hey did not acknowledge Poseidon's blind hatred towards Odysseus. Like a spoiled child with low self-esteem, Poseidon complains to Zeus, "will the bright immortals/pay me respect again, if mortals do not?/Phaiakians, too, my own blood kin?" (XIII, 56-58) Athena's passionate, sympathetic nature drives her to help Odysseus plainly because she favors him, not because he's a complete saint. As Athena said, "So perish all who do what he had done./But my heart is broken for Odysseus". (I, 66-7) She apparently believes that exemptions from punishment can be made if it is the will of the gods - even if the human deserves the punishment. These two gods demonstrate the lack of a concrete objective system of ruling over the humans due to
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