Odyssey Study Guide Contents
In the 18th Book of the Odyssey, Odysseus is beginning to reveal his true colors. For one, he reveals his true fitness in the fight scene and then effortlessly pummels the real beggar. He later yells at the serving women, scaring them out of the hall.
It is curious that Penelope no sooner says she should be receiving gifts from the suitors than they send their servants off to bring them. Why didn't she say anything earlier? Perhaps because she is only at this point willing to concede her only bargaining point, herself, as bride. Perhaps the seer has given her confidence that things will be set right and she won't have to carry through her offer. Penelope trundles the booty off to her quarters. Odysseus and Telemachus have brought their loot (still hidden), and now Penelope has her share to add.
The role of the gods in the lives of men is an undercurrent of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Odysseus-Beggar warns the suitor Amphinomus that certain behaviors, including stubbornness, are punished by the gods. Look at him. This, we know, applies to either the story Odysseus has invented or the real Odysseus. His experiences show that the gods punish man. Amphinomus should, therefore, fear that the behavior of the suitors will have divine repercussions for him. If that's not enough, the Odysseus-Beggar tries to shake up Amphinomus by reminding him that there is reason to think Odysseus will be arriving soon. When he does, the suitors will pay.
In the last book, the suitors were given an opportunity to prove themselves. This time, the good suitor is given a direct and not at all subtle hint to get out of there, quickly.
"... Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods bring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the stubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without vain glory. Consider the infamy of what these suitors are doing; see how they are wasting the estate, and doing dishonour to the wife, of one who is certain to return some day, and that, too, not long hence. Nay, he will be here soon; may heaven send you home quietly first that you may not meet with him in the day of his coming, for once he is here the suitors and he will not part bloodlessly."
See "Gods and Men in the Iliad and the Odyssey," by Wolfgang Kullmann. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 89. (1985), pp. 1-23.
