live on Texts, 7(a)["Pav6 (Ancient (who islands) p. the Room 11-15 "Annals of 285a: No. Portes," IV]; XIV"). 7(b), p.

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In the scene with Telemachus,Athena does not express her real intentions. At the divine assembly in Book One of the OdysseyAthena says nothing about an attackon the suitors. Nor for that matter do Heraclitus and the scholiasts. A warrior goddess might ruin theirinterpretation or at least complicateit so much, it would lose its clarity.Ws Athena talks of improving Telemachusand no more than that (Od. 1. 88-95).51And her practical advice, although it seems innocuous verbally, creates the actual crisis between Telemachusand the suitors.Alreadyin BookTwo the suitorsspeculate about Telemachus' possible death abroad.They would then divide up the propertyand give the palace to the one who marriesPenelope (Od.2. 335-36). Next they send out a ship to intercepthim.52 LaterAntinouswill recommendthatthey kill him and make the same arrangementfor the property that they had discussed earlier (16. 383-86). Thoughtful Telemachus had assumed a possible murderattemptalreadybeforehe heardAthena's advice (1. 251).One could argue that Athena's practicaladvice sets in motion a sequence of events that must end in death, something foreshadowedby Phemius' song of the wrath of Athena.Wecan, of course, infer Athena's thinking behind this projectedattackon the suitors. As family daimon and house goddess, she hates the suitors, and, as militarygoddess, she will see to their deaths.53 We understandAthena's exact intention only when it is realized. During the climactic battle in the hall, Athena appears first in the form of Mentor and urges Odysseus to put forth a greatereffort so he can kill more suitors (Od.22. 205-10, 224-38). Laterin the rafters she waves the aegis, creatingpanic (297-309).54 The suitors stampede about the hall, and Odysseus and his men simply cut them down. The slaughteris complete.Athena wanted this, and so did Odysseus, who refused Eurymachus'offer of compensation (22. "dread 45-64). This attitude fits Hesiod's description of the goddess in the Theogony: rouser of battle-strife,unwearied leader of the host, a mistress who delights in the clamorous cry of war and battle and slaughter."(Theog. 925-26)59 Athena's attitude to war can be amply demonstrated both inside and outside the poems. In the IliadPriam tells Hector that the Achaeans will kill all the men and enslave

50. Stephanie Westnotesin herglossto Od.1. 293ff.thatMentes heregoes beyondtheprogram in thedivineassembly. outlined 51. Zeus,however, as he indicates in theseconddivinecouncil(Od. 5.23-24). guessesherintent, 52. In Odyssey 13AthenatellsOdysseus aboutthe suitors' and planand saysit will fail(425-28), she alsowarnsTelemachus abouttheintended andhow to avoidit by nightsailing, intercept whenshe comesto himlaterin a dream(15.28-35). 53. InBookSixAthena actsin a similar Shecontrols fashion. theactionbutdoes notinform NausicaaandOdysseus of herpurposes, in are beneficent. The scene Book Thirteen, thoughthey whenAthena firstreveals herself toOdysseus, alltheelements in herfirstvisit includes present to Telemachus. she initially as crafts of her Though appears goddess, Odysseus speaksinstead in his prayer the Spoiler," to the Naiadsof the grotto(13.359),andthenaddresses as "Athena her directlyas war goddess and asks her to "weavethe design"by which he can work on thesuitors(386-88). Shein turnpromises to be at hissideandsaysshelooksfor vengeance the "ground to be splattered and the blood brains of the suitors" (395). by 54. Deacyremarks thatbothAthena andAres"operate to the sameend:the generation of terror" andAres," 28recounts thebirth fromtheheadof Zeus. ofAthena ("Athena 291).Homeric Hymn Sheappears armed andcauses aweandterror. cosmic that"shebrings toZeus' Deacyobserves order forces Other to it,andwhicharebeyonditscomprehension: eventhegodsare absolutely stunned (289). by thewarmagic" 55. Translation citedfromBurkert, 140. GR,

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the women and children(II.22. 58-45), and the gods take a similarview. Zeus kills all the men who ate the cattle of Helios, the sun god (Od. 12. 417-19), just as Athena sees to the annihilationof the suitors.Poseidonexpressesthe logic, when he upbraidsApollo during the battleof the gods. He remindshis nephew of the mistreatment they had receivedyears ago, when they worked for a Trojanruler,and thinks they both should cooperate and destroy Troy:its men, women, and children (Il. 21. 458-60). Agamemnon gives the most extreme expressionto this viewpoint. Upset that his brothermight capture ratherthan kill an opponent,he tells him not to let any Trojan escape death, not even the male fetus in its mother's womb. He wants all Trojans to die, "utterlyblotted out and unmourned for" (Il. 6. 60)."6 If there are no survivors,there is no one to mourn. In all these cases the gods and the victors see the punishmentas just. Athenaherself fits a type of militarygoddess, well known in the region, both in the BronzeAge and in Neo-Assyrian times.57 They were generallydaughters of the sky god and had an arrayof functionsbesidestheirroles in war.In the earlierperiod therewas Anat at Ugarit,a city which had close commercialties with MycenaeanGreece.s8 LikeAthena she was a virgin and could be quite deadly.In BaalandMot,the thirdpoem in Elimelek's Anat loses her temperwith Mot, the death god, seizes Baalcycle (between1400& 1350),59 and splits him with her sword. She then winnows and bums the pieces, grinds them with andMot mill-stones,and scattersthem to the birds of the field and the fish of the sea (Baal 6). In the IronAge it was Ishtarat Nineveh, who wore a beardand won wars for AshurbaEven closer is the Athena of Troy,whom we know from the days of Greeksettlenipal.60 ment in the Troadand to whom Xerxesofferedsacrificebeforehe invaded Greece.61 as well as in the Iliad.She Warand battle are Athena's main concern in the Odyssey thus fits the period in which the poem took final shape, and, if we accept Burkert's analysis, this was her principalfunctionin the BronzeAge as well.62

