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“It is easy to be free with other people’s property when there is plenty of it.”
Odyssey, Book 17; Samuel Butler translation
Book 17 Summary
Telemachus goes back to his house where he is warmly welcomed by his nurse and mother. Afterward, he gets the suppliant who came back with him from Pylos, Theoclymenus, and takes him back to his home. During their meal, Telemachus tells Penelope everything he learned from Nestor and Menelaus and Theoclymenus prophesies that Odysseus is already back in Ithaca and plotting his revenge. After this, the suitors come back from playing around to have dinner.
Meanwhile, Eumaeus and the disguised Odysseus go into town where Odysseus is berated and abused by one of his servants, the goatherd. When they reach Odysseus’ house, Eumaeus goes in first and Odysseus follows right behind and sits down at the entrance to the house. Telemachus gives Odysseus some food and instructs him to beg from the other suitors. When Odysseus does, he’s berated by one of the ringleaders, Antinous, who also hits him with a stool.
Penelope is angry at the disguised Odysseus’ treatment and has Eumaeus call him over to her. Odysseus requests their meeting happen in the evening because he’s afraid of what the suitors would do to him were he to pass by them again. Penelope agrees to this and Eumaeus goes back to the pig farm after his meal is finished.
Man’s Best Friend
Argos, Odysseus’ dog, is one of the most famous dogs in classic literature even though he’s only written about briefly here in Book 17. He’s so famous classic art was made about him and apparently someone wrote a retelling of the Odyssey from Argos’ perspective.
Unfortunately, Argos’ tale is a bittersweet one. He was just a pup when Odysseus left for the Trojan War and ultimately became neglected by Odysseus’ household. When he’s introduced, he’s sleeping on a pile of manure and covered in fleas. All Homer writes is that it was the responsibility of the serving women to take care of him and they didn’t. Because of my ignorance of ancient Greek culture, I can’t answer why Telemachus and Penelope allowed for Argos to be so neglected. If I had to guess, it’s that a household pet meant something different to the ancient Greeks than to the modern man. That, or they were so caught up in dealing with the suitors that neglect of Argos was inevitable.
Argos gets the honor of being the only one who recognizes that the old beggar is Odysseus without the need of divine help. He’s so old though, that he couldn’t move from his place. It’s probably a good thing though, because if Argos had approached Odysseus in a friendly way it would have caused suspicion.
Odysseus sheds a tear for Argos, but can’t approach him because, again, if Argos acts friendly, it would have caused suspicion. Think about how the dogs guarding the pig farm reacted toward Odysseus: they almost tore him apart. If Argos doesn’t react with indifference or hostility toward Odysseus, it would have raised questions and Odysseus’ cover may have been blown.
Once Argos sees that his master is alive and well, he dies. Faithful to his master to the end.
I realize this is a strange comparison, but it reminds me of the episode with Thersites in Book 2 of the Iliad. Thersites shows up on the scene out of nowhere, criticizes Agamemnon, gets humiliated by Odysseus for his insolence (even though what Thersites said was accurate), and then never appears again for the rest of the Iliad. If the episode with Thersites were taken out, the story would not have been impacted in the least. And yet, Thersites is a popular figure and a lot has been written about him.
Argos’ story is much the same way. If the episode with Argos were taken out of the Odyssey, the story would not have been impacted, and yet Argos has garnered his fair share of fame in the annals of history and literature.
Argos’ story is much more wholesome though, as bittersweet as it is. If there’s an International Dog Day (which I’m sure there is because there is an International Day for everything under the sun), then on that day raise a glass to Argos, the faithful dog of Odysseus. He deserved better, but at least he got to see his master one last time. In honor of Argos, I’ve put the full account below.
As they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred before setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him. In the old days he used to be taken out by the young men when they went hunting wild goats, or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone he was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in front of the stable doors till the men should come and draw it away to manure the great close; and he was full of fleas. As soon as he saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the other side of the yard, dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus seeing it, and said:
"Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap: his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for show?"
"This hound," answered Eumaeus, "belonged to him who has died in a far country. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would soon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But now he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their master's hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of him."
As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the suitors were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognized his master.
The Story of Argos; Odyssey, Book 17; Samuel Butler translation
Penelope’s Feelings
Penelope is going to start getting more of the spotlight in the Odyssey. First, the story was focused on Telemachus, then Odysseus, and now it’s going to focus a little more on Penelope. Toward the end, the spotlight will briefly shine on Odysseus’ father Laertes.
Recall in my post on Book 1 that the Odyssey is really about Odysseus and his family, not just Odysseus (which is why I complained a little bit about the title of the poem). Homer wanted to make that crystal clear when he spent the first four books on Telemachus alone and doesn’t get to Odysseus until Book 5.
Anyway, it’s here in Book 17 that we learn a little more about Penelope’s feelings toward everything going on—and we learn that she’s pretty ticked off at the suitors and wants revenge against them. Never mind the fact that they’ve been a nuisance for over three years at this point—they tried to kill Telemachus.
It would be extremely difficult for something like Penelope’s situation to happen today. Today, she could have told all the suitors to take a hike and they would have had to. She wouldn’t have been put in a position where she either had to choose one of the suitors or go back to her father’s house where he would choose a new husband for her (and judging by the hints dropped in the story, he would have chosen one of the suitors for Penelope, and it is the one that desperately wants Telemachus dead the most). It’s one of those unfortunate situations where social convention ultimately traps a person into only a few choices, all of which are bad for the individual or go against their wishes or well being.
This is something that will appear more in ancient Greek literature. Aeschylus’ The Suppliants, I believe, is another good example of this. In fact, all the conventions around hospitality is the same way. Be hospitable to someone who comes to you needing it, or else…
The Road to Depravity
We see more examples of good and bad hospitality in Book 17. Eumaeus, Telemachus, and Penelope show good hospitality to the disguised Odysseus while Antinous does something truly shocking: he insults Odysseus and then hits him with his foot stool.
As despicable as the suitors are, even they are shocked by Antinous’ behavior and one of them tells him to knock it off. He even tells Antinous:
“We know the gods go about disguised in all sorts of ways as people from foreign countries, and travel about the world to see who do amiss and who righteously.”
Odyssey, Book 17; Samuel Butler translation
All Antinous can do is ignore the comment.
The journey to depravity is often a shocking one. The person starts off by doing little things here and there that seem to make no difference. Before the person knows it, they are committing acts that they never would have considered doing in the past.
I wonder how it started with the suitors? They just wanted to see if Penelope was ready to move on? And when Penelope initially refused to choose any of them, they got bitter and decided to stick around? Then it became fun to exploit someone’s property for their pleasure? Little by little, they forsook their upbringing, to the point where they’re now plotting to kill the son of the woman they’re wooing and abusing old beggars because he simply exists. Before they became suitors of Penelope, would they have been revolted had they been told what they were going to do in the future?
Now, they have no excuses for their behavior, but they’re going to continue anyway. They know they’re doing wrong, it’s been obvious for quite some time complete with signs of divine activity, but they refuse to stop before its too late. Or perhaps, they know its too late and they’re just riding it out for as long as they can.
Why do they not give up? Why do they want to prolong the suffering longer than it needs to? Where is the mercy?
That’s all for Book 17 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Odysseus Recognized by His Dog Argos by Theodoor van Thulden, 1632-33. Public domain.