We finally got the climactic battle scene today, the one that we've been waiting for throughout the entire second half of the book, and it was certainly worth the wait. We got to see Odysseus finally take out all of his anger at being away from home for 20 years on the suitors, who all died. Pretty much everyone at the palace died actually, except the main characters and some of the servants. While I was happy for Odysseus at first when he killed Antinous, his later actions were extremely brutal, and highlighted some of his main flaws that make him unsympathetic for me as a hero.
Throughout the entire story, people have pointed out lots of flaws with Odysseus's character; his aid from Athena, unfaithfulness to Penelope, and his excessive pride. But, for me, the thing that makes me like Odysseus the least is that he's often extremely violent, especially after he returns to Ithaca. Since he usually does such a good job keeping his emotions in check, it was surprising to me that he wants to kill Melanthius for kicking him before stopping himself, and comes very close to killing Iros.
In "The Slaughter in the Hall," we see a lot of Odysseus's violence and his need for revenge. He's actually offered a pretty fair compromise from one of the suitors at the beginning of the chapter; they apologize and offer to pay him back for everything they took. I feel like a real, truly just hero would have taken this deal, but Odysseus instead kills them all, showing his need for revenge and to let out all of his anger. For me, the most disturbing part of the chapter was when Odysseus tortured Melanthius. Melanthius was actually much less of a "bad" character than some of the suitors; all he really did was insult Odysseus a couple of times and support the suitors; but he still gets a much worse death. I think it's sort of absurd for Odysseus to expect him to remain loyal after 20 years away, so he does what he does pretty much just out of personal revenge. The way he kills Melanthius, when he's no longer a threat, is very calculated. He ties him up, and then cuts pretty much everything off of him (I mean everything), and then just leaves him to bleed out. For me, this action was the most brutal committed by anyone in the Odyssey, and to see Odysseus, our supposed "hero" do it, made me really rethink how much of a hero he was.
It is curious that Melanthius is singled out for an especially graphic and horrific fate, when he's only a goatherd. There is the aspect that he was especially rude to incognito Odysseus, repeatedly, and also to the loyal swineherd, Eumaeus (which sure gets the crowd against him--remember, Homer has a particular fondness for Eumaeus, whom he addresses in the second person). As with the female servants who are also ruthlessly executed, Melanthius is guilty by association with the suitors. There's the question of hospitality, which the suitors violate, and there's the question of *loyalty*. Melanthius is, in the eyes of Homer and Odysseus, a traitor.
ReplyDeleteI feel that, yes, Odysseus does take the revenge a bit too far, but I also feel that Odysseus' revenge was influenced possibly by the Greek idea of revenge. Especially when it comes to things such as personal honor, and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteI think that Odysseus going too far makes him a more compelling character in a way. After his long journey, Odysseus has had to sacrifice and suffer greatly, and perhaps this has damaged his psyche. We also saw the extent of Odysseus's self-control when he took abuse from the suitors, and Homer shows us the other side of the coin. Maybe one can't exist without the other.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you on this, I can definitely see that Odysseus would be very angry and wanting revenge after all his time away, but that doesn't justify what he does. If he had just killed some of the suitors in a moment of anger, that definitely could have been blamed on mental instability. But he seems to be fully in control of himself, and he plans this slaughter very carefully over several days. I think that his earlier self-control actually makes it worse, as it shows that he could have controlled himself and worked out a less extreme solution.
DeleteI agree that Odysseus's revenge on the suitors was excessively brutal. This makes me lose some respect for him. I guess Odysseus's punishment for Melanthius shows how much the Greeks valued hospitality and treating others with kindness. The consequences for violating this condition were pretty harsh!
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