Thursday, November 13, 2014
Death in the Great Hall!
So, you've seen all the blood and guts and death that make up "Death in the Great Hall." Though Odysseus and Telemakhos kill dozens of people, certain people's death are featured more prominently than others and some are more gruesome than others. Select a character who dies in a prominent or particularly gruesome way and explain how and why you think the character's death is featured the way it is. Please be sure to include evidence directly from the text to support your analysis of the character's death.
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After reading "Death in the Great Hall," I feel that the most gruesome death is Melanthos'. After trying to reach the room full of weapons a second time, Melanthios was caught by Eumaeus and Philoetius, who tied and locked him. At the end of the chapter, Melanthios was brought from the store room to the court. The goat herder was "chopped with swords to cut his nose and ears off, pulled off his genitals to feed the dogs and raging hacked his hands and feet away." I feel like his death is so gruesome because he was a traitor and took the side of the suitors. Also, when Odysseus was disguised as a beggar, he treated him poorly.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting the way Alkinoös dies. He ends up being shot through the neck by Odysseus in the midst of drinking wine. I think that the way Alkinoös dies is pretty significant, because it shows just how little power the suitors actually have. Alkinoös was busy drinking wine, as carefree as can be. He didn't believe anyone matched up to him, and that he had no real enemies in the world. He believed he had nothing to be afraid of, and that nobody would dare cross him. All of that proved to be untrue when Odysseus wasted no time shooting him through the throat. Alkinoös being so easily eliminated shows just how individually weak, helpless, and fake the suitors actually are. Even as a group they are weak because they can't even stand up to four men. Like a coward, Eurymakhos tried to peg the whole thing on Alkinoös, asking Odysseus to spare the rest of the suitors. A few of the suitors even got down on their knees and begged Odysseus not to kill them. These events not only prove how weak the suitors are, but how strong Odysseus is. As we have seen now and in past books, when Odysseus' back is against the wall, he always manages to pull through.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeremy, my favorite death was also Alkinoos' because of what he was doing before he was shot. I find it ironic and funny that Alkinoos is drinking wine because he thought he was the best suitor for Penelope and that meant no one could or would threaten him. These are qualities Odysseus has portrayed in the past which is why I liked that he was the one to kill Alkinoos. Overall seeing the suitors so helpless and begging for life made me happy for Odysseus and his family because the suitors have done nothing but pretend to have strength for the past four years and then four men with some weapons threaten them and they fall like children. I would expect an army of 100+ people to do better.
ReplyDeleteI thought that one of my favorite deaths in the battle was the death of Eurymakhos. Mainly, because he is one of the main suitors who was very violent, vulgar, and disrespectful towards Odysseus, his home, and his family. When our great hero Odysseus "let fly an arrow that struck him in the chest below the nipple, and the swift shaft pierced his liver. Eurymachus let the sword drop from his hand," I thought that this was a great scene and that he deserved his painful and gruesome death that Odysseus delivered. After all of this Odysseus finally got his revenge on the suitors who invaded his home and tormented his honorable family. Although it was a very terrible way for the suitors to die, I feel that most can attest to the fact that the suitors deserved to die the way they did.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert, for I believe Melánthios’s death was the most prominent and intense. I believe Melánthios’s death was the most painful and brutal, for they put him up a pillar with ropes and kept him there until eventually they “cut his nose and ears off, pulled off his genitals to feed the dogs and raging hacked his hands and feet away” (Fitzgerald, 424). The reason the suitor’s were able to get the fighting equipment was partially because of Melánthios, so Melánthios’s punishment was more severe than other suitors. Also, the last person they dealt with was Melánthios, which proves that his was more important and was meant to remember his punishment.
ReplyDelete(Ideas from Robert (to discuss Melánthios))
Antinoos' death stood out to me because he was the first of the suitors to be killed. It was definitely a dramatic death, and it was described very clearly, "backward and downward he went, letting the winecup fall from is shocked hand" (page 409). This was a very appropriate way for one of the most arrogant and outspoken suitors to die; while drinking the wine that he had been taking from Odysseus' house for four years. In addition, the other suitor's reactions to Antinoos' death were quite interesting. Some yell, "you killed the best on Ithaka," and "buzzards will tear your eyes out!", but Odysseus knows that he hasn't done anything wrong. It is also pretty funny that the suitors think, at first, that Odysseus' arrow in Antinoos' throat is an accident. Though this was a gruesome death, I think that it was appropriate for a particularly terrible suitor.
ReplyDeleteThe death of Amphinomos really stood out to me. As we discussed in class, Amphinomos is almost one of the good guys. I couldn't tell if he was actually attacking Odysseus when he was speared because on page 412 it says "he thought to make [Odysseus] give way at the door." Either he was protecting him from being outnumbered by the suitors in the great hall or kicking him out and taking the suitors' side. Regardless, Telemakhos spears him from behind "clear through his chest". This is Telemakhos' first kill and should be considered a big deal
ReplyDeleteI think that Leodes's death was the most prominent in book 22. I think this because Leodes was begging Odysseus not to kill him. He hugged Odysseus’s knees, expecting sympathy. “‘ Mercy, mercy on a suppliant, Odysseus! Never by word or act of mine, I swear, was any woman troubled here. I told the rest to put it to an end…’” (pg. 419) Leodes is trying to make Odysseus feel bad for killing him, because a parentally he was on the good side. The hero is not fooled by this. He takes a dead man’s sword and slits Leodes throat. This I feel was prominent because this is yet again another example of how Odysseus can control himself. He did not care what the suitor said, he knew he had been taking his food and wanting to take his wife. This is what led Odysseus in to be-heading Leodes. Pluse this was a role switch. Earlier Odysseus was a beggar towards the suitor and now the suitor is begging to Odysseus. The suitor treated the beggar poorly, so Odysseus had another reason to treat the suitor badly. Odysseus is the hero once again.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are many deaths in this chapter, I have to agree that the death of Leodes stood out the most. Even though this was not the most gruesome or the most important, but it was the death where the most pity was used. Unlike Antinoos or Melanthius' death, Leodes' was not gory or prolonged, but in the moments before it time seemed to stand still. When Leodes begs Odysseus not to kill him, I feel a little bad for him. Sure, he was just another vile suitor, but right when Odysseus is about to kill him, I forgot about all of the bad things he has done, and just focused on the present moment, like he was an innocent puppy. Odysseus also showed another side of him, which is sort of brutish. He does not stop and think about the action he was about to make, he just did it. This served him well due to the fact that Leodes was trying to get in his head by pretending to be innocent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bobby and Keeley that the most prominent death was Melanthos's. Looking into the past books, we can see that Melanthos was Odysseus's goat-herder and loyal servant, but his conduct so far is not favorable. He mistreats Odysseus as a beggar, insulting him and physically assaulting him. Then, after Odysseus's big reveal, we can see his once loyalty to Odysseus is long gone as he instantly acts to help the suitors. His betrayal is a blow to the heart of Odysseus. Think: Would it hurt more if you were assaulted by strangers or assaulted and betrayed by an loyal friend. In the Greek society, loyalty is a very important aspect of their culture and apparently betrayal is punishable by death. Knowing these things, Odysseus's specially planned death for Melanthos is expected. He “cut his nose and ears off, pulled off his genitals to feed the dogs and raging hacked his hands and feet away.” It's the price for betrayal.
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