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“As for my not coming near you, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would get back safely though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish to quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded his son.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
Book 13 Summary
After Odysseus finishes his story, the ship to take him home is prepared. Odysseus says his goodbyes to the Phaeacians, enters the ship, and immediately falls into a deep sleep. The Phaeacians get to Ithaca in short time, put the sleeping Odysseus on the shore along with their gifts to him, and sail away.
When Odysseus wakes up, he doesn’t recognize Ithaca at all and thinks the Phaeacians dropped him off in another strange land. Athena approaches him disguised as a shepherd and tells Odysseus he’s on Ithaca. Odysseus makes up a backstory for himself and Athena, amused with his story, turns into a woman and reveals herself to him. She reassures Odysseus that he is back on Ithaca, helps him hide his gifts from the Phaeacians, and explains the situation with the suitors and what Telemachus has been up to.
Odysseus asks her what he should do and Athena tells him she will transform him into an old beggar to disguise who he really is. He will then go to his swineherd, who has been faithful to Odysseus’ family, and stay with him and learn more about what’s happen. In the meantime, Athena will go to Sparta and ensure Telemachus gets home safely.
Alcinous Loses His Innocence
It was hinted at this whole time that something bad was going to happen to the Phaeacians if they helped out Odysseus. In Book 8, Alcinous said to Odysseus:
“Still I do remember hearing my father say that Neptune was angry with us for being too easy-going in the matter of giving people escorts. He said that one of these days he should wreck a ship of ours as it was returning from having escorted some one, and bury our city under a high mountain. This is what my father used to say, but whether the god will carry out his threat or no is a matter which he will decide for himself.”
Odyssey, Book 8; Samuel Butler translation
There’s also the fact that Poseidon has a grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and has been making his journey home extremely difficult. Also, Alcinous’ family is descended from Poseidon and the Phaeacians worship Poseidon.
Despite all of this, Alcinous still chose to help out Odysseus and basically says “whatever happens, happens.”
And then it happens. The Phaeacians help Odysseus get home. Poseidon doesn’t like this one bit and turns the ship into stone just as it returns to Scheria. Alcinous then repeats the prophecy and immediately prepares sacrifices to try and appease Poseidon before he buries their city.
But there’s something else that Alcinous says before making the sacrifices:
“In the first place we must leave off giving people escorts when they come here…”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
After all this time, knowing that there was a prophecy that told of the Phaeacians’ undoing due to escorting strangers to their destinations, when it finally comes true Alcinous attitude goes from “whatever happens, happens” to “we must never do it again!”
I’ve speculated in previous posts that Alcinous is this naively innocent ruler. He rules over a paradise of sorts with plenty of food, clean water, greenery, and virtually no conflict. He’s visited by the gods all the time who come and feast with him. His wife, the queen, is actually the wise one whom people value for her insight.
Lastly, all Alcinous seems to care about are stories—in other words, being entertained. Remember that he even said at one point about the Trojan War:
“The gods arranged all this, and sent them their misfortunes in order that future generations might have something to sing about.”
Odyssey, Book 8; Samuel Butler translation
It’s a statement someone disconnected from the world, unfamiliar with war, and/or a child would say.
However, now that he’s experiencing divine wrath first hand, he is no longer carefree and naive. He’s about to have his innocence shattered.
Sadly, we don’t find out the ultimate fate of the Phaeacians. Homer abruptly shifts focus away from the Phaeacians to Odysseus waking up on Ithaca. However, if there’s one thing we know about prophecies in ancient Greek literature, it’s that they eventually come true. As Nestor said:
“For when the gods have made up their minds they do not change them lightly.”
Odyssey, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
The abrupt shift away from the Phaeacians could be a way of Homer signaling that in the middle of the Phaeacians’ sacrifice to Poseidon, Poseidon buries them.
The Phaeacians could be a cautionary tale about what happens to someone when they are sheltered, hardly ever suffer adversity, and think that their actions won’t have consequences. Reality strikes and then the world buries them.
Athena the Fairy Godmother
It’s official: Athena is the fairy godmother of the story.
Before Book 13, Athena worked behind the scenes or disguised herself as someone and didn’t make people aware it’s her until after she left. In Book 13 though, she fully reveals herself to Odysseus and helps him in a way only a fairy godmother could.
