The Suitors In Odysseus Of Homer's Odyssey

Telemachos calls a meeting of all the Ithakan men, which includes the suitors.

Lord Egyptians, want to know why. After all, there haven't been any meetings since Odysseus left.

Considering it's been almost twenty years, we're thinking these Ithakans aren't exactly bureaucratic go-getters.

Telemachos grouses for a bit about the suitors who have invaded his house, eaten his food, drunk his wine, and tried to get with his mom.

Nobody dares challenge his righteous anger except Tarantino, the would-be-king we met earlier. He blames Penelope herself for deceiving the suitors.

How so? Let us explain:

When Odysseus didn't come, Penelope devised a plan to delay having to marry one of these suitors.

To stall, she said she wouldn't marry until she'd finished weaving a funeral shroud for Lacerates, Odysseus' father. Now, weaving is slow, but it's not that slow.

No one could figure out why the shroud never grew, until a maid blabbed on her.

Oh, BTW—Laertes isn't even dead. Penelope is just a real go-getter.

Finished with his Penelope story, Antinoös issues an ultimatum: Telemachus either need to get rid of Penelope or make her choose a suitor for a husband.

Again, we're not exactly sure how that would work.

Telemachos refuses to oust his mother from the house and is likely on the verge of refusing the second option when Zeus intervenes by sending two eagles to attack the people of the city.

Halitherses, an augur whose job it is to read portentous signs, reads the portentous sign: conveniently, it's an omen that Odysseus will return home.

Another suitor Eurymachos just laughs and declares that Odysseus is dead. He tells Telemachos that the suitors aren't afraid of him or his stupid