In Defense of the Suitors

Throughout the Odyssey, Homer clearly labels the suitors as the bad guys, perhaps even the main villains of the story. Many people are outraged by what they're doing, and it seems pretty clear that most or all of them are going to be killed in the upcoming book, "Slaughter in the Hall." While most of the main characters (Odysseus, Telemachus, Athena) seem to be convinced that being killed is all that they deserve, I personally think that a lot of the suitors aren't that bad.

First, we should look at the reasons that the suitors are viewed so badly by Odysseus and the other characters. Odysseus clearly personally hates them because he thinks they're trying to steal his wife and throne, and they are generally disliked by the public for staying too long at Odysseus's palace and abusing their hospitality. They are also accused of treating some servants and "lower-class" people poorly.

Though some suitors are undoubtedly guilty of all of these things, I think it's important to make distinctions between them. I don't think that all of the "suitors" are completely obsessed with marrying Penelope seizing power, which is what Odysseus hates them for, and a lot of them are there for completely different reasons, though I definitely think the people that started it, such as Antinous, want power. Let's look at this in context. You're a 20-year-old son of a noble in the Ithaca region. There's not really much going on around you, no wars or major events, so you don't really have anything to do. You hear that dozens of other people your age, probably just about all of your friends, are all hanging out at a palace having lots of fun all day. It just seems like pretty much anyone would go, if just to hang out with other people, not to try to marry Penelope. It seems like hanging out at Odysseus's is just kind of what people at that age do in Ithaca at that time.

I also that their overstaying their hospitality is greatly exaggerated as a crime. First of all, they were clearly welcome there at first. Odysseus had been away for years, Penelope was expected to take a new husband, and Telemachus didn't do anything about it. I would say that the fact that they stayed so long is Penelope's fault, since she keeps leading them on. She pretty much tells them "Just stay here for a while until I make my decision, I'm not ready yet," for years while actually trying to delay this decision. The suitors are in a very good situation; they're getting served, it's pretty much an endless party, and nobody's asking them to leave or seems to care. Some of them clearly want to exploit their hospitality, but I don't really think we can blame the ones who are just hanging out for not leaving. Some of them even want to leave once Telemachus begins taking charge and there are rumors that Odysseus is coming back, though the leaders keep them there.

As for the final accusation, their rudeness to the servants and others, I think that definitely has some truth. Though some are worse than others, we see in the scenes with Odysseus as a beggar that virtually none of them have any respect for people they see as lesser than them. This is definitely bad, but I think that, for many of the suitors, it's their only huge offense. And while this group should be punished for being mean, there's no way that they all deserve to be killed because of it.