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. Considering that a god, Athena, helped Odysseus, has to make the act right. The Greeks believed that Athena was the goddess of wisdom. There has to be some justice in killing 108 men with the gods helping you. It could be thought that the suitors were dangerous in society, they planned the murder of Telemachus. Getting
As the noble Odysseus’ returns to his beloved homeland of Ithaka, he comes to find a sea of suitors awaiting their chance at marrying his wife Penelope and taking his home as their own. After enduring a twenty year long odyssey, the Trojan war hero has run out of patience and seeks only to reunite with his family. Following his return, Odysseus and his son Telemachos plot to take their revenge on the suitors and retake their home. Their plan proves to be a success and their goal is reached, however a dilemma is now presented to the readers- did Odysseus and Telemachos go too far in seeking their justice? Post battle, it becomes evident that Odysseus and Telemachos’ actions were justified and rational due to evidence provided by Halitherses,
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus men did deserve their punishment for eating Helios’s cattle because, well first of all do not eat first, you are supposed to ask first, if they say yes then eat, but if they say no, do not eat. All the trouble that the men got odyssey into, I really do think that they did deserve their punishment for all the things that they have done to get odyssey in trouble with all the gods. Well there's another thing Eurylochus convinces the men to eat the cattle of the sun. Then odysseus wakes up to find that the men has broken the oaths and killed some cattle, so it was the men falt. Even though they were starved, there is no reason to steal and kill a god's cattle.
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.
If odysseus were to be using modern day standards he would be taking all of the people that committed a crime to prison. Odysseus would be more into the justice system then by killing all of the bad people like the souters he would have taken them to the court and let them go through the system. But back in his time he would have to kill all of them which he did. So he would believe in justice not
Odysseus’s main goal throughout the first half of the epic is to complete his journey home to Telemachus and Penelope. However, when Athena informs him of the suitors, he exclaims, “Come, weave us a scheme so I can pay them back! Stand beside me, Athena, fire me with daring” (Homer 299). Odysseus’s dependance on Athena for his success rather than fighting alone for the sake of glory against the suitors reveals a more humble side of his character. Divine Intervention is displayed when Athena disguises him as a beggar so he can carry out their planned revenge.
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!”-
”(12. 417-418), for the cattle was sacred. When a mortal does the inhuman, monstrous act of killing another's own, revenge will come. So when Odysseus didn’t stop his men, or warn them enough, they ate the cattle and payed the price of death. Odysseus is not a leader to be trusted with his dumb decisions.
Odysseus shows considerable hubris when he brags to King Alconis about slaughtering the small village of Ismarus. Odysseus claims that he and his men “stormed that place,” enslaved the women, and slaughtered those who fought. (Homer 43). Due to Odysseus’ arrogant decision to assault Ismarus, a few of his men died. This demonstrates how arrogance and the hunger for victory will lead to certain death.
Being killed for love was a big thing back in mythology times. Now a person killing for love would be put in jail for murder. People in mythology times loved people and were very loyal because the gods would reward them if they were. In Homer's The Odyssey, Odysseus should have killed the suitors because of the way they were acting towards him, the love for his wife, and the loyalty that his wife had for him. First, he should have killed the suitors because of the men at they were acting toward Odysseus.
At various times throughout the story, mainly through the trials, Odysseus made many decisions and forced his crew to go through many potentially lethal situations without preparing his own crew, or situations that were just a waste of time. This then leads to not only all of his crew being killed but the creation of many bad relationships. The first example of Odysseus mistreating his crew is when he and his crew went through the trails, “No more. Come, / let me tell you about the voyage fraught with hardship / Zeus inflicted on me, homeward bound from Troy...” 9.42-44.
As the precise definition of justice cannot be definitively stated, the line separating just from unjust actions is incredibly obscure. Many factors may influence an individual’s perception of what constitutes justice, such as time period, culture, or personal morals. Thus, while an act may be considered righteous in one context, the same act may be ruled unjust in other contexts. For instance, when Odysseus finally returns home to Ithaca, as retribution for defiling his home and attempting to court his wife, Odysseus murders all of Penelope’s suitors. The extremely graphic depiction of his retribution had appeared almost superfluous, causing the morality of his actions to be brought into question.
At the end of part 2 of the Odyssey, when Odysseus is finally home and confronts the suitors in his home, he decides to slaughter them all for invading his home and courting his wife: “Not for the whole treasures of your fathers, all you enjoy, lands, flocks, or any gold put up by others will I hold my hand. There will be killing till the price is paid” (22.62-64). This quote from Odysseus shows that he was furious at the suitors, and he would allow no other atonement for their crimes except death. While the suitors all did wrong things, their actions did not deserve the death penalty. This shows that Odysseus was not thinking straight and being fair, and this is not something a hero would do.
What is the definition of a good person? The view of a good person changes as time goes on. However, the Odyssey is still the foundation of human morality. The Odyssey, created by Homer, is an ancient telling of a man named Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War. The morals found in the Odyssey show readers the benefit of being able to view situations from multiple points of view.
Killing Laius and his men is an overreaction to his anger. This violent outburst shows that he has no self control and he does not show any remorse for what he has done. He also looses his temper with Tiresias when he is trying to explain the oracle to him. It is because of his anger that the oracle becomes true and in the end he looses everything good around him including his children and his sight. Oedipus constantly pushes people away that are only trying to help him, as if accepting help makes him seem
Odysseus was enraged at the condition of the palace and couldn’t stand the fact that his maids that he didn’t know and or weren’t even born when he left dare to sleep with and or befriend the suitors that destroyed his palace. I feel that he put all the blame on the women and wanted to get rid of anyone who had anything to do with what was lost. It was also almost as if he secretly didn’t care for Penelope and had a reason to kill her. I say this because Eurycleia paid no consequences for what occurred while Odysseus was gone. It was an obvious sign of favoritism and Penelope never got a chance to explain any of her strategies to Odysseus and her reasons for doing what she did.