The true loyalty of the disloyal maids The suitors in the Odyssey had a pretty straightforward mindset that is prevalent for many wealthy and young people even today, which is, whatever they wanted, they got, regardless of the consequences. In the story they wanted to eat like gluttons all day and every day, and so they did. They wanted to drink themselves into buffoonery and so they did. But when it comes to marrying Penelope, something all of them wanted to do, they didn’t, and the thinking that follows is not that they were patiently waiting for Penelope’s decision, Telemochases approval, or Odysseus’ officially known death, but rather they were distracted by the “disloyal” maids who kept them company and / or distracted all that time. It’s not too hard to grasp what young men, especially well off young men who are used to getting what they want, tend to centralize all of their decisions around themselves. The suitors live this lifestyle throughout the story by feasting each and every day, ignoring the consequences of the number of dwindling swine, and drinking so much that their nightly ritual includes stumbling through the hallways back into their rooms. Both of these habits show the lack of concern for the home that they are staying in (Odysseus’), Penelope’s approval or Telamochasses approval. But why then when it comes to …show more content…
This has a number of issues in it, starting with the fact that with Telemachus maturing enough to make a decision like that, would make him mature enough to become king himself, implying that time is not on the suitors’ side. Secondly, the suitors where not kind to Telemachus, and if they were going to be relying on him to make a decision for one of them to be the next king, one would expect more flattery from them instead of