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Revenge can either be sought after for ones own internal satisfaction, but in this book, it is usually required because of what others might think as far as ones reputation is concerned. During Aristotle’s time, if you were seeking revenge one had strict guidelines to follow to ensure that the one seeking revenge was doing it out of honor and integrity. In this paper, we will view if the character Odysseus followed these guidelines on two occasions when he was seeking revenge. The two main events of revenge in the book were against the Cyclops and the suitors that were courting his wife. The first main event that revenge occurred was when the Odysseus and his crew sailed to the land of the Cyclopes. Out of curiosity the crew wanted to make acquaintances with the Cyclopes for a little hospitality. The book describes the Cyclopes as “Lawless savages who leave everything up to the Gods…They have no assemblies or law but live in high mountain caves, ruling their own children and wives and ignoring each other” (9.105-112). Odysseus and his men decided to camp out in one of the Cyclops’s dwelling and wait for him. They really did not consider the thought that they might be harmed because during Odysseus’ time it was the law to be hospitable to strangers and guest who were foreign to your country. But as the book has already stated that these were creatures that had no laws. Now Odysseus and his men are in the cave when the Cyclops returns, and it is not a pretty sight once they are discovered. The Cyclops begins to eat some of Odysseus crew members, which only makes matters worse, because they are trapped in an inescapable cave and the Cyclops can not be reasoned with. With the fear and pressure of death closing in on Odysseus and his men, Odysseus comes up with a brilliant revenge plot. First Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is Noman, and then he gets the Cyclops drunk off wine to make him fall asleep. Once asleep, the men have already prepared a large sharp stick in which they stick into the Cyclops eye. The puncture blinds him, and now they have him right where they want him. Now here is where we began to see how cunning Odysseus really is. While the Cyclops is screaming from the pain of his eye, his fellow Cyclopes come to see what is going on. They ask him “Polyphemus, why are you hollering so much…Is some man stealing your flocks from you, or killing you, maybe, by some kind of trick?” (9.402-405), and the Cyclops answers by saying “Noman is killing me by some kind of trick” (9.406). So the Cyclops can not getting any help. The last phase in this plot for revenge is to escape. Odysseus and his men wait until morning to escape because they know that the Cyclops will have to let his animals out to eat. During the night the crew bound sheeps in sets of threes. When morning came, the Cyclops opened the door and each man escaped by hiding under the middle sheep, except for Odysseus, who hid under the Cyclops’s prize ram. In my opinion, based on Aristotle’s rules of revenge, Odysseus could have been seeking revenge on his own behalf because if he could not escape then he too would have been eaten. But based purely on the facts, he was really getting revenge for his men that had already been eaten. By avenging the Cyclops, Odysseus was not taking revenge on some one of his own class. The Cyclops was not even human, and he surely was not in the same group or social class as Odysseus. The Cyclops did try to cause intentional harm, injury, and shame to Odysseus and his men in which he was not sorry for. By overcoming and defeating the Cyclops, Odysseus was able to restore is honor with a cunning plan. Odysseus clearly only broke one rule set by Aristotle, so that alone might entitle him to be an “artist of revenge” in Aristotle’s eyes. Odysseus second great avenge plot starts when he left his home in Ithaca to fight against the Trojans in the war. After being in battle for ten years, he was also held captive on the island of Ogygia by the goddess Calypso for ten years. It has now been twenty years since he has been away from his home, his wife, and his son that was born shortly after he departed for war. At this point Odysseus is extremely homesick. He has had to go through many trials and tribulations, just to reach his island. Most of Odysseus’ triumph is due to the help from the goddess Athena. Athena also plays a major role in helping him conquer his next set of nemesis: the suitors. The suitors came to Odysseus’ house after about fifteen years after he left. His family, friends, and servants presumed that he was dead. By his wife being the link to ownership of the thrown of Ithaca, many men wanted to take his place as king. Penelope, his wife, desperately tried keep the suitors away in hopes that one day Odysseus might return. While the suitors were courting Penelope they disgraced Odysseus’ house. They tried to eat him out