Athena In Homer's Odyssey
It is clear that Athena is a bad “goddess” in the Odyssey. When Odysseus returns to his home, Athena suggests he test the suitors to see who is guilty. Even though she sets this task for him, Homer says that “But not even so would Athena save one man from death.”(pg.291) Inferring that even if the suitor was innocent she would still have them executed, this action of hers contradicts what it means to be good therefore she can’t be, she must be bad. Following this, Athena allowed the suitors to insult Odysseus wanting “to make the anguish cut still deeper into the core of Laertes’ son Odysseus.”(pg.312) Athena knew what Odysseus has been through and that he has been waiting to return home for a while so to allow insults to flow through the