First session:

Throughout the book, we see Athena being a good advisor, mentor and a patron to both Odysseus and his son, Telemachus. The passage I chose to quote that shows Athena saving and defending Odysseus is in book 5, page 180-18, lines 7-20, “Father and all immortal gods,” she said, “No longer let a sceptered king be kind, or gentle, or pay heed to right and wrong. Let every king be cruel, his acts unjust! Odysseus ruled gently, like a father, but no one even thinks about him now. The wretched man is stranded on an island; Calypso forces him to stay with her. He can not make his way back to his country. He has no ships, no oars, and no companions to help him sail across the wide-backed sea. His son has gone for news of his lost father, in sandy Pylos and in splendid Sparta; they plot to kill the boy when he returns!” This quote shows Athena advocating for Odysseus and his son Telemachus’ life, before the Thunder-lord Zeus. 

Second session:

Athena saves Odysseus multiple times and in multiple ways throughout the book. In this specific passage, you can tell by Athena’s tone and emotions as she’s begging Zeus to save Oddyseus’ life after being held captive by Calypso on an island. On page 184, lines 131-133, “Zeus pinned his ship and with his flash of lightning smashed it into pieces. All his friends were killed out on the wine-dark sea. This sentence shows that Zeus himself was on the who caused the odysseus’ shipwreck to begin with and was willing to ask for Odysseus return home points out what kind of impact Athena’s plea for Zeus’ help to save Odysseus was. In page 192, lines 382-387, it quotes, “Athena, child of Zeus, devised a plan. She blocked the path of all the other winds, told them to cease and made them go to sleep, but roused swift Boreas and smoothed the waves in front of him, so that Odysseus could reach Phaecia and escape from death. This goes on to show the dedication Athena has to save Odysseus and guide him to safety throughout the book. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Athena is shown to be a heroic leader and assistant to Odysseus and his son Telemachuus, who helps them in multiple situations throughout the book. Athena favors Odysseus not because he is particularly a good person, but rather because they share similar traits. Although Odysseus is renowned for being a cunning man, he is a wise and intelligent man who gets himself out of sticky situations, unless he winds up in a situation he is truly stuck in, in which case Athena is shown to step in and help get him to safety. Both Athena and Odysseus have wise and resourceful traits which creates a relationship with mutual respect and loyalty to one another.