Should Odysseus Be Judged for His Violence Towards the Suitors?

However, the suitors did the worst thing a guest could do and, although in vain, plotted to kill Telemakhos as they feared that he would return from his trip to Pylos and Sparta with news of Odysseus. This is perhaps the biggest violation of Xenia that a guest can possibly commit and is punishable by death. In addition to overstaying their welcome and basically taking over the palace as their own, they also treated other guests of the palace poorly despite being guests themselves. In Book XX, Odysseus returned to his palace disguised as a stranger when the suitors were enjoying one of their banquets. Odysseus went around collecting scraps from the suitors so that he would learn to distinguish the good from the bad among them. However, Odysseus' inspection was not appreciated by Antinoos, and instead of giving him food as the others had done, he threw a stool at Odysseus, and struck him on the back (Greek Mythology Link). Without knowing it, the suitors, through Antinoos’ actions, had attacked their host which was another crime punishable by death.

Odysseus has no reason to save his men’s lives but for his own convenience. Finally, Odysseus is home and after a long journey in which he shows no heroic actions and yet proves to be nothing but a villain, he once again proves throughout his actions that he is a villain. Odysseus is finally home, on Ithaca, and is then helped by Athena and disguises himself as an old beggar. He proves then to be a villain by seeking his revenge for the suitors and maidservants that once betray him (696, summary). Another way in which Odysseus shows he is a villain is when he finally reunites with his wife Penelope and reacts with rage when she tests him. This reveals Odysseus is a villain because he reacts as if he was innocent and some way being betrayed by his own wife. Of course, though, he never tells his loyal wife Penelope about his love affairs with Calypso and Circe. In conclusion, Odysseus throughout his actions proves to be not only veil but a villain. He leads his men into trouble, kills the suitors and maidservants without mercy, and betrays loyal wife. This allows readers to truly see Odysseus other side. He was a villain and there is no doubt about it. However, think about his so called heroic actions and the way he made everything work out for his own benefits. He knew he was a villain and somehow still got away with

The suitors that swarm Odysseys ' house in the hopes that they may acquire her hand in marriage. They are a rowdy, arrogant, and decidedly unpleasant bunch, made only worse by their complete lack of concern for Odysseus and his household. But their incessant pursuit of their prize, though what ultimately condemns them, is, by the context already noted, justified. Though they are the primary antagonists in the story, and they certainly suffer the harshest fate (perhaps except for the sailors), amongst their ranks were some perfect decent, well-natured men. It is simply a natural response (in the context of this culture) for a man, Odysseus in this case, to take revenge upon men, whether they be justified in their actions or not or whether they are well-natured or not, who threaten the stability of his household. This is despite the fact that he himself has been the aggressor at many times. Had he been killed in that pursuit, it would have only been considered natural, and so it is natural that the suitors were killed in theirs. The suitors thought, through a successful marriage to a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, they would be able to further their household in terms of success. A notion that, in the world Homer portrays, is not entirely fanciful.

The narration of this chapter is full of powerful words describing him as the master of craft and battle, which is very similar to the way his legacy would describe him. At one point he calls upon the God Apollo to give him glory. This is very interesting because he is the God of archery, and his arrows are a metaphor for death and misery. Odysseus is brimming with pride, and vengeance, and seems to have forgotten his lessons, because these are the vices that brought him and his men misery during their time at sea. The targets that he speaks of, is of course the suitors he aims to kill, but as well it is the reclaiming of his power, his kingdom, his wife, or in other words his life.

Part of this reasoning is that the suitors do not respect his home and the people in it. They entered his residence lacking any respect for the Odysseus; also they are there for the wealth and riches of Odysseus's home. This is clearly seen when Penelope addresses the suitors, listen to me, you suitors, “You who plague this palace night and day, drinking, eating us out of house and home with the lord and master absent, gone so long—the only excuse that you offer is your zest to win me as your bride” (21.79-83). Penelope then brings out the bow of Odysseus as a prize in which the suitors will contend for her. Odysseus seeing his wife beseeching the men who disrespect his home to merely be with her is good enough intentions why Odysseus' fury is justified. Furthermore, another supporting reason is that the suitors were planning on killing Telemachus, Odysseus son “the suitors boarded now and sailed the sea-lanes, plotting in their hearts Telemachus’ plunge to death” (4.947-948) when he returns from his voyage. Even Athena believes the suitors deserve justice; she even voices her concern “Those men who court your wife and waste your goods? I have a feeling some will splatter your ample floors with all their blood and brains” (13.451-453).

I think that Odysseus' actions were justified because of the actions of the wooers. Without any conformation of him being dead, they first tried to woo his wife. That is very disrespectful and angered Odysseus greatly. Also, the suitors show no respect for his house and belongings. They overtake his house without even thinking about the man of the house, which is disrespectful.

Odysseus was not justified in his actions. Even though the wooers might have deserved being killed, because of how disrespectful they were to Penelope and Telemachus. They were even disrespectful to Odysseus as well, trying to steal his country from him wasn't the smartest idea. All those hateful things the wooers said still does not make killing them okay. Violence is never the answer for anything.

