Any subject. Any type of essay. Eumaeus, though he only appears in the last third of the tale, contains all the attributes that Odysseus values himself and wants to elicit in a follower. The attention that Homer places on Eumaeus and his story conveys the importance of his character, providing the audience with an example of the ideal ancient Greek citizen. As demonstrated in Greek myths, when a god sends a man to meet with someone, that direction serves to teach that man, and subsequently the audience, something important.
Eidothea sends Menelaus to Proteus to hear news of his comrades, Athena inspires Telemachus to visit Nestor and Menelaus in order to mature in confidence and tact, and Circe tells Odysseus to find Tiresias to learn how to return home. In the same way, the fact that Athena wants Odysseus to see Eumaeus indicates that Eumaeus is of significance.
Homer also distinguishes Eumaeus by allowing him to tell of his origins. In ancient Greece, the degree to which a person fulfilled his role in society determined if that person was in fact good. A good man gave due respect to the gods particularly by offering worship to the gods at the appropriate times and following their wishes , submitted to the authorities that ruled above him, and showed loyalty to his household.
If a man succeeded in all these things, no matter his motives or other aspects of his life, he was considered good by the Greeks. Eumaeus, however, surpasses the expectations of a good man by fulfilling all his roles while remaining humble and warm-hearted, though doing so is not required of him.
Thus, Eumaeus represents the ideal man. Eumaeus proves that he fears the gods by welcoming a stranger into his home, for hospitality was an expectation of the Greeks. His continual reverence to the gods does not go unnoticed, and Odysseus praises Eumaeus, wishing that the gods would bless him for the things he has done. Homer crafts this history for the swineherd in order for the audience to accept Eumaeus as the representation of the ideal man in society more easily.
Princes were courageous, magnanimous, and commonly depicted as paragons of goodness. Although he is slave, Eumaeus still retains his princely qualities, making the parallels between the swineherd and the ideal man more feasible.
Loyalty is a quality that Odysseus values deeply, as he goes to great lengths to rid his household of betrayers. Odysseus, and the Greeks as a whole, considered loyalty to be the constant devotion to a certain cause. This is how Eumaeus 1 came to Ithaca, and as he was received in the house of a kind master, he loved Penelope , Telemachus , Odysseus , and the whole of this family more than his own. For he said:. Brought up like a son Also Odysseus ' mother Anticlia 1 made a wide place for Eumaeus 1 in her heart, bringing him up together with her own daughter Ctimene, until this girl was married to someone in Same, in the island of Cephallenia.
It was then that Anticlia 1 fitted Eumaeus 1 in new clothes, and packed him off to the farm. Hard working swineherd Having thus become the family's swineherd, Eumaeus 1 used to take the animals to those pastures where they could find the right fodder, keeping the pigs at night in a large farmyard surrounded by high walls of stone, which he had himself built.
And being a thorough kind of person, he fenced the whole length of the walls with a stockade made of oak. They could at night be protected by Eumaeus 1 himself, who, wrapped in a thick cloak, spent the night outside, armed with a sword and a javelin to keep intruders away.
Eumaeus 1 used to take his meals and rest in a cabin, and was otherwise assisted by four laborers, one of which was Mesaulius, whom Eumaeus 1 had bought from the Taphian traders with his own resources. Pension scheme in jeopardy Having lived thus for many years, and being a loyal servant and a hard worker, Eumaeus 1 could hope to be pensioned off, and receive from his master Odysseus a fair reward in the form of a bit of land, a cottage, and an attractive wife.
And yet he was forced to slaughter the best animals and send them to these glutton scoundrels, who were never content with just one or two at a time. So, being disgusted with the whole state of affairs in Ithaca, Eumaeus 1 had lived the recent years as a hermit, just with his swine, and never coming to the city and the palace unless invited by Penelope. This is indeed what they were at the beginning. But later, as their outrageous behavior met resistance from young Telemachus , they turned gradually into a seditious group, plotting against the life of Odysseus ' son, and threatening to kill the king himself, if ever he returned.
Whether they were or not fully aware of their escalation, which changed them from pestering youths into criminals, turned to be irrelevant for Odysseus and his own people, who, at the time of retaliation, mainly considered the consequences of the SUITORS ' actions.
Receives his disguised master During the twentieth year of his absence, Odysseus landed on Ithaca. Disguised as an old beggar, and following Athena 's instructions, he turned his back on the coast, and going through woods and hills, came to the hut of Eumaeus 1. There he was kindly received by the swineherd, who, without recognizing his master, invited the beggar to join him in his meal, putting bread and wine in front of him, and slaughtering a couple of young porkers for the visitor's sake.
And when Odysseus thanked him, said Eumaeus 1 :. Beggar and swineherd tell stories to each other During the talk, Eumaeus 1 told Odysseus ' the story of his life, and Odysseus , who was still playing the role of the beggar, told him what appeared to be a bunch of lies. But the swineherd was not unaware of the possibility of his guest lying; for he knew that:.
This is why it is clear that his favors rested more, as he himself explained, on the respect he had for the laws of hospitality and the pity he felt for the stranger, than on stories meant to touch his heart.
Telemachus sends Eumaeus 1 to the palace While Odysseus was staying at Eumaeus 1 's house, his son Telemachus returned from Pylos and Sparta , where he had been looking for news about his father, disembarking in the island at the first point he reached. His ship had just eluded the ambush that the SUITORS had set out at sea, and when Telemachus , following Athena 's instructions, came to Eumaeus 1 's hut, he sent the swineherd to go quickly and tell his mother Penelope that she had him safely back from Pylos.
Eumaeus 1 was not first to deliver the message; for a messenger from Telemachus ' crew had been sent running off to the palace, and conveyed it first. But on his way back, having climbed up the hills above the city, Eumaeus 1 saw the SUITORS ' ship that, without having achieved anything, came into the harbor carrying a crowd of armed men. About begging for meals and not for work The day after, as Odysseus and his son had agreed, Telemachus bade Eumaeus 1 to take the beggar to the palace where he could beg for his meals.
In this manner, the swineherd brought his king, who looked like a wretched old beggar, to the city. And when Melanthius 2 saw the couple coming along, he burst into a torrent of injuries. Like her brother, Melantho abuses the beggar in the palace, not knowing that the man is Odysseus. She is having an affair with Eurymachus. One of the Cyclops uncivilized one-eyed giants whose island Odysseus comes to soon after leaving Troy. Polyphemus imprisons Odysseus and his crew and tries to eat them, but Odysseus blinds him through a clever ruse and manages to escape.
A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades. King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. Like Odysseus, Nestor is known as a clever speaker. He offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find Odysseus when Telemachus visits him in Book 4. Wife of Menelaus and queen of Sparta. Her beauty is without parallel, but she is criticized for giving in to her Trojan captors and thereby costing many Greek men their lives.
She offers Telemachus assistance in his quest to find his father. Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war. He was later avenged by his son Orestes.
Their story is constantly repeated in The Odyssey to offer an inverted image of the fortunes of Odysseus and Telemachus. King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom of Scheria.
Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and mother of Nausicaa. Arete is intelligent and influential.
Nausicaa tells Odysseus to make his appeal for assistance to Arete. Ace your assignments with our guide to The Odyssey! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Why does Telemachus go to Pylos and Sparta? How does Odysseus escape Polyphemus? Why does Odysseus kill the suitors? How does Penelope test Odysseus? What is happening at the beginning of The Odyssey? Why does Athena help Odysseus so much? Why does Nestor invite Telemachus to the feast before knowing his identity?
Why does Calypso allow Odysseus to leave her island?
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