Suitors

The Suitors are the central antagonists of the Odyssey's second half, a body of 108 young aristocrats from Ithaca, Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus who, in Odysseus's prolonged absence, install themselves in his house, devour his livestock and wine, and press his wife Penelope to choose one of them as a new husband. Their collective presence transforms the king's home into a site of chronic violation, and their destruction becomes the poem's culminating act of justice and restoration.

Composition and Leadership

The Suitors number fifty-two from Dulichium with six servants, twenty-four from Same, twenty from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all of them well-born. Their ringleaders are Antinous, son of Eupeithes, and Eurymachus, son of Polybus, who are described as "much the foremost among them all" and who orchestrate the group's most aggressive schemes. Other prominent members include Amphinomus, son of Nisus, who is more temperate than the others and whom Penelope finds more agreeable; Ctesippus from Same, a ribald fellow who throws a heifer's foot at Odysseus; Leiodes, the sacrificial priest who alone disapproves of their conduct; and Agelaus, son of Damastor, who speaks for moderation in the assembly. The group also includes a bard, Phemius, whom they compel to sing for them, and a herald, Medon, who serves them at table.

Conduct and Occupation of Odysseus's House

For nearly four years—three years openly and a fourth after Penelope's weaving trick is exposed—the Suitors feast daily in Odysseus's halls, slaughtering his oxen, sheep, and fat goats, and consuming his wine without restraint. They are described as behaving "atrociously" and making "riot over the whole house," and they treat the household servants with insolence, forcing the women to sleep with them. They play draughts in front of the house, throw discs and spears at marks on the levelled ground, and listen to Phemius's songs. Their presence is a constant drain on Telemachus's inheritance: he tells the assembly that they are "eating up my house under the pretext of paying their court to my mother" and that before long they will do the same with himself. The swineherd Eumaeus reports that the Suitors force him to send them the best boar from his herd every day, and that the goat-herd Melanthius must send the best goat daily.

The Weaving Trick and Penelope's Resistance

Penelope stalls the Suitors for three years by a celebrated stratagem: she sets up a great loom in her room and begins weaving an enormous shroud for Laertes, promising to choose a husband once it is finished. Each day she weaves, but each night by torchlight she unpicks her work. The Suitors are fooled until the fourth year, when one of her maids—Melantho, who is in love with Eurymachus—betrays her secret. They catch Penelope in the act of undoing her web and force her to complete it. After this, Penelope can no longer delay, and the pressure to marry intensifies, with her father Icarius and her brothers urging her to choose Eurymachus, who has been increasing his wedding presents.

Plot Against Telemachus

When Telemachus secretly sails to Pylos and Sparta in search of news of his father, the Suitors are enraged and alarmed. Antinous proposes that they ambush and kill him on his return voyage, and twenty of them set out in a ship to lie in wait in the strait between Ithaca and Samos, at the rocky islet of Asteris. The plot fails when Athena guides Telemachus safely home by a different route. Later, after Telemachus has returned and reunited with Odysseus, the Suitors again discuss killing him, but Amphinomus persuades them to first consult the gods' omens, and the plan is abandoned when an eagle flies past with a dove in its talons.

The Contest of the Bow and the Slaughter

Penelope, prompted by Athena, proposes a contest: whoever can string Odysseus's great bow and shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axe-heads will win her hand. One by one the Suitors try and fail—Leiodes cannot even bend the bow, and even after warming and greasing it, none succeed. Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, asks to try, and despite their protests, Telemachus insists he be given the bow. Odysseus strings it effortlessly, shoots through all twelve axes, and then, with Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius, turns the bow on the Suitors. Antinous is the first to die, struck in the throat as he reaches for his wine cup. Eurymachus tries to bargain, then attacks and is killed. The slaughter is methodical: Odysseus shoots until his arrows run out, then dons armour and fights with spear and sword. The Suitors are cornered in the hall; Melanthius, who tries to arm them from the storeroom, is captured, mutilated, and left to die. Only the bard Phemius and the herald Medon are spared at Telemachus's plea. In all, 108 Suitors are killed, their bodies piled in the gatehouse, and the twelve maids who consorted with them are hanged.

Thematic Significance

The Suitors embody the violation of xenia (hospitality), the abuse of power, and the consequences of hubris. They are repeatedly warned—by Halitherses's prophecy of eagles, by Theoclymenus's vision of blood-dripping walls, and by the disguised Odysseus himself—but they persist in their arrogance. Their collective death restores order to Ithaca, fulfills the prophecy of Teiresias, and allows Odysseus to reclaim his identity, his household, and his kingship. In the underworld, Agamemnon's ghost contrasts their fate with the praise of Penelope's fidelity, cementing the Suitors as a negative exemplum of lawlessness and greed.