Odysseus' Slaughter

A detailed Summary of Odysseus' Slaughter

The epic poem The Odyssey written by Homer is comprised of twenty-four books of adventurous stories. The story of DEATH IN THE GREAT HALL, book twenty-two, is the most interesting because it is action-packed from start to finish. This story is also very descriptive in describing the scene of events, giving the reader a vivid image of the tale. The descriptive words give some phrases a double meaning, making certain parts of the story different depending on the interpretation. This makes the story thought provoking as well as more entertaining.

The story starts off excitedly as Odysseus leaps up shrugging off his rag clothes. This action by the hero in the first sentence shows that this story is action-packed. When the King of Ithaca makes a claim of hitting a target no man has hit before, the suitors wonder what target this prolific archer has in mind. They do not think that he means shooting one of them. The reader, however, begins to think of the true meaning of Odysseus' words. The action begins as Odysseus slays the ringleader of the suitors, Antinous. The description of his death is very vivid as the reader is told of the arrow "punched up to the feathers of his throat". This is a very descriptive techn

ique used by Homer which not only tells the reader of Antinous' death, but that the arrow went all the way through his neck. The concise words used by Homer make the story all the more engaging. The reader is told that the suitors become confused and angered. The suitors threaten to kill Odysseus for his actions. This is when our hero unveils his identity. The suitors then became fearful and looked for an escape route. Eurymakhos was the only suitor brave enough to speak, claiming that revenge was taken in Antinous' slaying. He spoke on behalf of the suitors offering twenty oxen with bronze and gold gifts from each suitor. Odysseus took pleasure in rejecting their offer as the reader is told he "glowered under his black brow". From Odysseus' verbal statement of "I doubt one man of you skins by". The reader is foretold of the wrath about to unfold. Eurymachus tries to rally his friends to fight against Odysseus. The reader is told that Eurymachus drew out his broad sword of fine bronze as he spoke. As Eurymachus rushed towards Odysseus, the reader is told that the king shot an arrow striking Eurymachus down. Homer is descriptive in the death of Eurymachus as the feathered butt of the arrow sprained to the nipple or Eurymachus' breast. The barb of the arrow pierced through his liver. Homer also creates a sense of disarray as Eurymachus knocks over his cup bread and meat from the table . This is similar to the falling of bread and meat to the ground as in Antinous' death. This possibly signifies the fall of the suitors' reign from the Ithacan household. This also probes that the fall of Antinous is representative of the whole group. The descriptive detail fop the arrow provoked thoughts and possibly tell the reader more about the scene of death. From the description of the impaled Eurymachus the reader can infer that the arrow came in on a downward path as it struck the victim. This also makes the reader wonder why possibly Odysseus was on a stage-like platform shooting do

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1347
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English