Fate and Free Will in the Odyssey
When we look at Greek Mythology we often run into the gods of that era. Sometimes they are merely backdrops to the human element of the story but in stories such as The Odyssey the gods play a prominent if not vital role to the central themes of the story. Fate has a place in the Greek world but its place is not the same as it is in other scenarios or worlds. It is important to understand the word before we discuss it. Fate as far as Greek mythology goes is not just fate. By most standards fate means that things occur for an unknown reason that no one has any control over. However, in the world of Greek Mythology fate does not just happen. The gods engineer fate and they interfere to make things happen that might not otherwise have happened. Since the players do not always know of the gods' involvement, things may actually appear to be fate but in reality be engineered happenings. Free will on the other hand is not engineered. It speaks to the concept of having full authority over one's aspirations and ultimate direction. The key there is "ultimate." The gods can make up the plan and choose the path, but the people had to walk it. Therefore, fate and free will are not mutually exclusive and they both go on throughout The Odysse
As we study what the true meaning of free will is we can be surer of the representation of it by The Odyssey. Many times throughout the story there were choices made that affected the outcome. In one instance we can observe the suitors on Ithaka. They behaved in an atrocious manner and chose poorly throughout the whole story. The gods, who might have interfered and changed the course of history by affecting the choices the suitors made, could foresee where their choices would lead them. Instead the gods chose to sit back and allow the people to make the choices they were going to make. Those choices caused consequences and reactions that the suitors could not get out of. Athena said to Odysseus, "Yes, try the suitors. You may collect a few more loaves, and learn who are the decent lads, and who are vicious- although not one can be excused from death!" (Homer 423) This was the fate of the suitors brought on by the gods because of the choices that the suitors had made. This is the way of free will and it represents the actions that were allowed in the myth. Homer. "The Odyssey." Trans. Robert Fiztgerald. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: the Western tradition-7th ed. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 1999. 209-514 In some areas it is pertinent that the gods interfere. For example, Athena went to Ithaka and advised Odysseus's son to call an assembly. The purpose of the assembly was supposed to be to gather community support in opposing Penelope's suitors. Penelope had waited a long time for her husband Odysseus to come home and in the end she gave up and began allowing suitors to come around. Just as Odysseus was finding his way home she was seeing others and Athena thought a community effort to keep the men away was in order. Here again is a prime example of the god's important role in the development of the story. Without the interference of Athena the suitors may have moved more quickly than they did. In addition to that, the gods worked hard at getting Odysseus home as quickly as possible. We can say that th
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Approximate Word count = 1383
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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