Staring with the story of Odyssey by Homer, Lord has intervened in various circumstances. Odysseus went for a Trojan War where they left with victory. Like many other Greek warriors, Odysseus consulted a goddess who told him that he will win the war. Mysteriously Odysseus won the war of Trojan where many other warriors fell. The Trojan War was a war of treachery and in many cases the warriors didn’t have any clue of their fate. Odysseus however, through the intervention of goddess was able to survive from that Great War. At this point, the reader can observe a scenario where the characters seek the intervention of a supreme being in their decisions and thoughts.
Odysseus did not travel home from the war. All the remaining heroes went back home but Odysseus was left behind in the remote island of Ogygia (Homer 3). The mysterious thing was that goddess Calypso has fallen in love with Odysseus and could not let him leave. It was not common for an immortal being to for any attachment with mortal being. A love relationship between a goddess and a human being is something that nobody expected. They stayed together in the island of Ogygia for twenty years. By the time Odysseus left home for Trojan War, he left an infant son, Telemachus, and a wife Penelope. For any war hero, what they always want is to go back home and celebrate their victory with their families and countrymen. However, for Odysseus, he was so much enchanted with the powers of Calypso that he could not remember to go back home. I believe that it a mystery for an immortal being to fall in love with a mortal human. It was not a fair game however for Calypso to use her divine powers to enchant Odysseus, it was better if she played on a fair ground where Odysseus also had the powers to oblige to their heart desires.
Back in Greek was Odysseus’ wife and son. Telemachus was now a mature young man. For the last twenty years, he has never believed that his father really died. Despite his mother’s belief that the husband died, he still felt somewhere in his heart that his father is still alive. Goddess Zeus sent Athena to go speak to Telemachus about his father. The goddess assumed the body of Telemachus’ friend Mantes who told him that his father is still alive and will soon return to Ithaca. This instance depicts god’s intervention on human miseries. Telemachus has been worried about the state of his father for the whole of his life, and then finally a goddess intervened to convey the good news. I believe that the intervention was a way for goddess Zeus to show the mortal human her powers and mysteries.
Telemachus had to prepare their home for the arrival of his father. Since his father went, there has been constant flow of suitors to his mother Penelope. Penelope has grieved her husband for years, assuming that he fell in the war of Trojan. She had no idea that her husband was very alive staying with a goddess in the island of Ogygia. For years, she has been receiving countless suitors who want to marry her after the ‘death’ of her husband. Penelope did not know that her husband will come back, in fact she knew that he was dead; however, she couldn’t accept any of her suitor’s hands in marriage. In a way, something was telling Penelope that her husband may come back. In a way, this was lord’s intervention. For the lord’s love with the Odysseus’ family, she managed to make them be prepared for the coming of Odysseus. They had no idea that he was coming back but they just decided to wait for him. The most vivid fact here is that goddess Zeus had influenced the decisions of the family. She used her mysterious powers to reassure them that Odysseus was coming. As a matter of fact, she knew he was coming back and she was planning ways of helping Telemachus to get his father back. With this level of involvement of divine powers in human’s life, the reader is left wondering how the gods and goddesses have been intervening in our daily life. For religious people, we believe that the presence of a Superior Being is always amongst us, watching over us, influencing our thoughts and belief and protecting us from the dark powers.
In his pursuit for his father, Telemachus and goddess Athena (disguised as Mentor) travelled to Pylons. In Pylons, they witnessed religious ceremonies where people were making burnt sacrifices to their god Poseidon. Telemachus was not a public speaker, so he was terrified to approach and speak to Nestor, the king of the City of Pylons. Goddess Athena intervened by giving Telemachus the required strength to approach the king. Even though Nestor did not have any news concerning Odysseus, he believed that Athena will show mercy and give Odysseus back to his family. With the help of goddess Athena, Telemachus was able to defend his family, send away the suitors in preparation for the coming of his father. My opinion is that without the intervention of goddess Athena, the family might have moved ahead long ago. Penelope could have given in to one of her many suitors and Telemachus would have lost hope in ever meeting his father again. It through the intervention of the goddess, with her mysterious powers, that Odysseus came back home and found a united family waiting for him.
Throughout his hero trip Divine Right encountered several characters that shaped his understanding of the journey he was undergoing. Divine Right was driving with his girlfriend, Estelle from Kentucky across the country. His first encounter was one Lone Outdoorsman. Divine Right had no place to sleep as they were in the middle of nowhere. Lone Outdoorsman offered his a tent where they spent the night. His second encounter was Greek. Just like him, Greek was on his journey to Oklahoma to destroy the only information about him which was remaining, an autobiography thesis (Norman 19). As D. R was running away from home, Greek was running away from his identity. There was a shift in character between Divine Right and David ray all over the story.
D. R met another character whom he perceived as God (Godsey). He talked to Godsey via the phone and asked her to come take care of his new encounter, Emmitt. The story revolves around a psychic character that could travel back and help his dead grandmother serve tea; and also travel time to see the death and burial of his uncle Emmitt who was still alive. By the mysterious encounter with various characters and the final reunion with his wife Estelle, Divine Right was able to live in harmony with himself. These encounters were not just fate, but the divine intervention by some supreme being watching over him.
Amidst his endeavor to live in harmony with himself, Divine Right placed his belief in God. He was so much a believer that he associated any person who helps him with God. He perceived Godsey as a God just because Godsey promised to take cake care of his uncle Emmitt. Gurney Norman succeeded in making the readers to believe that there was a divine intervention; that God used his mysterious power to shape Divine Right’s fate so that he can encounter people in his life that will make him have peace with himself.
Reference
Homer. The odyssey. Vol. 28. Collector's Library, 2011.
Norman, Gurney. Divine Right's Trip: A Folk Tale. Pan Books, 1973.
