Athena's Effect on the Suitors' Death

For my final post, I have decided to write about how Athena affected the suitors' death once Odysseus had reached his palace.

       I found Athena's actions toward the end of the book particularly interesting. Athena began to make the suitors act even more unkindly to Odysseus while he was still disguised as a beggar. The suitors began to enfuriate Odysseus and it encouraged his rage even more. I feel that the outcome of the book may have been completely different if Athena hadn't controlled some of the actions of the suitors. If they weren't as harsh, I think Odysseus may have spared more of the suitors.

      Aside from Athena controlling the actions of the suitors, she affected many important events in the book by changing the appearance of characters. The first, very obvious example, is her disguising Odysseus as a beggar. This was the reason Odysseus was able to attack the suitors unsuspectedly. Another example would be Athena changing Penelope's appearance and making her more attractive. This led to the increased desire for Penelope and the gifts given by the suitors. 

      I think that Athena contributed to the achieved outcome in the book equally as Odysseus did, if not more. It seems Odysseus would not have made it very far at all without Athena's help. 

Foreshadowing of the Suitors' Death

“In Book 17, there is a lot of foreshadowing of what will happen to the suitors. Find three examples of this (quote them in your post), and explain what you think this means for the fate of the suitors.”


This week we read books 17-20. In book 17 Telemachus goes to the city and the castle. Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, ventures into the town with Eumaeus. Later on Odysseus and Eumaeus go to the palace. During the time while Odysseus is at the palace, some of the characters foreshadow the upcoming fate of the suitors. On page 271, Odysseus says “May death come to Antinous before marriage does.” He says this after Antinous attacked him. On page 273, Penelope is speaking to Eumaeus and she talks about the suitors and how Odysseus would make them pay for this “Outrage.” Telemachus then sneezes at her words. Sneezing when someone says something is believed to reveal the truth in a statement. Afterwards, Penelope says, “Didn’t you see my son sneeze at my words? That means death will surely come to the suitors, One and all. Not a single man will escape.” Lastly, on page 275 Eumaeus is speaking to Telemachus about the suitors. Eumaeus says “Many of these men are up to no good. May Zeus destroy them utterly, before any harm can come to us.” Telemachus then replies, “Amen to that. Go after supper. But at dawn come back with your best boars for sacrifice. Everything here is up to me, and the gods.”


Overall the message is pretty clear. In the first quote, Odysseus simply wishes death before marriage upon Antinous.  In the second quote, Penelope's message about the suitors death being confirmed by Telemachus' sneeze was very interesting. In the third quote, Telemachus asks Eumaeus to bring boars for sacrifice and says he and the gods will control what will happen. From what Odysseus, Eumaeus, Penelope, and Telemachus have said, it seems the suitors will face death soon.