Divine intervention is the overarching theme of the Odyssey. In the second half of the poem, with Athena’s help, Odysseus manages to return home, reinstate his power, and at the end even avert a fatal conflict with the massacred suitors’ families, thus emerging as a military and moral victor.
Discuss: does the abundant help he receives from Athena add to or detract from his epic glory? In other words, can he still be an epic hero even though his final victory is negotiated and sealed by a goddess? And why?