Just into the reading of The Odyssey, I wondered why Athena wanted so to help Odysseus. Why did Athena go to her father Zeus in favor of Odysseus? What was her motive, what was the connection? Their relationship seemed to be that of best friends although she was a god and he was a mortal. Athena fought tooth and nail to help Odysseus, and finally I decided that it was because she saw traits in him, a mortal that so greatly mimicked her own traits. They were both great storytellers, both leaders, and both believed in taking action. Were the attributes that I believe Athena saw in Odysseus enough to make her show such great favor as she did throughout The Odyssey?
             Athena and Odysseus in times when they needed to conceal their true identities were able to tell stories to others in very convincing ways. When Athena presented herself to Telemachus, she did so as an old friend of his fathers and was able to tell a very convincing story of their past journeys in order to make Telemachus believer her and look upon the friend with favor. As a god, Athena had insight to enable her to be aware of specifics of history in order to make her stories believable. Athena also had the power to transform herself physically into a vision that made her stories believable. Odysseus, however being mortal could not physically transform himself making his stories believable, yet he had a great gift for being convincing in his storytelling. When Odysseus sat before his wife and told her of how he had come to know her long lost husband, he did so without batting an eye even though Penelope was obviously distraught. His way with words and earnest demeanor made Odysseus an interesting creature to Athena.
             Both Athena and Odysseus were obvious leaders. Odysseus known for all his greatness both near and far was a great leader. He led his crew through great dangers and kept them safe outside of incidents that only the gods controlled. Athena was also ...