In Homer's Odyssey, the Greek gods interfere with the citizens of Ithaca on a daily basis, greatly influencing and changing their lives. Throughout the Odyssey, the Greek gods use their significant power to their advantage. The interventions of the Greek gods reward or punish the citizens of Ithaca, depending on whether their actions are positive or negative. In Homer's Odyssey, divine intervention generally occurs as a response to Odysseus' actions, whether it is rewarding Odysseus after a positive action or punishing him after a negative action, which shows that Odysseus' character was inconsistent between good leadership and bad leadership. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe first example of God's intervention, as a response to Odysseus' positive actions, comes when he finally successfully returns home to Ithaca and bids farewell to his wife Penelope. Penelope being her cunning self, is eavesdropping on all the commotion in the great hall. Athena now inspires her to issue a challenge that only Odysseus can complete. Athena's guidance that she offers to Penelope, while portraying God's intervention, shows that Athena is rewarding Odysseus for his good leadership as he completes his journey and brings all of his men back to Ithaca. The moment Odysseus strikes the bowstring, Zeus fires a bolt of lightning that shatters across the sky just as the suitors are in disbelief that Odysseus strung his bow and shot an arrow through 12 axes. As the narrator in the Odyssey explains how simple this task was for Odysseus, he goes on to say, “Like an expert singer, skilled in lyre and song, easily stretching a string to a new peg, making the sheep's entrails pliable.” at the two ends Odysseus stretched his powerful bow with virtuosic ease. Athena, the god of war, favors and rewards Odysseus for his good leadership and for finally returning home. Athena rewards Odysseus by telling Penelope to create a challenge that she knew only Odysseus could complete. This quote is extremely important because Athena changed the outcome of Odysseus' future with Penelope. Without Athena, Penelope would not have known that Odysseus was actually Odysseus and who knows what would have happened in their relationship together. The quote explains the extreme cross-breeding that Odysseus took to draw the bow, but it also explains that he drew the bow with remarkable ease. This is an ideal example of how the gods can be rewarding and friendly as long as they approve of your positive actions and good leadership. However, if you make mistakes and show negative actions, the gods can be ruthless and punitive and can change the lives of citizens forever. The second example of divine intervention in recognition of Odysseus' positive actions occurs when Odysseus has enough courage to resist. for the men who suffered in Circe's house and goes alone to approach the goddess. After hearing Eurylochus' story of what happened to half of his friends in Circe's house, Odysseus decides to go alone to meet the Goddess. During his journey he meets Hermes, who is cunning and disguised as a boy, who teaches him how to defeat Circe and gives him a magical cure for the goddess drug called Molly. Hermes, the god of trade, wealth and fortune, gives Odysseus this masterful advice to defeat Circe, which reveals the fact that she is rewarding Odysseus for his strong leadership skills and incredible courage while setting an example for the his men as he faces this task of going to see the goddess alone, which not many people are willing to do. This shows that Odysseus has moments of great leadership and is not afraid to defend Ithaca or his men. This also shows that Ulysseshe is becoming more mature and turning into an indestructible young man. Hermes gave the following advice to Odysseus on how to beat Circe “The gods call this plant Moly. It is difficult for mortals to dig, but the gods can do anything” (Homer 269). Hermes, after approving of Odysseus' positive actions, gives him advice on how to overcome Circe's deception. Hermes gives Odysseus a plant called moly, which allows Odysseus not to be deceived by Circe and to overcome her. This drug, however, is only available to the Greek gods. In this special moment, Hermes describes how, if Odysseus shows positive actions and good leadership, he will receive good feedback and be rewarded by the Greek gods. Hermes changed the outcome of his visit with Circe and, ultimately, changed the outcome of his life by intervening at that exact specific moment when Odysseus was on his way to Circe. This demonstrates the fact that the gods can determine how a person's life unfolds depending on whether their invention is rewarding or punitive. This is a perfect example of how the gods can be rewarding and can come in handy as long as they approve of your positive actions and good leadership. Although there are many examples of divine intervention in response to the recognition of Odysseus' positive actions, there are multiple instances in which the Greek gods intervened when Odysseus portrayed negative actions. The most significant example of this occurs in book 12, when Odysseus must warn his men of the Sun god's cattle. Odysseus advised his men not to eat the Sun god's cattle. Odysseus and his men make an agreement that they will not they will eat or kill the cattle of the Sun god. Odysseus failed to convey the fact that if they ate and killed the cattle of the sun god, there would be consequences from the gods. During the night Zeus creates a storm that prevents them from leaving the island for an entire month, during which they run out of meat and are forced to eat fish. While he sleeps, Odysseus' men break their promise to him and kill some of the Sun god's cattle. Even after being rebuked by Odysseus they continue to dine on beef for an entire week. Zeus strikes the ship with lightning and the ship is torn to pieces and Odysseus' men drown. Zeus, the god of war, punishes Odysseus for his poor leadership as Odysseus failed to keep his men away from the sun god's livestock. This describes the fact that the gods are unforgiving and are not afraid to completely ruin citizens' lives if they show negative actions that the gods do not approve of. Odysseus told the reader: "My men were thrown into the water, and, bobbing like sea ravens, they were carried away by the waves running round the black ship, and the god carried away their homecoming." Odysseus is illustrating how defenseless his men looked when they fell into the sea and began to drown. He is describing how his men were bobbing up and down and were incredibly helpless as the waves were gigantic compared to them and he is also expressing how the gods took away their homecoming. Odysseus is telling how ruthless the Greek gods were when Zeus struck a bolt of lightning and tore Odysseus' ship to pieces and killed all his men as they drowned in the stormy waters. Zeus changed the outcome of Odysseus' life as he disapproved of his negative actions and poor leadership. This is a great example of how the gods can be overbearing and determine how a person's life unfolds depending on whether their intervention is rewarding or punitive. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Divine intervention generally occurs in Homer's Odyssey as 2019.