I think there are two elements two think about in
answering this question. Firstly, the gods in both The Iliad and The Odyssey are shown
to be quite a fickle group, using their human heroes to champion their petty squabbles
against other gods and treating them as playthings. Thus, in a sense, Athena can test
her hero because she is a goddess and she can do what she
likes.
However, also, it is important to remember what kind
of character Odysseus is. He is not known as "the wily Odysseus" for nothing, and
certainly throughout the rest of the book disguise, deception and illusion are used
readily and frequently to trick, beguile and deceive. Thus, there is something fitting
in Odysseus not realising he has reached Ithaca in this book: the deceiver is himself
deceived. Of course, once Odysseus realises his location, he immediately determines to
employ deception to achieve his goal until the grey-eyed goddess Athena reveals truth
through her own act of self-revelation.
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