Introduction
Books 17-20 of Homer’s The Odyssey concentrate on Odysseus’ arrival to his palace in a beggar’s disguise and the adventures surrounding his unannounced return. There are several critical ideas reflected in these parts of the epic, including loyalty, pride, patience, a strategic approach, and Athena’s involvement. However, it seems that the most crucial concepts reflecting the main character’s decisions and behavior in books 17-20 are caution and constraint.
Main body
The main reason why being discreet is of utmost importance for Odysseus is the desire to find out the real state of things in his palace and to see who has been a loyal friend and who has only pretended to be one. One can come across many occasions when the hero has a desire to respond to offenders. However, Odysseus prefers to keep silent and rely on gods’ help to investigate the relationships between people through shrewdness and cunning. In book 17, the author introduces the hero as “subtle Odysseus” (Homer 17.16). This characteristic means that both the father and son intend to keep Odysseus’ arrival secret to everyone. Furthermore, not only Telemachus helps to keep Odysseus undercover, but also his old dog, Argos, who has recognized his master at once but dares not move toward him. The scene of Odysseus’ and Argos’ meeting is rather moving and sorrowful at the same time. The dog’s “ears dropped” (17.331-333), which indicates that he has recognized his master. Meanwhile, Odysseus only “glanced to the side / and flicked away a tear” (17.333-334), afraid to give up his personality.
It is evident that caution and restraint are the main concepts on many other occasions. Odysseus does not refuse to fight against Irus, who hurls “a fist / at Odysseus’ right shoulder” (18.109-110). When meeting his old nurse, he requests her not to reveal his secret by asking, “you want to kill me?” (19.545). By saying so, Odysseus means that it is too early for him to make his presence evident and uncover his identity. These examples indicate that at the moment, being forethoughtful is more important to Odysseus than announcing the arrival of the home’s master.
One could argue that loyalty or pride serves as the main concept of the books under analysis. The reaction to Eurymachus’ self-assuredness expressed by the words, “You’re sick with pride, you brutal fool” (18.431) may be a reason for some to believe so. Furthermore, Odysseus’ silent disapproval of “the maids who whored in the suitors’ beds each night” (20.9) refers to the theme of loyalty. However, the thorough analysis of the text allows concluding that the instances where the main hero demonstrates constraint and caution are much more numerous and bear much more significance to the plot’s development.
Conclusion
Overall, the analysis of the given parts of the epic allows concluding that despite the reflection of various crucial themes and behaviors, constraint and caution of the main hero are the ones best representing his personality and most helpful in pursuing his goal. Odysseus wants to remain unknown to everyone so that he could evaluate the situation in his palace and discern between the true good and evil. Although the themes of Athena’s involvement, pride, loyalty, patience, and a strategic approach also play important roles, these concepts are not equally essential to caution and restraint demonstrated by Odysseus.
Work Cited
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles, Viking, 1996.