Are Odysseus Justified In His Actions

At the island of the cyclops Odysseus and his men go to the cyclops, Polyphemus’, cave. One of his crew members suggests they take the goods and leave as soon as possible. “ How sound that was!” he thought, but he “ wished to see the caveman and what he had to offer…(Homer 688)” Odysseus thought that they were running into a cyclops civilization that worked like the Greeks, but Odysseus hadn’t thought about what would happen if it wasn’t friendly. But in the underworld, Elpenor, a crew member greeted Odysseus. Upon seeing him, he remembers how they “lay [him] unburied still on the wide Earth as [they] had left him- in Circe’s hall.(Homer 704)” Now when he sees him, he weeps of pity. “ O my lord, remember me, I pray. Do not abandon me unwept, unburied, to tempt the gods wrath.(Homer 705)” At this Odysseus does agree to bury him. But why hadn’t he and his crew bury him when they found him? They did not because Odysseus thought it wouldn’t matter. Now when the spirit has issued the command to Odysseus himself, Odysseus says he will go back and give him a proper send off. This shows that Odysseus may not entirely care about his crew as he just sees them as disposables. Their deaths don’t mean anything to

Odysseus was justified in the killing of the suitors because they were devouring the resources of his household, attempted to wed his wife, and concocted a plan to kill his son. In addition, he thought he was justified in the killing of the maids because they had slept with his enemies, were rude to guests, and they were his property.

In the time of the so-called Heroic Age (roughly the Mycenaean Age, the time of the Trojan War, 1200-1100 BCE or thereabouts) standards were much, much different, and some of them, at least, for very good reasons. Probably by those standards (or the standards of Homer’s time, some 400 years later) Odysseus was considerably closer to a hero than he would be in our eyes today. Perhaps, what might now be seen as grotesquely excessive blood letting, would then have been seen as an understandable or even necessary act of retribution

Odysseus only cares about himself and his personal benefits, like a villain. “With great power comes great responsibility” this quote is used by many heros and odysseus obviously shows no responsibilities, so his power is simply bad, or evil . When “trapped” on Calypso’s island he shows no attempt to escape and instead finds pleasure in being their. After 7 years on this island he finally decides to go home to has son which he has never seen and his dog who is nearly dead due to old age (not to mention he barely does anything with his dog and the first thing he says to his son is basically to ask him to risk his life for Odysseus's house). “ Don't waste your time on revenge. Those who hurt you will eventually get their own karma”. This quote shows that good people and heros should not seek revenge and should show mercy to their enemies however Odysseus obviously shows no interest in mercy… After killing many people and not letting a single person out which many heroes would have especially if the people did not directly mistreat him and believed he was dead which would be a logical thought he finally revealed himself to his wife. At first his wife did not recognize him which filled him with rage even though he should be happy that his loyal wife wants to make

What kind of human kills for their own good? In the bloody journey of the Odyssey many men were killed by the hands of Odysseus himself. A lot of the men that died were killed by Odysseus but there was a good number of them that were killed by the actions Odysseus made. When it comes down to it Odysseus was wrong for killing the suitors. Odysseus killed the suitors out of his own insecurity, selfishness, and of course out of rage for what was done to him. But what was Odysseus expecting after being gone for 10 years? For everyone to just hold off on their lives just to wait to see if he will be coming back? Odysseus’ actions were not justified.

Everyone involved with the wooers were rightfully punished. In Book 20 the wooers did not show hospitality to Odysseus disguised as a beggar even though he was accepted into the home by both Penelope and Telemachus. He returned to find his home in ruins by wooers who had eaten his food, drank his wine, and plotted to kill his son. The suitors continued to taunt and insult him until the battle began, one threw a cow hoof at him.

In the story "The Odyssey," Odysseus, the main protagonist and long lost ruler of Ithaca, is disguised as a beggar. Meanwhile, Penelope created a task for the suitors to execute. They had to string a bow and fire an arrow through twelve axe heads. After many failed attempts to string the bow, the beggar, Odysseus, easily strung the bow and cleanly shot his first bolt through the axes. Instantly, he revealed himself and killed all of the suitors and most of the women that worked for him

When Odysseus returned home to his wife and son, he took a very brutal approach to rid his home of the suitors who had invaded his household.  This revenge was also taken out upon the servants and maids who had been unfaithful to Penelope and had slept with the suitors.  Some may say this punishment was too harsh, and made Odysseus less than an honorable man.  However, Odysseus’s actions were justifiable.

Second of all, he was also justified in his actions because while Odysseus was in Ithaca as the beggar the wooers were making a secret plot to kill his son Telemachus. The wooers believed that if they wanted Penelope to be one of their wives they would have to kill Telemachus. Odysseus not knowing that at the time started to figure it out when all the wooers started to target Telemachus a lot more often. Causing him to become even

After Odysseus reveals his identity, he takes revenge of the wooers and severely punished anyone that was associated during the occasion. He was justified with his actions when he struck back. His punishments were brutal but neccasary. He gave the wooers what they deserved.

Odysseus was the strong and powerful king of Ithaca. He was a courageous and loyal warrior who was known for his being able to outsmart his opponents. Odysseus returned to home after an almost twenty year absence to find that his home and kingdom had been taken over. He became enraged at the wooers, especially Antonius and the handmaidens at their total lack of disrespect for his home, kingdom and family. Odysseus decided that killing all who were disloyal to him was the only way to gain back control of his kingdom. For this reason I feel that Odysseus was justified in his actions.

In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus takes revenge when he returns back home to Ithaca after 20 years of war and travel. He has good reasons to want revenge. All the deaths are justified, not just the death of the suitors. He does not kill people because he wants to do so, he wants revenge. In the cultural context, Odysseus’ revenge is justified in many ways.

Penelope, Odysseus wife, welcomed him disguised as a beggar. She then said that it was time for her to choose a husband. However, Penelope would only accept the suitor who could string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow straight through twelve axes. Each suitor that attempted this failed, but the seemingly feeble beggar asked for a turn. As he held his bow in his hands, Odysseus effortlessly strung the arrow and it flew directly through the axes. Even before the suitors could process what they had just witnessed, Odysseus killed a suitor. To the horror of the remaining suitors, Odysseus revealed himself. The suitors had no way to escape; however, Telemachus had accidentally left the storeroom door unlocked, and a few suitors were able to grab weapons. With the help of two other suitors who had joined with Odysseus, he and Telemachus killed every suitor. After, Odysseus continued to brutally clear his house from every disloyal person. In the end, Odysseus received the revenge he desired. In the Bible, it says that it is only God’s job to provide justice and punish those accordingly. However, in The Odyssey, the Greek gods are in charge. Before Odysseus kills the first suitor, he says, “I will see if Apollo will hear my prayer and let me strike it.” (Page 270) Since they provided assistance during the attack, I assume that true justice was

After such a long voyage and finally being able to return to his own home, Odysseus endured more issues and problems with the wooers that had over taken his home to try and sway Penelope. Odysseus reacted the way any man would to protect his wife, son and his home. The revenge on the wooers and the unfaithful servants and maids was just. The servants and the maids were unfaithful to Penelope and slept with the wooers.

The way the wooers treated Odysseus when he was disguised as a beggar justifies him killing them. Odysseus found out some suitors were loyal and some were disloyal, they laughed at him threw things at him and made fun of him. When it is revealed who he really is the suitors try to kill him. This further shows that he had to kill them, they would not have stopped pursuing Penelope and had no respect for him.