The Odyssey Odysseus Quotes

Odysseus and his gallant son charged straight at the front lines,
slashing away with swords, with two-edged spears and now
they would have killed them all, cut them off from home
if Athena, daughter of storming Zeus, had not cried out
in a piercing voice that stopped all fighters cold,
"Hold back, you men of Ithaca, back from brutal war!
Break off – shed no more blood – make peace at once!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 579-585. As Odysseus and his son Telemachus attack the families of the suitors who want to avenge their deaths, Athena intervenes to stop the slaughter. She asks the two sides to hold back and make peace. The strong goddess, who embodies female power in a patriarchal ancient Greece, manages to stop a second war.

loosing a savage cry, the long-enduring great Odysseus,
gathering all his force, swooped like a soaring eagle
just as the son of Cronus hurled a reeking bolt
that fell at her feet, the mighty Father’s daughter,
and blazing-eyed Athena wheeled on Odysseus, crying,
"Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, master of exploits,
hold back now! Call a halt to the great leveler, War –
don’t court the rage of Zeus who rules the world."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 24, lines 590-597. Odysseus swoops on the Ithacans who flee in panic after Athena’s order for a halt to the bloodshed. A metaphor compares Odysseus to an eagle. Just then we have a final omen from Zeus as he hurls down a thunderbolt which drops at Athena’s feet. The goddess intervenes to rein in Odysseus. Deciding that there has been enough war, she commands Odysseus to end the killing. She warns him not to invoke the wrath of Zeus by pursuing a second war against the suitor’s families. Woman power has the final word on the fighting in Ithaca.
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