Athena in the Twenty-first Century

http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2012/10/athena-in-the-twenty-first-century/

 

Athena in the Twenty-first Century

By Jean Collier Hurley

Tangents: The Journal of the Master of Liberal Arts program at Stanford University, Vol.7 (2008)
Introduction: In writing The Odyssey, Homer brings to life the characteristics of a twenty-first century professional woman in the form of the goddess Athena. Like many contemporary women, Athena moves in what is primarily a man’s world, striking a balance between male roughness and female tenderness. She attends meetings, collaborates with colleagues, mentors subordinates, plans strategic offensives, and resolves conflict. Her success demands mastery of delegation, persuasion, and motivation. Competence and assertiveness are givens. Athena skillfully integrates these qualities with her extraordinary insight into interpersonal dynamics. In doing so, she advances an agenda tied to home, family, and ultimately peace; objectives as relevant today as they were at the time of Odysseus.

Athena’s persuasive skill is introduced in Book One of The Odyssey during a meeting of the gods when she presents the case for rescuing Odysseus. Her objective is to return him to his home and family. The gods have convened in full assembly at their home on Olympus, like a group of senior executives meeting at corporate headquarters. Zeus, the all powerful creator and the father of Athena, presides over the meeting in the manner of a CEO. Athena masterfully begins her presentation by first showing deference to Zeus and his position, referring to him as “… our high and mighty king …” (1.54) She follows by supporting his argument that Aegisthus deserved to die, agreeing that he paid the price with “…a death he earned in full!” (1.55) Her calculated display of loyalty to Zeus sets the stage for his support of her proposal.

As she lays out her argument on behalf of Odysseus, Athena draws on her talent for persuasion and motivation. First, addressing Zeus’s compassion for her as her father, she pleads that her heart br eaks for Odysseus who is “…far from his loved ones…” (1.59) Appealing to his sense of justice as the CEO, she declares that leaving Odysseus to wander far from home for so long is a gr eat inequity; that he suffers miserably from being trapped by Calypso, who is after all the daughter of a wicked father, and that Odysseus even longs to die.