Odyssey Study Guide Contents
Passages to note in Book 17:- Cretan Lie to Antinous (415-44)
- Argos the dog (300-327)
Odysseus is talking to Antinous to try to see if there is any goodness in him. Although the other suitors have responded positively to his pleas for food, thereby showing that they behave appropriately in at least one situation, it is clearly stated that it doesn't matter whether the suitors show their virtue -- they're all doomed. Antinous is singled out as exhibiting hubris. He doesn't care that the stranger might be a god in disguise, a fear that seems to have motivated the other suitors.
Odysseus has been given food to eat and many crusts to take with him. Although he is acting the part of the beggar, he hardly seems to be starving at this point. Later he refuses to come to Penelope's summons, although he does say he will later. Although he refrains from retaliating when stricken, Odysseus gives signals that he may indeed, not be simply a beggar.
Antinous fulfills the prophecy of the goatherd, Melanthius, who was also abusive to the stranger and the swineherd, who must be lower on the social hierarchy than the one who tends goats. Melanthius had said that the suitors would throw stools at Odysseus, and that's exactly what Antinous did. The two, Melanthius and Antinous, make a distressing pair, one a servant and one a noble, neither one of them showing any virtue.
Another fulfilled prophecy is that of the seer who accompanies Telemachus. The prophecy was stated earlier, but in Book XVII, Theoclymenus re-pronounces it, with variation, to Penelope. He tells Penelope that Odysseus is already on Ithaca, not knowing it's true, but only believing it.
Theoclymenus and Telemachus arriving at the palace of Odysseus are parallel to Odysseus the indigent beggar accompanying the swineherd Eumaeus. Some scholars see Theoclymenus as a trace of an earlier version of the Odysseus story in which Theoclymenus is actually Odysseus.
When Odysseus arrives at Eumaeus' home, the watch dogs start barking and put the Odysseus-stranger in danger. When Telemachus arrives at the same spot, the dogs recognize him. When the Odysseus-stranger is almost at his palace, the old faithful hound Argos, who has been as abused as the rest of Odysseus' estate, recognizes his master. Seeing his master again, the faithful dog dies. So far, the dog is the only one who has recognized Odysseus.
"Odysseus' Barking Heart," by Gilbert P. Rose. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 109. (1979), pp. 215-230.
"Odysseus, Idomeneus and Meriones: The Cretan Lies of 'Odyssey' 13-19," by Adele J. Haft. The Classical Journal, Vol. 79, No. 4. (Apr. - May, 1984), pp. 289-306.
"The Suitors' Games," by Ruth Scodel. The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 122, No. 3. (Autumn, 2001), pp. 307-327.
"The Suitors of Penelope," by Samuel E. Bassett. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 49. (1918), pp. 41-52.
"The Odyssean Suitors and the Host-Guest Relationship," by Harry L. Levy. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 94. (1963), pp. 145-153.
