What did Odysseus do to the maids?

The maids factor into “The Odyssey,” but they play a small role. Odysseus and his son Telemachus hanged the maids at the end of “The Odyssey” because Odysseus believed they were disloyal to him in his absence. The maids are virtually unheard of until they are punished for this perceived guilt.

What is the problem with the maids in the Odyssey?

For some of the maids, they are raped over and over, and relive the trauma from that. And as for the maids that play the suitors, they play their own rapists. They go into the mind of their abusers in order to tell their own story.

How are the maids described in the Odyssey?

The Maids are the daughters of poor women and slaves and they have spent their entire lives working for Penelope and her family. The Maids are devoted to Penelope and they help her during Odysseus’s absence. They Maids spy on the Suitors for her, sometimes falling in love with or being raped by the men in the process.

Why is Odysseus upset with the maids?

The suitors commit treason against Odysseus by sleeping with the maids: when listing the suitors’ crimes, Odysseus puts first their immoral relationship with these women (22.35-41). 5 Homer links the presumptuous laughter of the servants to their subversive sexual activity in order to motivate the hero’s growing wrath.

Was Odysseus justified in killing the maids?

All they did was aide the suitors. They fed them to no end and this is not what their master would want them do to. They made no effort to get the suitors out of the house. This is why Odysseus was justified to kill them.

What happened to the disloyal servants in The Odyssey?

In the closing passages of the Odyssey, the suitors and disloyal servants are punished for their crimes against Odysseus, and it does indeed seem that the death penalty doled out by Odysseus is harsh.

How does Odysseus identify the unfaithful maids?

Odysseus asks Eurycleia to identify the maids who have been unfaithful and bring them to him. He makes them clean up the blood and dead bodies in the hall and then Telemachus hangs them. Melanthius is cut up and fed to the dogs.

Why were the maids killed in the penelopiad?

Eurycleia tells Penelope that the Maids “must be silenced, or the beans they’ll spill” (Atwood 150). They were killed because they were in a position to tell a truth about Penelope (who might have been sleeping with the suitors) and to create scandal for her.

Who is Penelope’s maid in the Odyssey?

Melantho is one of the less-known characters in Greek mythology. She is a goatherd who lives in Ithaca. She serves in Odysseus’ palace as Penelope’s maid. The queen treats the girl as her daughter and often gives her presents and trinkets.

Who killed the maids who were disloyal to Odysseus?

When she woke up, Penelope panicked, asking Eurycleia which Maids Odysseus had killed, and Eurycleia told him he killed the twelve Maids who had been especially rude, including Melantho of the Pretty Cheeks.

Why does Penelope want the maid to make a bed for Odysseus in the hall?

She asked her maid to move Odysseus’ bed out so that he can sleep on it, and he says that he built the bed into an oak tree so it cannot be moved. Penelope knows this is the real Odysseus now, as no one else has been in their bedroom, and they have sex and enjoy the night.

What is the secret test Penelope gives Odysseus?

When Odysseus returns, Penelope doesn’t recognize him and cannot be sure that Odysseus is really who he says he is. She tests Odysseus by ordering her servant Eurycleia to move their marriage bed.

How does Odysseus deal with the suitors and maids?

Both his servants and the suitors alike abuse Odysseus. Odysseus is outraged and takes his revenge out on the suitors and maids by massacring them with a horrible end. Even though killing anyone sounds like a cruel and unjustified punishment, Odysseus needs to show that he is a strong leader.

How should Odysseus have dealt with the suitors of Melanthius?

Odysseus’s judgment towards the suitors and Melanthius could have been dealt with in other consequences besides death for all the suitors and Melanthius. Odysseus could have only killed the lead suitors, Antinous and Eurymachus, because without the lead suitors the rest of the suitors would have backed down.

How did the zokhrabova suitors treat Odysseus?

During his stay in the castle, the Zokhrabova suitors, Penelope’s maid, Melantho, and one of Odysseus’s goat herders, Melanthius, treated him horribly. Odysseus sees the suitors as a threat and slaughters them before they can turn on him.

Why does Odysseus feel betrayed by his servants?

Odysseus feels betrayed by his own servants since many of the maids seem to have a type of relationship with the suitors. Telemachus takes the maids out of the great hall after they were forced to clean up the suitors’ remains and they were hanged for a slow, painful death.

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