Role Of The Gods. In the Odyssey.

Question 1

What did Jenny Strauss clay say of the role of the gods in the Odyssey?

Answer 1

.The main feature of the gods is that they are “immortal and ageless” They drink and eat nectar and ambrosia to differentiate them from from mortals. They also have divine knowledge- of the future. However some humans can also know this- seers/ prophets.

Question 2

What does scholar Jenny Strauss Clay say about the role of bard in the Odyssey?

Answer 2

Bards, like demodocus, can also be ‘divinely’ inspired by Muses to be able to know and tell wonderful stories about the gods. However in other respects the gods are only relatively superior to mortals. They are larger and more beautiful than mortals and stronger; they can move faster and shout louder. They can also see further.

Question 3

What does Claudia Durst Johnson say about the role of the gods in the odyssey?

Answer 3

.The gods in the Odyssey are there for two reasons: to play a major role in shaping the plot- e.g Athena helping Odysseus and Telemachus , and to be “conveniences to explain what characters would have done anyway, without the interference of the gods . E.g a storm is attributed to Zeus, or Helen in book three explaining why she left her husband to be with Paris, because she was overwhelmed by Aphrodite.
The gods are attributed with human emoitions and used to explain why people do what they do, including certain things that happen to them.