Book 22: Death in the Great Hall

Odysseus

It felt so satisfying to finally kill all those suitors! I know I shouldn’t be happy right now (especially since I told Eurykleia not to be) but I really can’t help it! We slaughtered those stupid suitors and Antinoos was the first to go. The others quickly followed, shot down by my bow or brutally killed by Telemakhos or the swineherds. My son went to go fetch more weapons and armor for each of us but he left the door open and Melanthios got weapons for all the suitors. I was horrified when I saw they had armor and for a moment, I doubted whether we’d be able to win. I wondered who had given them the weapons, Melathios or disloyal servants, and Telemakhos took all the blame for it. This was very impressive to me and I thought it really signified Telemakhos’s coming of age and responsibility for himself and his actions. Unfortunately, there was little time in the battle to express such suppressed pride. Melanthios went back to the storeroom for a second load and the swineherd and Telemakhos captured him, bound him, hoisted him into the air and left him there to suffer. I had no mercy for him after what he did to me. Athena came in the form of Mentor (or at least I suspected it was her.) I begged the goddess to side with us and she did, deflecting many a spear from hitting us. I killed a man; one who begged for mercy at my knees, claiming he had never offended me. Mercy never even crossed my mind. However, I did spare Phemios, the minstrel, and Medon, at Telemakhos’s request. When all the killing was done, I told Eurykleia to bring the unfaithful maids to clean up the mess. When they were finished, I ordered them to be killed as well and they were hung in my courtyard. They betrayed me and they got their punishment. Melanthios was brutally tortured and killed as well for his disloyalty.

Telemakhos
I respect my father, I guess, but sometimes I really don’t understand him. He brought about the death of so many men and he was never sorry for it. But when Eurykleia wanted to celebrate, he reminded her it wasn’t pious to be outwardly happy that the suitors were dead. He’s really a hypocrite, how can he say that? He just killed the majority of the suitors, now he’s worrying about being all pious? Does he consider what is loved by the gods to be pious? Athena showed her approval of this plan so does that mean the battle was pious. Certainly reclaiming what is rightfully yours is a pious cause but did Odysseus go about it in the wrong way?