Grim, But Sometimes Nice

Grim as she may be, Athene tried to help Odysseus and his family as much as Zeus would allow. But Zeus also allowed Poseidon to keep poor Odysseus on the run for ten long years. Athene didn’t really shorten Odysseus’ struggle but she did make his homecoming a success. Of course, her idea of ’success’ is usually grim and bloody... but, in those harsh and brutal times, she and Odysseus had little choice but to meet sword with sword. Fortunately for Odysseus (and the narrative style of The Odyssey) Zeus lifted the hand of Poseidon’s oppression and gave us a happy ending.

This Fun Fact was taken from The Odyssey by Homer.