Conclusion Athena is such an important goddess for the Homeric epics, in particularthe Odyssey, that it is difficult to talk of her in one scene without glancing at her actions elsewhere. Whetherone agreeswith my specificinterpretationsor not, I hope others will agree with

59. See J.C. L. Gibson,Canaanite 1. Introduction, MythsandLegends, of Nin60. See his "Hymnto the Igtarsof Nineveh and Arbela,"4-6,14-16, and his "Hymnto IHtar

56. I owe thisquotation andHomer, on p. 207. to Latacz, 175.Seealsohis ownremark Troy 57. Sarah Morris claimsthatHomeric from that of the NearEast cannot be separated religion andtheNearEast", alsosays Sarah Morris SeealsoLatacz, cols.1040-41. ("Homer 618). "Epic", thatthegods'interaction withmortals in Homeris a characteristic shared withNearEastern andtheNearEast", narratives ("Homer 616-17). 58. EmilyVermeule, Introduction to Nilsson'sMOGM, and GR,140.Minoan xii-xiii;Burkert, have been found at wares a texts. as number well as small of Mycenaean Ugarit, Cypro-Minoan Near SeeKuhrt, Ancient SeealsoLey,"Athena", 233. East, vol.I,302-03. Archives vol. III: andLiterary ed.A. LivCourt Miscellanea, eveh," 6-8, in State ofAssyria, Poetry

ingstone (Helsinki:Helsinki UniversityPress, 1989),Nos. 3 & 7. See also Kuhrt,AncientNear East,vol. II,510-11. 61. Herodotus,Historiae, 7. 43. 62. Burkert, GR,140.

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my generalpoint. The scenes with the gods, the ones which provoked controversyin the sixth centurybefore our era and later,are precisely the richest scenes for interpretation. Heraclitusand the ancientscholiastscaught only one aspectof Athena, though an important one, when they read the goddess as prudence. For the other aspects of the goddess the scholiasts likewise give indications but do not stress them, particularlyfor the Odyssey,the way they stress prudence. I have had to supplement their statements with the observations mostly of historians of religion, whose analyses come into play once one considers a deity ratherthan a human being in Homer's epics. The gods had their own cults in the IronAge and early Archaicperiods, functions a poet could hardly ignore. In this case it was Athena's double function as patroness of household activities63and her other role as war goddess. The scholiasts' stress on prudence,nevertheless,cast a long shadow on Homericcriticism,perhaps even to the present. A way to show the limitationsof such an approachis to consider what would hapto pen the conversationbetween Telemachusand Athena if we consider a medieval substitute for the goddess and put her in the scene. Unlike the gods who were identified with planets, Athena had little afterlifein the earlier medieval period, once Christianity replaced the old religions of the Mediterranean." One could argue that she gave way to her own interpretationand became Prudence. Dante gives a portraitof this replacement.When the pilgrim enters the Gardenof Eden on the top of Mount Purgatory,a procession of personificationsbrings Beatriceto him riding in a chariot. By that chariot dance the virtues. Prudence leads the cardinal virtues, wearing purple. She has three eyes so she can see the past, present, and future 29. 130-32).65 If such a person came to talk to Telemachus,the scene we have (Purgatorio studied would certainly gain greaterclarity.We would no longer have to worry about Athena's motives or the possible confusions and contradictions caused by her various roles, since Prudencecan have only one role. Her advice would correspond to the legal advice Athena gives the youth, which enables him to takean adult role in a difficultfinancial and social situation. The losses, however, would be much greater.The poet would have had to drop the anger of the household goddess and risky plan of the militarygoddess or possibly have at least three figuresvisit Telemachus.In fact, the poet could not have staged the scene at all. The suitors would have noticed a purple-cladlady with threeeyes, and she could not disguise herself.Prudenceis a personificationand in disguise would not be prudence. the scene, while it would have depth, still would lose much of its More importantly, profundity.Once one turns away from Telemachus,however, and looks at the goddess who has multiple roles in the poem and in cult, one discovers that the scene is not simply "allegorical" but polyvalent.66 She comes in disguise and does not explain her own motives. One has to interprether.She resemblesa multifacetedjewel, turning in the light. in fineworks" 13.289). asthecrafts 63. Sheappears toOdysseus tall,skilled "beautiful, (Od. goddess:
64. She had a revival mostly as Minerva,beginning in the fourteenthand fifteenth centuries.See the referencesin JeanSeznec, TheSurvival of thePaganGods,under the headings Athena, Minerva, and Pallasin the index. He gives almost no citationsprior to the fourteenthcentury. See 4. 27. 5. I here draw on Singleton'scommentary. 65. This is the way Dante readsher in Convivio his note to Purgatorio 29. 31-32. 66. The Porphyryscholion assumes two levels of allegory existed at the end of the sixth century theTheologian, himself says: "Amodel of poetic expresHomer 32), and Lamberton (Lamberton, sion in which multiple levels of meaning are possible exists at least as early as Plato"(20).

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