There are many times in The Odyssey where Odysseus’ actions are questionable whether they were justified or unjustified. When Odysseus’ saw the way the suitors were treating the women, how they were stealing Odysseus’ things, and eating all of his food which made him mad. Odysseus’ proceeds to get the cowherder and swineherder to help him and Telemachus to take the suitors down. After Odysseus’ returns his actions towards those in his palace were justified when, especially when he killed Antinous and Melanthius.

The play depicts Eurycleia and Penelope discussing Odysseus' return, and how they need to cover up the fact that Penelope was sleeping with Amphinomus. At one point Penelope asks which of the maids know of her affair and Eurycleia relpies, “'Only the twelve, my lady, who assisted, know that the suitors you have not resisted.'” In order to cover her infidelity, Penelope orders Eurycleia to “'Point out the maids as feckless and disloyal.'” This would explain why in The Odyssey, Eurycleia says to Odysseus, “'Fifty women you have inside your house, women we've trained to do their duties well... some dozen in all went tramping to their same, thumbing their noses at me, at the queen herself!'” (452). If she were trying to portray the twelve maids as disloyal, that would be an effective way of doing so. In The Penelopiad, however, Penelope says at one point that “'I even instructed them to say rude and disrespectful things about me and Telemachus, and Odysseus as well, in order to further the illusion.'” (117). Since The Penelopiad suggests that Eurycleia was aware of Penelope's plan to use the maids to get information out of the suitors, it can be assumed that she was pointing out the maids disloyalty to Odysseus in order to falsify evidence against

The suitors were competing to marry to Penelope. They wanted to marry her, because they would have the power Odysseus used to have. Penelope lived in the palace, and whichever suitor won, they would also live in the palace. The suitors knew whoever won would became the most powerful. The suitors were also sleeping with the maids.

The women that work for Odysseus that had helped the suitors were hanged and tied to boards as a way of torture. They had fell for the suitors rather than staying on Odysseus' side. Since this could be treason, they do deserve some sort of punishment, but this is very extreme. Being left to die for taking the side against a ruler that hasn't been anywhere near his kingdom for twenty years is wrong, but people all over Ithaca believed that Odysseus was dead. It should be understood by Odysseus that twenty years is a long time, so people starting to fade him out and draw toward the new people trying to replace

When Odysseus returned home to his wife and son, he took a very brutal approach to rid his home of the suitors who had invaded his household.  This revenge was also taken out upon the servants and maids who had been unfaithful to Penelope and had slept with the suitors.  Some may say this punishment was too harsh, and made Odysseus less than an honorable man.  However, Odysseus’s actions were justifiable.

First of all, all of the suitors deserved to die because they were all trying to win over another man’s wife without any hard evidence that he wasn't coming back. This scenario is very similar to scenes from television shows, where a man will try to make a pass at a girl then the girl’s partner will go to her and usually punch the other guy in the face. This guy usually does not know the girl is involved with someone else so he doesn't really deserve to get punched. But the wooers deserved to die because there was still a good chance Odysseus would come back and they were trying to marry her not take her out for dinner. Also, it had only been three years since Odysseus had left she was still grieving over him and so none of them actually cared about her because they didn't give her time to get back on her feet.

The three topics that will be discussed about Odysseus’ revenge against the suitors are his, motivations, strategies, success, and my opinion on whether justice was carried out or not. First, it is critical to understand the reasons for odysseus to attacked the suitors. There are total of three motives; all of them involved with ownership. While Odysseus was gone the suitor had laid eyes on Penelope.( Odysseus’s wife) This obviously upsets Odysseus when he returns home, and his wife doesn’t even belong to him any more. So, if he wants his wife back he will have to destroy the one that is trying to take her away from him. The second motivation for Odysseus to revenge against the suitor is to save his son Telemachus. Because the suitors hungered for the death of Telemachus, for he was prohibiting them from marrying his mom. The last motivation is to get what rightfully belonged to him. After 10 years of absence from home his possessions was slowly taken away. Therefore, he had to fight for his possessions.

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is away from his home, Ithaca, for twenty years. Despite the low odds of Odysseus ever returning home after such a time, those in Ithaca were expected to remain loyal to Odysseus as they awaited his return. While this was a daunting task, those who accomplished it were heavily rewarded, while those who didn’t were met with death. Upon his return, Odysseus promised Eumaeus, the loyal swineherd, that he would find him a wife, grant him property next to his own, and that he would become one of the “comrades to Telemachus, brothers from then on” (21.243). His own wife Penelope remained loyal for all of the twenty years of Odysseus’ absence, never once giving in to the many suitors who invited themselves into her home and spent years vying for her hand. While she probably would have been killed by Odysseus if she had been unfaithful to him, perhaps her greatest reward was just being able to be with her husband again and being able to live. The suitors, however, were not so lucky. Odysseus, along with the help of the goddess Athena, carefully plotted and executed the death of every suitor that entered his home and gone after his wife. With the help of his son, the swineherd, and the goddess, Odysseus took down every suitor, until “the suitors lay in heaps, corpse covering corpse” (22.414). The resulting death of every disloyal character in the epic