In the culture of the ancient Greeks, revenge was seen as the proper response to an insult. In fact, if a person did not retaliate, the person was seen as dishonoured and dishonourable. Justice became the act of taking revenge and taking matters into one's own hands. Homer, the great blind poet of ancient Greece, integrates this cultural expectation into The Odyssey, the sequel to the epic poem The Illiad.
“With a dark look, the wily fighter Odysseus shouted back, / ‘You dogs! you never imagined I’d return from Troy – / so cocksure that you bled my house to death, ravished my serving -women – wooed my wife / behind my back while I was still alive! / No fear of the gods who rule the skies up there, / no fear that men’s revenge might arrive someday – / now all your necks are in the noose – your doom is sealed!’” (Homer, The Odyssey, 22:35-42).
Revenge is a reoccurring theme that runs throughout Homer’s Odyssey. Perhaps one of the best examples of revenge is seen in Book 22 where Odysseus finally takes his revenge on the suitors who have been ravishing his house for the past ten years. In the epigram above, Odysseus explains why the suitors deserve his wrath: they have acted as leeches on his estate, eating all his herds and overstaying their welcome; they have taken advantage of the women in his house and worse still, attempted to court his wife while Odysseus is still alive. Perhaps the most maddening of all, is the fact that the suitors do not fear the wrath of the gods or of himself. The suitors are described as “[w]ild and reckless young cubs, conniving here in another’s house. They’ve got no sense of shame” (20:187-88). The brazen suitors do not pause to reflect on the harm of their behaviour and have no fear of the consequences of their actions. As a result, Odysseus feels that he is more than entitled to pay back the suitors in retribution for the slight against his honour, his family and his estate.
When Odysseus is out to get revenge, he ensures that his revenge is complete. When the opportune moment to take revenge on the suitors arises, “Odysseus’ heart leapt up, the man convinced he’d grind the scoundrels’ lives out in revenge” (20:134-45). For Odysseus, taking revenge on the suitors does not mean giving them a disciplinary tap on the hand but means condemning them to a gory and violent death. In order to be thorough in cleansing his house from those rebelling against his authority, Odysseus must also take revenge on the women who fraternized with the suitors and “shamed us [Odysseus and his family] all along” (22:258). Odysseus takes revenge on the women by forcing them to carry out the mutilated bodies of the suitors and then executes them all by hanging them.
While the scene where Odysseus takes revenge upon the suitors only occurs in Book 22 of The Odyssey, the anticipation of this revenge upon Odysseus’ return to Ithica is spoken of throughout the epic poem. Odysseus’ son Telemachus tells the King of Sparta that “if only that Odysseus sported with those suitors, a blood wedding, a quick death would take the lot!” (4:385-86). Telemachus foresees that Odysseus’ return will pour out vengeance against the suitors to revenge his honour, his home, and his wife. While Odysseus’ revenge on the suitors is the biggest act of revenge in The Odyssey, there are plenty of other examples of revenge exhibited throughout the epic.
In Book 9, Odysseus encounters the man-eating Cyclops. When Odysseus sees the Cyclops devour his men, he says that “the heart inside [him was] brooding on revenge” (9:354). For Odysseus, taking revenge is a natural reaction to behaviour that jeopardises his wellbeing or that of the people close to him. Odysseus takes his revenge on the Cyclops by stabbing out the Cyclops’ eye. To add insult to injury, Odysseus then taunts the blind brute, bringing on the Cyclops’ wrath who calls out to his father Poseidon to avenge his eye. Homer shows that revenge is not only sought after by Odysseus, but also by the gods, in this case by Poseidon and Zeus. Poseidon takes revenge on Odysseus on behalf of his son, causing Odysseus to face a continually angry sea which prevents him from returning home. Zeus seeks revenge on Odysseus and his crew after Odysseus’ men barbeque the god’s Sun Cattle. Zeus takes his revenge on the crew by killing them all; only Odysseus is spared (12:428ff).
Revenge is an ordinary response to a threat or an act of violence against an individual in the world of The Odyssey, much as it was in the world of the ancient Greeks. Because of this, the act of taking revenge becomes a vicious cycle. Unless there is intercession between two individuals or two groups of people, there will never be peace. One act of violence leads to another violent act in retaliation and so on and so forth. This is seen when the relatives of the slaughtered suitors come to challenge Odysseus. If Athena had not intervened and ordered them to make peace in a classic deus ex machina, the cycle of revenge could have continued on forever (24:579ff).
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
Very interesting. I plan to read both poems