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Examples Of Odysseus Justified In Killing The Suitors

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Odysseus was justified in the killing of the suitors because they were devouring the resources of his household, attempted to wed his wife, and concocted a plan to kill his son. In addition, he thought he was justified in the killing of the maids because they had slept with his enemies, were rude to guests, and they were his property.

Odysseus believed he was in the right when killing the suitors “You dogs! You never imagined I'd return from Troy- so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving-women- wooed my wife behind my back while I was still alive!” (Homer 22: 37-40). Odysseus was dead set on killing the suitors since the beginning. He even told them “. . . all your necks are in the noose-your doom is sealed” (22: 43), illustrating how he would kill them as to avenge his wife and his honor. In doing so he was perceived as a hero by the most prevalent male figures in Ithaca, displaying an excellent example of Kleos, “fame through having great honor and virtue. Earned pride.” …show more content…

The way he had tortured the suitors was appalling, there are a multitude of graphic examples in the Penelopiad. “ Odysseus and Telemachus hacked off the ears and nose and hands and feet and genitals of Melanthius the evil goatherd and threw them to the dogs, paying no attention to the poor man’s agonized screams.” (23). This exemplifies bie, a Greek value that means “violent might or brute

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