Twists and turns galore in books 21 and 22! As we approached the climax of the Odyssey in books 19 and 20, Athena seemed to be doing an increasing amount of work for Telemachus and Odysseus. When father and son were hiding the weapons, Athena made the room light. She also distracted Penelope when Eurycleia recognized Odysseus.
Perhaps the most significant way in which Athena helped Odysseus in books 19 and 20 was making the suitors look riotous and utterly disrespectful. That's not to say that they were behaved at the beginning of the poem; they were rude even before Athena influenced them. The difference is that in the later books, Athena made the suitors' impropriety more obvious and bothersome than ever so that Odysseus would have reason to kill them. She forced the suitors to do things that they might not have done on their own (like throwing a stool at Odysseus). Just when I thought Athena was going to win the battle for Odysseus and Telemachus, she stepped back.
During the battle in books 21 and 22, Athena watches over the fighting and encourages Odysseus, but does not directly interfere or help him in any way. The fact that Odysseus' side wins the battle without divine intervention makes Odysseus look more heroic (although if Odysseus had been in desperate need I suppose Athena would have aided him). While Athena may have helped Odysseus a great deal on his journey, it seems that there is a limit on how much she could help him so that he would be the hero.
It makes sense that Athena allowed Odysseus to finish off the suitors by himself. If she had helped him, I'm not sure how much of I hero I would have considered Odysseus.
You make a good point here, that Athena's aid extends beyond helping Odysseus with practical and tactical matters--she even helps build the "case" against the suitors in the reader's mind, by orchestrating circumstances designed to draw out their least savory qualities, to push their abuse of hospitality into more egregious and audacious extremes. As we touched on in class, this skirts pretty close to entrapment, and her technique may not hold up in a modern court, but in the court of the reader's opinion, Antinous reveals himself to be beyond redemption.
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