of house and home by eating all his cattle and drinking most of his wine. In those days a man interested in a woman was suppose to offer gifts and show her respect, and the man that proved worthiest won the ladies hand in marriage. Not only were the suitors being disrespectful and greedy, but they were dwindling the wealth of the estate that was supposed to be left to Odysseus’ son Telemachus. “Suitors have latched on to my mother against her will,…They shrink from going to her father Icarius’ house so that they could arrange his daughter’s dowery and give her to the man he likes best. Instead they gather at our house day after day, slaughtering our oxen and sheep and fat goats, living high and drinking wine recklessly” (2.54-63). Just to thicken the plot the suitors attempted to kill his son twice. When Odysseus arrived back in Ithaca, he swore that he would get revenge on the suitors and his disloyal servants. Odysseus knew that for his plan to work that is was crucial for him to keep his identity a secret. Next, he wanted to see which members of his family and servants had remained loyal to him. Shortly after being in town he learned that his herdsman, Eumaeus and his son Telemachus were still loyal. After talking with his son, Athena encouraged him to reveal himself and bring Telemachus into the plot for revenge. Odysseus told Telemachus that he would come to the house disguised as a beggar to see the suitors’ behavior for himself. He also wanted to check on the loyalty of his wife and servants of the house. During his visit to his house he was verbally and physically abused by the suitors and some of his staff members. He also discovered that some of Penelope’s maids were sleeping with the suitors. Odysseus was ashamed and angry at how his family was being treated by supposedly the most “noble” men of Ithaca. After talking to Penelope in disguise, he learned that she tried her best to keep them away but the suitors were too determined. He also learned that she still loved him and wished that he would come home. Penelope did reveal that even though she wanted him to come home, she was pretty sure he was dead. From Athena’s suggestion, Penelope told Odysseus that she would plan a contest and the winner would win her hand in marriage. Seeing how this competition could aid in his plot to kill the suitors, Odysseus encouraged Penelope to have the contest. Before the contest began Odysseus told Telemachus to hide all the weapons in the hall. The contest consisted of stringing a bow and putting it through twelve rings. All the suitors tried and failed miserably. Then Odysseus disguised as the beggar asked could he try because he needed to get his hand on the bow. After much dispute about it, Odysseus got the bow. The first person he killed was the master mind or ring leader of the suitors, Antinous. Antinous was the one who came up with the ideas to kill his son, and eat him out of house and home until Penelope chose a man. After the suitors realized that Odysseus was back they began to beg for mercy by saying, “But the man to blame lies here dead, Antinous…Now he’s been killed, and he deserved it. But spare your people. We will pay you back” (22. 51-59). But Odysseus did not go for it; he continued to kill them. During the battle, some of the suitors went to one of the treacherous servants, Melanthius, and asked him to find out where the armor and weapons were. Melanthius found the weapons and begun dispensing them to the suitors. Eumaues and his friend caught Melanthius stealing weapons for the suitors and tied him up to be dealt with later. Meanwhile Odysseus and Telemachus were finishing off the suitors. Odysseus only spared Phemius, the bard, who was held against his will, and Medon the herald. After killing all of the suitors, Odysseus summoned his trusty nurse, Eurycleia, to tell him the women of the house who betrayed him. The women that the nurse named were made to take the bodies outside and then clean the house. After they completed their work Odysseus had them all hung. As for Melanthuis, who was still tied up, received the worst punishment of all. ”Then they brought Melanthius outside, and in their fury they sliced off his nose and ears with cold bronze and pulled his genitals out by the root-raw meat for the dogs and chopped off his hands and feet” (22.497-502). Personally I think Aristotle would have been proud of the way Odysseus pulled this off. He was cunning and undercover, and most of all he took care of business. He acquired the victory on his own behalf. It is questionable if the revenge on his maids was a bit extreme and unnecessary, but would most likely be acceptable for the suitors. I am not positive if the suitors where intentionally trying to dishonor Odysseus, but their actions clearly caused him harm and shame. Odysseus honor was restored, and the suitors’ debt was paid in full. Bibliography: Word Count: 1822
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