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
When Odysseus reveals his identity, he takes revenge on the wooers who have taken over his home. When the battle is over, anyone who was involved with the wooers ' plot is severely punished. I think Odysseus did the right thing to defend his wife. In my opinion, the punishment was a little severe but he did what he had to do to defend his beloved wife. I think everyone deserved the punishment except for the nobleman.
It was by killing the suitors that Odysseus was able to restore justice in Ithaca because it scared the people and caused them to follow him. These
Odysseus ' speedy speculation combinded with his capacity to talk extremely well and numerous different attributes has gotten him and his team out of perilous circumstances. One circumstance,
Odysseus thinks he is doing the right thing by killing the maid servants but he is discounting the fact that he willingly slept with Circe and stayed in her hospitality for 1 year. ( “No clean death for the likes of them, by god! Not from me- they showered abuse on my head, my mother’s too! You sluts-the suitors’ whores!”-
Odysseus killed all the suitors who were trying to
Justification comes from the views of those around a being. Their actions and thoughts lead to what many deem as “justified” or not. Justifying an action is similar to viewing it as the right and correct way to do something. In order to show leadership and guidance, one must be able to justify their own actions and speak for what is right. In Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey,” the protagonist Odysseus takes on an adventure that would involve the death of many beings, innocent or not.
But, after angering Poseidon by blinding his one eyed cyclops son, Odysseus must go through brutal situations to get home thanks to the fuming god. The theme, the search for justice, is very prevalent in this text because of the fight between Odysseus and the suitors, the reunion of Odysseus and his wife Penelope and when Odysseus visits his father Laertes and Athena must restore peace because of the fight that breaks out there. To begin, the theme searching for justice is shown clearly when Odysseus returns home and kills the suitors. The text states, “Odysseus took aim and hit him with an arrow in the throat.
The reason why is because of the way the wooers treated them while Odysseus was gone. Then when he gets home from the war he notices that all his belongings had been violated and taken from him. I do believe that everyone who was involved should have been punished. The wooers she had punished it was there plot on Odysseus to do this while he was away. They were all there taking his belongings and violating his things while he was
In this book, Odysseus has been disguised by Athena as a beggar who has traveled the world. He has been dropped back on Ithaca by the Phaeacians. On his journey back to Ithaca Odysseus has changed greatly. As the prophecy has said he has returned home in a stranger 's ship, without his crew, and as a broken man. After Athena disguises him, Odysseus goes to his loyal swine herder, Eumaeus.
Athena disguises herself and reveals to Telemachus that his father is alive but tells him to sail in search of more information, “Do you hear me: As a goddess, yesterday/ you came to us, command me to sail/ across the shadowed sea, that I might learn/ about my long-gone father’s coming home” (32). Athena has Telemachus best interest at heart and by commanding him to find his father she played a big role in helping him shape himself and grow into the man he was destined to be. He takes Athenas’ advice and finally comes to the realization that he needs to stand up to the suitors, “Throughout all those years/ when I was still a boy, you suitors squandered/ the riches that were mine. But I am grown;/ and listening to the words of others, I/ can understand…” (33). Telemachus then sets off to find more information on his father and his possible whereabouts “I’ll come fetch what you’ve prepared.
While Odysseus’ actions taken to punish the suitors may appear immoral in modern society, by considering the ways in which modern society differs from Homeric society, Odysseus’ actions are just in the context of the poem. As violence has an extremely negative connotation in modern society, the use of the death penalty is morally ambiguous, and is a highly debated topic; however, violence is far more legitimized in the society of the Odyssey, and therefore, death is a far more acceptable form of punishment. This idea is exemplified by the way in which violence is discussed between characters within the Odyssey. In particular, this general acceptance of violence is demonstrated through the fact that many of the characters within the Odyssey share an almost unanimous belief that the suitors should be put to death to pay for their crimes.
Odysseus’ slaughter of the suitors was an act of justice and revenge. The act was revenge because slaughtering 108 men for courting your wife and eating your food is insane. If someone did that present-day, society would frown upon the person who committed such an act. It would be considered mass-homicide and the person would be jailed for life. On the other hand, the act is a form of justice because of the setting of the story.
This was shown when Athena helped Odysseus with a wise plan to win the war with the suitors by changing Odysseus’s appearance. When Odysseus returned to Ithaca, Athena disguised him by turning him into an old beggar. Through this Odysseus gathered information on what is going on in the palace. Athena does not want to do the work for him, as he can learn and grow also through the process. When it was appropriate, she change him back but also enhanced him to be more built, taller and
For instance, Athena, the goddess of wisdom (note: wisdom), is highly respected and taken seriously. This can be seen when Athena reveals herself to the people of Ithaca, and the fights cease immediately. “Their faces paled with dread before Athena, / and swords dropped from their hands unnerved, to lie / strewing the ground, at the great voice of the goddess, “ (24.2021-2023). At the sight of Athena, the fights cease and people are overwhelmed with fear, proving that she hold high power over humans. Not only goddesses are portrayed with strong qualities, but humans as well.
She was originally a golden-haired, fair maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena was devoted to a life of celibacy however, after being wooed by Poseidon and falling for him, she forgot her vows and married him. for this offence she was punished by the goddess in a most terrible manner. each wavy lock of the beautiful hair that had charmed her husband was changed into a venomous snake; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned into blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker; whilst her former roseate hue and milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish