Power of the Gods

Recently I have been thinking about how the power of the gods affects who I am, and those around me. No doubt that the gods are powerful, but to what extent does intervention become control? I have been feeling like an outsider, due to the fact that I am too powerful to be associated with mortals, but I do not believe in being so powerful that mortals are my pawns. A broad example of this is with Uncle Poseidon and my dad. The grudge from Poseidon directed towards Odysseus appears to be purely out of hate and resentment about Odysseus’ actions towards Polyphemus. However, when the situation is examined closely, one can see that Poseidon’s anger isn’t being directed towards Odysseus, but rather through Odysseus. All of his traps are escapable, and he never attacks the weak. What it really boils down to, in my opinion, is rivalry and jealousy. Poseidon wants to prove himself the greater god, by out testing the others, especially his family and namely his brothers. When Odysseus is pushed around by one god, another god immediately reacts. For example, when Poseidon tries to drown Odysseus many times,  another god intrudes into the situation to help Odysseus. This has happened with Ino and the veil, as well as Zeus selecting Odysseus to live after Poseidon killed his crew. I guarantee if Poseidon was trying to keep Odysseus alive, my father would be trying to kill him. When you are a god, power goes to your head very quickly. I know it might appear from my actions that I am trying to maximize the flux between Odysseus’ ups and downs, but in reality I am just playing along, and trying to be the one goddess who comes out on top. I admire Odysseus for who he is, and rather than changing physical battlefields I change mental ones. An example of this is in Odysseus’ final battle with the suitors. It was a battle that defined him not only as the man of the house, but as the king of Ithaca. I also like to think of this battle as the one that defined me as a goddess, for not only admiring but controlling the mental aspect of a mortal. In this battle, many gods would have strengthened this man, but rather I just spectated. I encouraged him to fight bravely and respectably, and that is what he did. However this is not the only moment the power of the gods was called into question by me. Throughout Odysseus’s last part of his journey, I had to constantly inspire him to continue. I had to place anger in other people, in hopes that they would anger Odysseus as well. Like in other examples, the rest of my family would simply just manipulate Odysseus. I do not believe in this. I believe that free will is something to be earned, but once it is earned it should be cherished. I will miss my journeys with Odysseus, but not to worry, once I find another mortal to help, the blog will know. Who knows, it might even be you.