Book XXII--Death in the Great Hall
|Summary|Characters & Their Lessons|Symbolism|Connections|Links & References|
Summary
Odysseus removes his disguise and begins to pray to Apollo as he runs into the hall where the suitors were. Odysseus takes a shot at Antinous, “Odysseus’ arrow hit him under the chin and punched up to the feathers through his throat.” (Homer book 22, lines 15-16) Odysseus then lets the suitors know that he is back and he is here to stay. Then Odysseus lets them know that their last hour has come and that they will die in blood. Then since having the knowledge that the great Odysseus has returned Eurymachus begins to blame all of the suitors actions on Antinous. He then goes on to say that Antinous, “whipped us on to do these things,” (Homer book 22, lines 52-53) and also that he attempted to trap Telemachus and kill him. He then tells Odysseus that the suitors and him will repay Odysseus and his family for all of the food and wine that they took. Odysseus completely denies Eurymachus offer and gives them their last death warning. Eurymachus then tells the suitors to take up arms and ready for a rain of arrows coming from Odysseus. Eurymachus then hurls himself at Odysseus only to be annihilated by Odysseus’ arrow and the battle begins.
Telemachus then comes running to his father telling him he can retrieve a shield and spear for him. After Telemachus got the equipment he left the storeroom door open leaving it visible to the suitors. Melanthius sees the wide open door and takes advantage of the situation and gathers shields, spears, and helms for the suitors. The second time Melanthius goes to the storeroom he is jumped by Eumaeus and Philoetius who tie him up and leave him to be taken care of after. Athena gives Odysseus the encouragement he needs which allows him to triumph over the suitors. Odysseus then has the maids come to the hall and clean up all of the dead suitor bodies only for the maids to be hung for sleeping with the suitors.
Characters & Their Lessons
Character: Odysseus
Description: He is a type of hero that is very proud of his accomplishments and a bit full of himself. Although his arrogance can get the best of him he is quite smart and good at coming up with ideas at the spur of the moment. His best act of thought would be when he escaped from Cyclops and that event is what triggered the events that occurred on his journey home. Although his ideas are smart and quick they may not always work on his side. He is also a good actor when he is put into disguise as an old vagabond. Odysseus, with some help, kills all of the suitors in his home and all the disrespectful maids.
Lesson: Book XXII only consists of men and women dying but if Odysseus learned something it was probably that he needs to be in Ithaca in order to protect his family
Character: Antinous
Description: The proudest of all the suitors and thinks of himself as the highest of all the suitors. He is the one that plots to kill Telemachus and often pushes the other suitors further in their unkindness.
Character: Eurymachus
Description: One of the stronger suitors that is outspoken. In book XXII he begs for Odysseus not to kill him.
Character: Amphinomus
Description: Yet another suitor. He can be considered a suitor with a heart and he played a role in stopping the act of killing Telemachus but is killed at the end like all the other suitors.
Character: Telemachus
Description: Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and was a mere boy when Odysseus left for the Trojan War but is now a man when Odysseus returns. He was a momma’s boy until he went in search for his father. Telemachus becomes a man in book XXII and begins to fight along side of his hero of a father Odysseus. He helps his father Odysseus kill all of the suitors and takes the maids outside to kill them.
Lesson:Telemachus learns that Odysseus will have what it takes to finally rejoin the family and fit into the society he has been away from for 20 years. He will be able to live without the thought of a threat or any disrespect form any of the men in the village or any of his maids.
Character: Agelaus
Description: One of the suitors. He is rude and crude. He encourages the suitors to attack Odysseus in the doorway.
Character: Melanthius
Description: He is one of Odysseus’ disloyal swineherds who helps the suitors fight. He gets tied to the roof by Philiotius and Eumaeus.
Character: Eumaeus
Description: He is the swineherd who helps Odysseus kill all of the suitors.
Character: Athena (disguised as Mentor)
Description:Athena disguises herself as Mentor and sits on the rafters during the fighting. She redirects the suitors through and they all miss Odysseus.
Character: Eurynomos, Amphimedon, Demoptolemos, Peisandros, and Polybos
Description: The last of the suitors.
Character: Euryades
Description: He was a swineherd that was killed by Telemachus.
Character: Elatos, Eurydamas, and Ktesippos
Description: These characters had very little roles in book XXII and just ended up dying
Character: Leokritos
Description: A suitor killed by Telemachus
Character: Leodes
Description:The last suitor left. He begs Odysseus for his life. Odysseus ignores him and kills him.
Character:Phemius
Description:A loyal bard to Odysseus. He is forced to sing for the suitors. Odysseus spares his life and lets him go.
Character: Philoetius
Description: Odysseus’s chief cowherd who fights along side of Odysseus during the slaughter of the suitors.
Character: Medon
Description: He cared for Telemachus since he was a boy. Telemachus let him live for his loyalty.
Character: Eurycleia
Description: She was Odysseus’ nurse when he was a child and took care of Penelope while he was away. She also tells Odysseus who the disrespectful servants were. She is also the one who sees Odysseus’ scare and finds out his true identity. She is the old but loyal servant at Odysseus’ palace.
Symbolism
Hanging
In this book Odysseus has the maids are hung. The whole idea of hanging is an inhumane idea. They are hung between land and sea and can not be avenged by any gods because they were not hung on land and land gods cant punish them, and they were not hung at sea and sea gods cant punish them.
Dreams Come True
Also in this book Penelope’s dream come true. Penelope’s dream from an earlier book is about an
eagle killing her geese, she sees this as Odysseus killing the suitors. Also, in her dream, the eagle sits on the rafters of the house. During the fighting that is where Athena is sitting and helping Odysseus.
Connections
Egyptian Mythology
In Egyptian mythology the use of gods was prominent. Similar to Greek mythology Egyptians had a God for almost every thing imaginable. As seen in book 22 Athena comes into the hall as mentor and provides the encouragement that Odysseus needs in order to win the battle. Now if The Odyssey was a book based on Egyptian lands rather than Greek then the god would take on a totally different
name. The similarity is that they stand for the same thing. Almost every culture has a God or a form of one and some more than others. Some cultures have a God for everything, while others have only one God. Even though the number and name of a God may change from culture to culture the
roles played by gods will have similarities.
Control
In other mythologies people can control what their slaves or servants can and cannot do. They can punish them anyway they want and can get rid of them also. What Odysseus did was his choice and those girls where his property and he had a justified reason and killed the disrespectful servants.
Shootings
In our culture we experience school shootings. They are usually from a troubled person who hates another person or group in the school. They may also have a problem with the staff of the school. This relates to Odysseus’ hatred towards the suitors and his ruthless behavior when killing the men in the great hall. This can also relate to some literature in our culture. The movie
Bang, Bang You're Dead the main character has a problem with the football players. He, who is like Odysseus, schedules a shooting with a couple of his friends, who are like Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philiotios. And the football players are like the suitors. The only difference being that the football players were unharmed in the movie.
Links & References
Nothing to add here...
This Section By:
Jared M., Nick R., Alyssa D.
