The Father Of The Suitors In Homer's Odyssey

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A suitor is defined in Oxford Dictionary as a man who pursues a relationship with a particular woman, with a view to marriage. In the epic novel The Odyssey, there are a number of suitors after the same woman, Penelope. Penelope is the wife of the famous Odyssey, and the mother of Telemachus. Telemachus is not fans of the suitors that remain in his house waiting to see which his mother will chose, her husband who has been gone for twenty years or one of the new suitors in the house. Antinous is suitor that cannot be missed in the house. He is always speaking about his ability to win over Penelope better than any other suitor in the house. He is different than the other suitors because he is not portrayed at someone with emotion or sympathy. …show more content…

But many parts of the epic prove this to be wrong. Homer says, "If only the gods would give me such strength as he has to take revenge on the suitors for their overbearing oppression," he says, but "No, the gods have spun out no such strand of prosperity for me and my father. Now we must even have to endure it" (3.205-209). While reading this direct quote from the epic it is obvious that Telemachus is not a hero, instead he is a coward. He does not believe that he was given the strength because the gods did not grant it to him. To continue on not so good traits of Telemachus he believes his father to be coward. Homer …show more content…

Antinous is someone who has no issue opening his mouth when he has an opinion on something. During the epic Homer states, “[Antinoös] was to be the first to get a taste of the arrow from the hands of blameless Odysseus, to whom he now paid attention as he sat in Odysseus ' halls and encouraged all his companions (21.98-100). As he says this it leaves many people wondering what the purpose of this quote is. Is he proving that he is not afraid of what is to come or is it used to foreshadow his death. Many believe it could go either way, he is confidence in many different manners but especially about his ability to keep Penelope. His confidence continues when he says, “Then [Penelope] can marry the one who offers most, the man marked out by fate to be her husband” (16.434-435). This tends to reinforce the idea that Antinous is confident in his abilities but not liked by many. An important fact about Antinous is that he was the first suitor to die when Odysseus returns to his family. This shows how weak he

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