Are Odysseus Justified In His Actions

In books 21-22 of the Odyssey, Odysseus completes the "arrow-through-the-ax heads" challenge, and reveals himself as King Odysseus as Telemachus and Philotius lock the doors to the palace, preventing the wooers from escaping the oncoming ambush. After the slaughter of the wooers, several of the living people are killed mercilessly by Odysseus and Telemachus. Whether or not these killings were ever the right thing to do was never justified.

In the story Odysseus the main character took revenge on the people who took over his land. He severely punished the people and anyone who was connected to their plot. Does the ends justify the means? His actions were very severe but I believe that everyone deserved it.

"Odysseus" was Justified for his action because the "wooers" went into his own property and disrespected it. They were not welcomed in his house and land so there for that is also considered "trespassing" which is against the law. Also on top of that they "vandalized" his things which is another action against the law. They vandalized his things by raping his servants, eating his sheep, and drank his wine. Today if "Odysseus" did this it would not be tolerated and he would be sent to jail, but in this time period you are on your own so he took care of the business that had to be done.

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 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

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

In the book the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus was justified in his act of trapping and killing the wooers. Odysseus went off to go fight the Trojan War. He won but as he was leaving to return home his ship was lost at sea for ten years. During this time, the wooers took advantage of his wife Penelope’s hospitality, and stayed on their property for an extended time. Odysseus revenge was worthy against the plot to kill his son but he may have gone too far in his violent display regarding the servant that betrayed him. The influences of the gods also play a strong roll in the sequence of events that occur and the decisions made in this Ancient Greek setting.

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.

If he didn't punish the wooers, then that would come off as if he didn't care about the troubles that they have put him through. This would symbolize that Odysseus didn't care enough about his wife to punish them. Penelope would second guess about the strength of their relationship. Plus, the wooers would feel more in control and as if they got what they wanted if they weren't punished and didn't face the consequences. So Odysseus made sure that they understood that they would receive a severe punishment again if they were to ever go against him

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.

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.

He wants to kill them on the spot for their disgrace, but the goddess Athena advises him to be patient, and that the suitors will be punished (930). Odysseus obeys and waits patiently, until the goddess gives him the chance to extract his revenge upon all the suitors, finally bringing justice to his house. By listening to the goddess, he is rewarded with the taking back of his home and is reunited with his wife. As you can see from these examples, when Odysseus obeyed and respected the gods in this epic, they rewarded him and helped him to complete his long journey

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

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.

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