How Did Odysseus Manipulate The Bow

In book 21 Iphitus gave Odysseus the bow that once belonged to his father and in return Odysseus gave his new friend a sword and spear. Before the two men got to know each other, Zeus killed Iphitus. Odysseus valued his bow and stored in a safe place while he was away at war. Only his wife Penelope was aware of where he stored it. In book 22, while Odysseus was in war, the suitors took over his home in attempts to win Penelope over to be one of their brides. Even though Penelope knew how precious the bow was to her husband, she agreed to marry the suitor who would be able to string the bow with ease and shoot threw the axes. Penelope agreed to do this because she thought that her husband had died in war. Antious, the suitors ring leader, was

the first to mock Odysseus.

Odysseus’s son Telemachus was first to attempt to string the bow but was unsuccessful.

Leodes was the first of the suitor’s that was forced to participate in stringing the bow. He did this against his will and was also unsuccessful. The suitors even attempted to manipulate the bow with the use of grease but no still, no suitor was successful. The only two men that remained loyal to Odysseus were cowherd and swineherd who prayed for Odysseus to return home.

It was soon revealed that the person that they were praying to was really Odysseus and he was actually there in the home. Odysseus was able to prove to cowherd and swineherd that it was really him because of the great scar that he boar. They all embraced each other and began to make a plan of how they would get Odysseus the bow. He would need it in order to regain control of his home. He needed to get revenge on the suitor’s.

When Eumaeus (swineherd) attempted to retrieve the bow, a suitor attempted to stop him but was unsuccessful. He not only retrieved the bow but was also able to keep the nurses quiet. This allowed Odysseus time to practice stringing his bow in which he did with ease. He was able to shoot the bow without missing the axes. When the suitor saw this he became scared and

panicked.

The first person for Odysseus to kill was Antious. He shot him in the throat with the bow which put the suitors in an uproar when they saw their leader down. The suitors believed that Odysseus would never return from Troy. Odysseus was enraged and said, “you have bled my house, ravished my women, and wooed by wife behind my back all with no fear of the consequences. Doom is sealed for everyone.”

Eurymachus was the only suitor who was bold enough to speak up by saying that he never agreed with the suitors and how Antinous led them into this plot. He asked that if Odysseus would spare their lives they would repay him with oxen, bronze and gold. Odysseus told him “not even if you paid me all of your fathers wealth would I stop the slaughter.” Odysseus, his son, and the two men proceeded to kill all of the suitors.

I feel that Odysseus, his son, the cowherd and the swineherd were justified in slaughtering all of the suitors because he may not have been able to trust them later on. They totally disrespected him, his household and his wife the entire time that he was away. I do believe that he should have spared Leodes life. Leodes begged him to spare his life because the entire time that Odysseus was away he tried to restrain the suitors from doing what they were doing. Leodes never disrespected Penelope; however, Odysseus felt that Leodes was actually plotting on marrying Penelope because he thought that Odysseus would never return. Odysseus ended up chopping Leodes neck off. I do believe that this punishment was too severe.