What if The Odyssey isn’t simply about a hero’s journey—but about the relationships that shape us?
Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey has renewed interest in one of the greatest stories ever told. While many readers remember it as the tale of Odysseus’ long journey home after the Trojan War, the epic is equally shaped by the remarkable women he encounters along the way. As a recent BBC Culture article explores, figures such as Athena, Penelope, Circe, Calypso and Nausicaa are far more than supporting characters—they drive the story’s most important turning points and reveal enduring truths about human nature, relationships and emotional growth. Their roles provide a compelling starting point for reflecting on how ancient mythology continues to illuminate contemporary psychological life.
What the Women of Homer’s Odyssey Can Teach Us About Relationships, Attachment and Psychological Growth
More than three thousand years after it was first told, Homer’s Odyssey continues to resonate because it speaks to something timeless about being human. Beneath its adventures lies a story of longing, identity, temptation and the search for home. It explores what happens when life changes us and we must discover not simply where we belong, but who we have become.
Introduction
For psychotherapists, this enduring appeal is unsurprising. The emotional landscape of the Odyssey mirrors the journeys encountered in therapy. Odysseus’ greatest challenges are not only external dangers but also psychological ones: the pull of fantasy, the fear of loss, the temptation to avoid painful truths, the struggle to tolerate uncertainty and the gradual development of emotional maturity.
The women of the Odyssey are especially significant. Rather than seeing them simply as characters who help or hinder the hero, we might understand them as symbolic representations of emotional experiences that every person encounters. Each reflects a different aspect of our internal world.
This perspective resonates strongly with the British Psychoanalytic tradition. Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Ronald Fairbairn, Wilfred Bion and John Bowlby all viewed the mind as shaped by internal relationships rather than isolated thoughts. Modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy offers a complementary perspective, helping us recognise the thinking patterns and behaviours that maintain emotional difficulties. Together they illuminate the journey towards psychological growth.
The Journey Home
The destination of the Odyssey is Ithaca, yet the true journey takes place within Odysseus himself.
When he leaves Troy he is celebrated for his intelligence and courage. By the time he returns he has endured grief, helplessness, temptation, isolation and repeated encounters with forces beyond his control. His greatest achievement is not defeating enemies but developing greater emotional wisdom.
Therapy often follows a similar path. People frequently begin seeking relief from immediate distress, yet deeper change comes through understanding recurring emotional patterns rather than simply removing symptoms.
Object Relations theory suggests that our earliest relationships become internal templates that shape how we experience ourselves and others throughout life. Seen this way, the women of the Odyssey can be understood as symbolic emotional experiences that accompany us throughout development.
Athena: Learning to Think
Athena rarely solves Odysseus’ problems for him. Instead, she encourages reflection, patience and thoughtful action.
Her role resembles Bion’s concept of containment. Emotional development depends upon another mind receiving overwhelming feelings, making sense of them and returning them in a form that can be thought about rather than acted upon.
Many clients initially experience emotions as urgent facts. Anxiety demands escape. Anger demands retaliation. Shame urges withdrawal. Therapy gradually creates space between feeling and action.
Athena symbolises this reflective capacity.
Bowlby’s Attachment Theory offers another perspective. A secure attachment provides a safe base from which exploration becomes possible. Athena supports without controlling, allowing Odysseus to develop confidence in his own judgement.
CBT describes a similar process through metacognition: recognising thoughts as mental events rather than unquestioned truths.
Penelope: Holding Relationships in Mind
Penelope spends twenty years waiting for Odysseus.
Her achievement is not passive endurance but emotional constancy despite prolonged uncertainty. She preserves hope without certainty.
Object Relations theorists describe object constancy as the ability to maintain an emotional connection despite absence, disappointment or conflict. When this capacity is fragile, temporary separations may feel like abandonment and reassurance becomes difficult to sustain.
CBT similarly recognises the importance of tolerating uncertainty rather than constantly seeking certainty.
Penelope reminds us that trust is not the absence of doubt but the capacity to remain emotionally connected despite it.
Circe: Meeting the Parts We Disown
Circe transforms men into animals.
Psychologically, this symbolises what can happen when emotions overwhelm us. Under stress we may behave in ways that feel unfamiliar or even frightening.
Klein described splitting as a defence in which aspects of ourselves become divided into “good” and “bad”. Anger, vulnerability or dependency may be disowned because they conflict with our preferred self-image.
Therapy encourages us to recognise these split-off parts without becoming overwhelmed by them.
CBT similarly invites curiosity rather than judgement, asking what purpose behaviours serve instead of condemning them.
Transformation begins with acknowledgement.
Calypso: The Comfort of Avoidance
Calypso offers safety, comfort and immortality.
Yet accepting her offer would mean abandoning Ithaca forever.
Fairbairn observed that people often retreat into familiar emotional worlds even when those worlds limit growth. What once protected us can eventually imprison us.
Avoiding intimacy prevents rejection but also prevents love. Avoiding conflict protects us from anxiety while preventing honesty. Avoiding change preserves familiarity but limits development.
CBT describes this as experiential avoidance.
Calypso reminds us that emotional safety is not always the same as emotional health.
Nausicaa: Receiving Kindness
Odysseus meets Nausicaa after losing everything.
Rather than judging him, she offers dignity, kindness and practical help.
For Winnicott, healthy development depends upon an environment reliable enough to support the emerging self. Being cared for without humiliation allows genuine growth.
Many people entering therapy struggle not only with giving care but also with receiving it. Self-compassion often feels unfamiliar.
Nausicaa reminds us that healing frequently begins when another person responds with simple humanity.
The Sirens: Familiar Voices
The Sirens promise irresistible knowledge.
Odysseus survives not because he is stronger than temptation but because he prepares for it. He asks to be tied securely to the mast before hearing their song.
Psychologically, this reflects repetition compulsion. Familiar emotional patterns continue attracting us despite painful consequences.
Our internal voices may insist:
“You always fail.”
“No one stays.”
“I don’t need help.”
Mentalisation and CBT both encourage recognising thoughts as mental events rather than objective facts.
Insight alone is rarely enough.
Preparation and self-awareness matter.
Where Psychodynamic Therapy and CBT Meet
Psychodynamic psychotherapy and CBT are often presented as opposing traditions, yet many contemporary clinicians see them as complementary.
Object Relations theory asks why emotional patterns developed.
CBT asks what keeps them going today.
Psychodynamic thinking explores meaning and unconscious relationships. CBT strengthens awareness, flexibility and behavioural change.
Together they offer a richer understanding of psychological growth than either approach alone.
Therapy as the Journey Home
Perhaps the deepest lesson of the Odyssey is that home is not merely a destination.
It is a psychological achievement.
The emotional capacities represented by Athena, Penelope, Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa and the Sirens continue to exist within each of us. At different moments we seek guidance, avoid pain, confront hidden parts of ourselves, long for safety, receive kindness or struggle against familiar temptations.
Therapy rarely removes these experiences altogether. Instead, it helps us understand them and respond with increasing freedom.
Like Odysseus, we discover that lasting transformation comes not through dramatic victories but through reflection, courage and emotional honesty.
The journey home is ultimately the journey towards becoming more fully ourselves.
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Photo credit: Dimitris Mourousiadis / Pexels
Audio narration produced using ElevenLabs voice technology.