The Suitors and Disloyal Servants in the Odyssey Get What They Deserve

The theme of loyalty repeats many times throughout the Odyssey. But no other character shows the same great deal of loyalty as the wife of Odysseus, Penelope. Penelope demonstrates her loyalty to her husband by remaining faithful to him in 30 years of his absence. Even as suitors court her in marriage. Penelope would not choose to marry a suitor until she was certain Odysseus had died.

Near the end of this chapter when he has finished off all of the suitors, (mostly with the aid of Athena), Odysseus feels he has prevailed as the winner, righted the wrong. At one point he exclaims "these men the doom of the gods has brought low, and their own indecent acts. They'd no regard for any man who chanced come their way. And so thanks to their reckless work, they met their shameful fate."(435-438). The irony of this quote is the fact that he is

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.

A. Yes, Eurylochus and the rest of Odysseus’s men tend to typically act in a more selfish manner than gravitate towards the notion of justice.

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.

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.

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.

In the book the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus was justified in his act of trapping and killing the wooers. Odysseus went off to go fight the Trojan War. He won but as he was leaving to return home his ship was lost at sea for ten years. During this time, the wooers took advantage of his wife Penelope’s hospitality, and stayed on their property for an extended time. Odysseus revenge was worthy against the plot to kill his son but he may have gone too far in his violent display regarding the servant that betrayed him. The influences of the gods also play a strong roll in the sequence of events that occur and the decisions made in this Ancient Greek setting.

I think Odysseus was not justified for his action. Yes the wooers were wrong but there was no need to brutally murder them. There are less harsh ways that were easily just. Even though multiple individuals were trying to marry Odysseus's wife he had no right to kill them. The important thing is that she waited those 10 years for you.

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

Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey translated by Allen Mandelbaum, Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, stayed loyal to her husband who had been out at sea for twenty years. She had been surrounded by suitors during all that time he was gone. Penelope was able to put off the suitors for four years until one of the servants found out and told the suitors. She now had to try find other ways to keep the suitors away, but as time went it became harder. Penelope had to deal with every little thing that the suitors are doing and she still was loyal to her husband.

Although Odysseus kills all the suitors in order to be with his family he doesn’t think about the relatives of them who would want revenge. He only acts upon what he wants to do to the suitors even if it might end up badly for him. They were not happy to hear that Odysseus killed a member of their family and as a matter of fact wanted to kill him because of what he did. “Quick, after him...or we’ll hang our heads forever, all disgraced, evenly generation down the years, if we don’t punish the murder of our brothers and our sons!” (24.476-480) Dolius is so aggravated at Odysseus that he wants to end Odysseus’ life right that second. The two families have a fight, but luckily no one dies; there are just some minor injuries and broken stools.

Odysseus’s massacre of the suitors may seem a tad bit excessive for one man to perform, but with the support of the gods it becomes more realistic. If you take our perspective of justice out and embrace the “Eye for an Eye” justice used thru the duration of the Odyssey, The massacre was not a blatant disregard for life; punishment was from one man to another in regards to betrayal, ignorance, and the blatant disregard to one of the utmost important rules of the land, hospitality. While Odysseus was away at Troy, the suitors took advantage of Odysseus’s home and servants.

Classic themes of The Odyssey are a reason that it is a timeless tale. The concept of revenge is often shown throughout Odysseus’ journey. The reason Odysseus kills the suitors is to avenge their plunder of his abode. Odysseus kills Antinoos first since he was the leader of the suitors. Not only do mortals believe in revenge, the gods do