Meeting of Mentors

Two composed women sat across from one another.

The goddess radiating omniscience while the
Human teacher calmly relaxed into her chair.
They had arranged a meeting to discuss their mentees.
Athena spoke first:

I’m divine as you know,

Poised in the heaven, Pallas Athena on earth;
Either way I watched Odysseus.
Planning out precise paths,
Playing god as I guided him through his journey.
Each step was blessed by me
As I altered both worlds
For him.

My celestial family listened to my pleas for his passage home

As rulers of the Holy City congregated.
Thankfully, I was authorized by the lord of the skies.

Convincing his son to search for his lost kin was my first endeavor on earth.
Inspiring hope for his father’s life;
“Somewhere in this wide world, held captive, out at sea.”
I continued to encourage Telemachus on his travels.

Blind sighted by lust’s beauty,

Odysseus remained confined to Calypso’s clutches.
His cries for liberation brought me back to Mount Olympus.
My second task: begging for Hermes’ help.
The winged messenger would soon set him free.

Torrential waves from my Uncle’s tantrum almost drown my mortal

After his escape from his divine concubine.
I pushed his mind away from the depths of death Poseidon so generously gave him
And instead encouraged him to swim before Ino could provide a
Future less grim.

Eventually when he returned to his homeland,

I hid his body in the skin of a homeless beggar.
He could now walk among his subjects unsuspected as he made his way to the swineherd.

Once loyalty was proven

Through stories of scabrous suitors as Telemachus returned,
I appeared to only Odysseus
As “the god don’t show themselves to everyone alive.”
Melting the fake physique, true features shown through
And he presented himself to his son.

A plan was then devised for the destruction of the unloyal.

My proficient mind couldn’t help but aid in the plotting of a slaughter.
I felt so proud as I watched
My gifted mortal arrange his revenge,
And when the first arrow flew
Into the throat of Antinous,
The battle of my desires began.

Enticed by the bloodshed of betrayal,

I returned to the mortal world as an old friend of Odysseus,
Mentor.
Together we slayed suitors left and right;
A team of two worlds.
I’ll admit I lost my temper at times
But it was only to inspire Odysseus’ inner warrior.

When all was purged of the suitor’s presence,

I returned to the skies to watch Odysseus regain his kingdom and skeptical wife.
Once she wept tears of relief,
I “held back the night, and night lingered long” for the two lovers.

And so,
My mission mentoring my favorite mortal,
Through his expedition around the Mediterranean,
Has come to an end.

“The daughter of Zeus whose shield is storm and thunder, yes, but [I] still ke[ep] Mentor’s build
and voice”

There was a moment of pause.

The teacher thought of what to say in response,
Yet Athena seemed satisfied without approval or any retort at all.
There was understanding in the silence.
Siobhan decided it was her turn to share.
She spoke:

Well it’s my job to help these kids.

I chose to work with brilliant minds: confined.
Christopher,
One of my brightest,
Has been seeing me for a while now;
Learning nuisances in expressions and unsaid inferences,
Rhetorical question and emotions.

Some days can be harder than others.

Christopher tells me stories of home which can be concerning.

I try to help him as it’s already hard enough navigating a world he doesn’t quite understand.
I told him he “should write something [he] would want to read [himself],”
And so the murder mystery of the dog became a work in progress.
As it grew, I too became very interested by the situation.

However, it was when Christopher learned of the affair that I knew

Consequences would come.
He was so apathetic,
But his father wouldn’t feel the same.
The bruise on the side of his face confirmed by fears.

For a while Christopher didn’t come to school

And I learned that he’d snuck off
Because it turns out,
His mother isn’t dead.

You see,
My job limits me to rooms, explanations, conversations, and notecards.
I can’t intervene outside of school like a goddess such as yourself could to do.
So, all I could do was worry.

Christopher came back with his mother one day,

Tired and melancholy,
But I made sure that he could take his A level maths.
He finds an escape within the numbers.

I feel for the boy and try my best to be his guide,

To let him know I understand,
To make school a safe place.
His life is more complex than most
And so if I can be someone he can talk to and trust,
I’ll be his mentor,
Keep him on track,
Help him navigate not only his mind
But everyone else’s too.
Tell him to “think about today/ especially about good things that have happened”
Because it’s my job to help him feel okay.
Even though I’m no goddess,
And I can’t embark on treacherous journeys and assist in battles,
Or beg the glorious gods for guidance,
I can still do my best and advice a challenged boy.
I wouldn’t change that for the world.

Athena wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her hand.
Siobhan’s motherly mentorship touched her.
It differed from her own guardian-angel approach to guiding Odysseus.
While dissimilar, both methods were effective;
The two women understood this.
The meeting had come to a close.
Ideas were shared, and stories said,
Each woman had a newfound respect for the other.
With a parting hug, the two left the room,
Walking away in diverging directions,
To different worlds,
Wondering when they would meet again.
 Work Cited

Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. New York: Vintage, 2003.
Print.

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles, New York, Penguin Group, 1996.