First, she protects Odysseus from making a rash decision by making the area Odysseus wakes up in foggy so he can’t tell he’s returned to Ithaca. Then Athena reveals herself to him, helps him hide his gifts from the Phaeacians, and tells him about the suitors. Odysseus later acknowledges this saved his life:
“In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you had not given me such timely information.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
Second, she attempts to soothe Odysseus’ doubts and encourage him. This is the first thing Odysseus says to Athena after she reveals herself to him:
“This much, however, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as we Achaeans were fighting before Troy, but from the day on which we went of board ship after having sacked the city of Priam, and heaven dispersed us – from that day, Minerva, I saw no more of you, and cannot ever remember your coming to my ship to help me in a difficulty; I had to wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered me from evil and I reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you encouraged me and took me into the town.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
It could be argued that Athena was “very kind” to Odysseus and the Achaeans because of her enormous grudge against the Trojans and the Achaeans were the ones being used for their demise. As soon as Troy was sacked, she didn’t need the Achaeans anymore. Even more, we learned that for some reason Athena turned against the Achaeans right after they sacked Troy for some reason (see Books 1, 3, and 4). Whether she specifically turned against Odysseus for a period of time though, it’s not clear.
Also, Odysseus has been through hell the past ten years. You can’t really blame him for feeling like Athena abandoned him when he needed her the most. He doesn’t even trust her at first when she tells him he’s really back in Ithaca.
Here is Athena’s response though:
“As for my not coming near you, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would get back safely though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish to quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded his son.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
Athena had confidence in Odysseus’ abilities. Despite how much he suffered, she knew he could persevere and reach his goal of getting home. She was also afraid of working out in the open against Poseidon. This could explain why it had to take ten years for Odysseus to get home after the war.
I think Athena is also hinting that a lot of Odysseus’ hardship was self-inflicted. If he had listened to his crew and not got it in his head that he could reason with the savage Cyclopes, he wouldn’t have had to blind Polyphemus and earn Poseidon’s undying grudge against him. Plus, Polyphemus only knew who to call his father Poseidon against because Odysseus, in his boasting, foolishly told the cyclops his name.
When Telemachus comes up in conversation, Athena tells Odysseus that she sent him out to find out news about Odysseus’ whereabouts. Baffled, Odysseus asks her why she didn’t just tell Telemachus he was still alive. Athena responds:
“Never mind about him, I sent him that he might be well spoken of for having gone.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
I talked at length in my posts on Books 1-4 about Telemachus’ journey and how it transformed him and brought him into manhood. Athena points out that another purpose was to boost Telemachus’ reputation. Telemachus had to grow up and perform feats on his own. It couldn’t all be handed to him and he couldn’t rest on his father’s reputation. This journey will also prepare Telemachus for what’s to come regarding the suitors. If he hadn’t gone on his journey, he may have been useless to Odysseus when it came to his revenge against the suitors.
Lastly, Athena transforms Odysseus’ physical appearance to look more like an old beggar and gives him old, ratty clothes to wear. This is in order to keep everyone in Ithaca from recognizing Odysseus, especially the suitors, until Odysseus can find out who he can and can’t trust and to put his revenge into motion.
I have to wonder if Athena was the model for later fairy godmother stories like Cinderella?
I Missed It
While reading through Book 13, Athena informs Odysseus that the suitors have been harassing Penelope for three years.
My first reaction?: Finally! We find out how long the suitors have been at it.
Something bothered me though, so I went back through the Odyssey and discovered this information was already divulged back in Book 2. Here one of the suitors say:
“This three years past, and close on four, she has been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says.”
Odyssey, Book 13; Samuel Butler translation
I completely missed this. It isn’t even in my notes on Book 2.
I was wondering this whole time how old Telemachus was when the suitors first showed up. After a year of Odysseus being missing? A few years? It turns out it was after six or seven years. That means Telemachus was around 16 or 17 when he began to be bullied by the suitors.
So basically, Telemachus had to endure the equivalent of high school until he became an adult.
And rather than go to college, he went on an adventure and made a name for himself.
That’s all for Book 13 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Ulysses Transformed by Athena Into Beggar by Giuseppe Bottani. 1775. Public domain.