Theme Of Punishment In The Odyssey

In Homer's epic poem, “The Odyssey,” the themes of retribution ring strongly along with the notion of unjust punishment, or, more accurately, the grievances the world itself can put on man. At the end of the work, a battered Odysseus arrives home to find the peace of his house sundered by the many suitors who had taken up residence there. Even when Odysseus finds himself home, he cannot find a true peace, he must yet struggle more. Though now he finds himself with an ally: his son, Telemachus. This is the character whose nature this paper is most concerned with.

Telemachus and Odysseus contrive a plan to kill all of the suitors that have invaded their household. They decide to slaughter them all by barricading them in the great hall and then attack them. This plan works flawlessly, and the suitors all lie dead by the end. Then, Odysseus decides the maids must but dealt with and requests that Telemachus cut their throats. Instead, Telemachus decides to hang them all; giving them a

painful death.
In this moment, the maids are described as larches and doves, nesting in a thicket. They hang and their toes dance a little, but they sputter out. It is most curious that Homer chooses to describe these maids as birds nesting in a thicket. The simile seems to illicit the notion of the birds, being free and innocent, getting entrapped within a thicket, being cut and bleed by its cruel thorns. This is a terrible fate for those creatures, but why should Homer think the maids are possessed of the same innocence and thus share the same tragedy?
It is important to note that not all of the maids are hung, but rather only those who have slept with the suitors. It would seem that the action of sleeping with the suitors would take away their innocence. Yet, it is not all their fault. Since many of these were the younger servants and had been trapped in with the suitors, who were willy and manipulative individuals. Though it would be presumptuous to say that all of them were tricked, it seems likely many of them were. Of those that were not tricked, it is possible that they found love. Those that found love suffered the same conditions as the others, having seen nothing but Odysseus’s estate for their entire lives. Given that, it would appear natural that some may have fallen in love, since they would have otherwise spent their youth without that experience. Love then, is just youthful.
This delineation between those who are tricked and those who have fallen in love parallels that of the larks and doves.

It would seem that the larks, a bird generally associated with innocent foolishness, would represent those who were tricked by the suitors. Likewise, the dove represents purity, peace, and freedom and would seem to represent those who fell into youthful love. However, they are all cast in the same lot, by the same man: Telemachus.

Telemachus has an interesting relationship to the crime that the maids committed. Firstly, Telemachus spent his life in similar conditions to the maids, being stuck entertaining and serving the suitors. Further, Telemachus loathes trickery, as he often bemoans the wanderers that come to his mother with false tales of Odysseus. However, this loathing seems to be directed at the tricksters, rather than the beguiled. Though it is not illogical that he should hate the maids for being tricked. To examine this, one must examine those that had

love.
Those that had love possessed something Telemachus was never able to have. Telemachus was stuck with responsibilities over the house and over the fate of his mother. This relationship meant that while he could care for his mother, he could not truly see love for her. As her protector, Telemachus had to remain distant, and she, being distraught by the loss of Odysseus, could not give him a boundless love, for her love was lost. Telemachus was little given to leisure, and thus couldn't find love for himself. Thus, to him, the maids who ought to have been in a position underneath him, had achieved what he could not. Telemachus was rendered indignantly fearful and envious of this, that those beneath him should have privilege and freedom beyond his. Likewise, he feared that if his servants could be tricked, then they were far too apt to be given to insubordination.
Thus Telemachus creates the nest of thorns to catch these birds. He creates a cruelty for those which defy his notion of privilege. Yet, in doing so, it says more than Telemachus is to understand. The importance of the thicket is to show that oftentimes, people suffer punishments unbefitting of their crimes. The construct of the simile does not put the action in Telemachus's hands, but rather compares the death to being a passive thing, something that the maids have stumbled upon. The senselessness of this act then, cruelly mimics Telemachus's own desire. Ultimately, the punishment of the maids is divorced from the context of Telemachus's pain and confusion, but is rather a cruel fate that nature happened to impose on the innocent.
Thus Telemachus does not get his retribution, the simile makes clear that his actions are equally as hollow and random as the suffering imposed on him. It's as if Telemachus was grasping at straws in attempting to exact punishment on those he was envious and afraid of. This ought to be a comfort to any reader however, since it would say that cruelty is a futile endeavor. While man can have meaningful action, punishing his fellow man for the harshness of the world itself simply perpetuates that hollow cruelty of the world. Consequently, Homer shows the reader that one ought not attempt to seek vindication in all things, but rather seek right action, to avoid the empty pain that Telemachus feels.