Odyssean gods

The Odyssean gods are the ancient Greek gods referenced in Homer's Odyssey.

The story's major gods include Athena, Poseidon, Calypso and Circe; minor gods include Ino, Hermes, Zeus, and Heracles.

Major gods

The Odyssey's major gods include Athena, Poseidon, Calypso, and Circe.

Athena

Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, and was also the patron goddess of heroes. Odysseus was a great hero among the Greeks, and so had Athena’s favor and aid in many of his exploits. She was also a key goddess in the story of "The Odyssey" as a divine assistant to Odysseus on his journey home.

From the very beginning of the Odyssey, Athena is helping Odysseus. Her first act is persuading Zeus to send Hermes to Calypso’s island to inform Calypso that it was Zeus’s will that Odysseus continued his journey home. Seeing as no god could thwart or evade Zeus, Calypso had to let Odysseus go despite her own wishes to have him stay on the island forever. Athena also secures Odysseus future through other characters, such as the Phaecian Princess Nausicaa. In Book 6, she makes sure that Nausicaa meets Odysseus elsewhere on the island by coming to her in a dream and inciting her to go to the river to wash clothes. Odysseus was in a horrid state of nudity and grime when he initially met Nausicaa, but Athena gave Nausicaa the courage to stand her ground so that she could get around to helping him.