When Odysseus got word of the wooers and suitors that were taking advantage of his absence, he was livid. He hatched a plan with the goddess, Athena, to seek revenge upon those who had wronged him, his name and his home. The plann {{typo}} sounded simple. Reinhabit his own home, punish the wooers and reassert his title. In doing this, he needed to find a way to reveal those who were truly loyal to him and those who took part in the disrespect that was now plagueing his home. Athena assisted him in disguising himself as a stranger to make his goal achievable. This way he could go to his home unknown and test his servants, maids, friends and family alike on their loyalty. Upon arriving back home, he had to face the realization that even some …show more content…
Had they not disrespected his home, had they not drained his home of wine, had they not engourged themselves with cattle I believe he could had spared their lives. If they had courted Penelope from the haven and respectful distance from their own homes he could have spared them. In the era of Homer it was the norm in society to seek and “eye for an eye”, so to speak. So this being the case I can also see justification in the punishment and death of the maids. As they showed great respect to Odysseus in bad mouthing him. They encouraged the suitors and even lay with them. All of their actions was like a slap in the face to Odysseus and his family. In my opinion they deserved to be hanged. Although it did seem slightly harsh and kindly twisted that not only did Telemachus and the Herdsmen to hang them all with the same rope. But to slso make them clean the blood from the massacre before hand. I must say that the only death that seemed unjust, only in form, is that of servant, Melanthius. The death was brutal and way to severe in my opinio. Although he had a lack of loyalty, the bizzare mutilation of his body seemed to carry the “eye for an eye” standard a bit to