The Odyssey

Throughout The Odyssey, different characters adopt disguises to either facilitate or complicate their own or another’s passage in the world. In fact, some characters even take on multiple disguises over the course of the tale. The goddess Athena, for example, takes on no fewer than three guises. It is not only gods and goddesses who take on disguises, however. Odysseus also uses the power of disguise from Athena to advance his goals and objectives. Through the eyes of a beggar, we learn that Odysseus is a man of cunning but also a man with much caution as he does not reveal himself easily to anyone.

In the journey back to his home, Odysseus faces different events. During the quest to the underworld, Odysseus meets Agamemnon, the lord of men, who undoubtedly plays an important role in Odysseus’s decisions when he returns to his homeland. “So even your own wife - never indulge her too far. Never reveal the whole truth, whatever you may know; just tell her a part of it, be sure to hide the rest (Odyssey 11.500-502).”

When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, the Goddess Athene comes to him and transforms him into a beggar in order to help him plot his revenge against the suitors who are courting his wife (Odyssey 13.454-60). Agamemnon's warning also causes Odysseus to be weary in returning home as himself, as he does not know if his wife is true and on his side yet. Furthermore, Odysseus also is able to see if his wife has remained loyal to him after all these years.

From the vantage point of a beggar in his own court, Odysseus is able to blend in, assess who remains loyal to him, who the suitors are, their habits, and he is able to sow dissent amongst them. The information he gleans allows him to formulate a plan for revenge.

What is more, Odysseus is like a fox, he is clever but at the same time vigilant; he always questions the scenario he is in. For example, Odysseus asks the Goddess Athena if he really is at Ithica, despite how joyful he at the...