Odyssean gods Odyssean gods The Odyssean gods are the ancient Greek gods referenced in Homer's "Odyssey". The story's major gods include Athena, Poseidon, Calypso and Circe; minor gods include Ino, Hermes, Zeus, and Heracles. The Odyssey's major gods include Athena, Poseidon, Calypso, and Circe. Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, and was also the patron goddess of heroes. Odysseus was a great hero among the Greeks, and so had Athena’s favor and aid in many of his exploits. She was also a key goddess in the story of "The Odyssey" as a divine assistant to Odysseus on his
Shooting the messenger Shooting the messenger "Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of blaming the bearer of bad news. Until the advent of modern telecommunication, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, in war, a messenger would be sent from one camp to another. If the message was unfitting, the receiver might blame the messenger for such bad news and take their anger out on them. An analogy of the phrase can come from the breaching of an unwritten code of conduct in war, in which a commanding officer was expected to receive and send