Zeus' Anger in The Odyssey Literature Essay Example

How does one anger the god of hospitality? Well in The Odyssey, the suitors manage to anger Zeus very easily. They selfishly invade the palace of the notorious king of Ithaca, the cunning Odysseus. They start by murdering his flocks and singeing them for feasts. They ironically insult Odysseus’ wife Penelope, who is the queen and who is the one they want to marry. They do these horrid things because they know Odysseus’ household will refuse to break xenia. Eventually, Zeus becomes fed up with the immature actions of the selfish suitors. In The Odyssey, Odysseus, with the permission from Zeus, rightfully brings justice to all the suitors and maids for destroying his household and breaking xenia.  

The suitors break xenia by abusing the royal household, deserving the wrath of Zeus and Odysseus. The lazy and gluttonous suitors abuse the house and resources of Odysseus’ family rather than behaving in an appropriate manner as dictated by xenia. While Athena walked through the house, she “found the swaggering suitors” and they were “lounging on hides of oxen they had killed themselves,” (The Odessey, Homer 1. 124-26). The suitors selfishly display horrible xenia and continue to disobey and dishonor Zeus; furthermore, adding onto their list of punishments when Odysseus returns home. Zeus and Odysseus both assure that they will get their revenge on the suitors. Not only do the suitors kill just a few oxen, they murder much of his flocks to throw feasts. The suitors greedily kill several of the families' goats and pigs to throw parties. Telemachus returns home to find the selfish suitors “skinning goats in the courtyard / [and] singeing pigs for roasting” (Homer 2.333-34). The self-centered suitors, who have taken over the household and have stolen the precious livestock, reveal an utter lack of respect for Odysseus, and more importantly, for Zeus. They also ruthlessly steal the precious goats and pigs from Odysseus and skin and singe them. Them doing this shows that they have no respect for Zeus nor Odysseus. In addition to the suitors killing Odysseus’ flocks, they constantly and rudely mock Telemachus and his family.  

The suitors meanly mock Telemachus, who feeds them and houses them, just for the fun of it, furtherly angering Zeus. The bold suitor Antinous rudely, and unnecessarily mocks the way Telemachus speaks, who is Antinous’ host in the absence of Odysseus. In front of all the suitors, Antinous abusively states that “only the gods could teach you / to sound so high and mighty!” (Homer 1.441-42). Antinous, who was the son of Eupithes and who was the worst suitor, arrogantly insults the man who is housing him. Therefore, shows that he is breaking xenia and angering his host. Antinous is oblivious to the hidden fact that his terrible xenia will be his downfall. Throughout The Odyssey, angering Zeus is unfortunately a reoccurring event. Not only does Antinous make fun of Telemachus, but Eurymachus states that one of the suitors will take over the palace. Eurymachus crudely makes Telemachus aware that one of the suitors will try to steal the palace from him. Eurymachus aggressively points out to Telemachus that he should “hold on to [his] own possessions” and “God forbid that anyone tear your holdings from your hands” (Homer 1.460-61). He boldly hints to Telemachus that his reign is short; Eurymachus has no place to tell his host this because his stay is only temporary. This incredibly arrogant statement by Eurymachus travels so much deeper than its original meaning. He suggests that he will permanently break up Telemachus’ way of life and end his entire family line. Not only do the suitors insult Telemachus with words, but they also insult Penelope and the servants. 

The suitors foolishly insult Telemachus’ mother and servants; furthermore, proving that they do not worship Zeus and they do not fear death. Antinous senselessly strikes down Penelope and her servants with words. Thick-headed Antinous pokes a bull by calling Penelope and her bunch “mawkish idiots” for grieving Odysseus’ death (Homer 21.99). Antinous, who is one of the most foolish suitors and one of the worst, unwisely insults the woman that cunning Odysseus loves. He is ironically insulting the women he wants to marry. He lives up to his name by faking his death. Everyone assumes Antinous would stop here, however, he does not and tells them to leave their own house. Antinous absurdly tells Penelope to leave her own palace for her being sad about losing Odysseus. Arrogant Antinous boldly, yet ridiculously tells Penelope to “Eat in peace, or take your snuffling / out of doors!” (Homer 21.102-03). In this instance Antinous completely and selfishly shatters xenia by attempting to kick his host out of her own home. This angers Zeus so much because he knows Antinous does not respect him. This influences Zeus to make their downfall more terrible. After all the suitors have done to Penelope and her house, Odysseus finally returns with the help of Zeus to wreak havoc on the suitors.  

Brave Odysseus returns home to rightfully slaughter the suitors for all their destruction. Odysseus, who was the rightful king of Ithaca and the father of Telemachus, justifies Antinous for his actions by shooting an arrow through his neck. He shows his skill as a warrior by hitting his target so perfectly. Odysseus righteously “aimed and shot Antinous square in the throat” and killed him (Homer 22.15). This bold act by Odysseus partially fulfills Zeus’ punishment for the suitors. This also partially satisfies his anger towards the suitors because he killed the man who abused his wife. Odysseus makes it clear to all the suitors that he is not dead and that he returns vigorously. Even though he had already shot down the leader like a hunter shoots a deer, Odysseus continues to slaughter the suitors. He makes it clear that he will not cease until they are all dead. Odysseus and his team destroy all the suitors with the help of Athena and Zeus. Odysseus continued “slashing left and right” as he did this, “screams broke from skulls cracked open” (Homer 22.322-23). Odysseus properly and justly murders the suitors because of the torture they had caused Penelope and the palace. He again shows his incredible skill as a warrior. Zeus and Athena both take on his side encouraging and helping him. The suitors are completely justified for the years they mocked Odysseus’ family name and broke xenia.  

In the work, The Odyssey, Zeus allows Odysseus to rightfully bring vengeance to the suitors and the evil maids for wrecking his palace and abusing xenia. Unfortunately, while Odysseus is away at war, suitors invade his palace and cause his household much trouble. They anger Zeus, who is the god of thunder and the god of xenia, and strongly influence their own death. From ruthlessly killing Odysseus’ beloved flocks, to attempting to marry and verbally assaulting Penelope, the suitors destroyed xenia. These selfish actions further justify Odysseus actions to destroy the suitors. That Zeus will not punish Odysseus for rightfully killing his guests. This story implies the importance of not only being an outstanding host, but to be an excellent guest. That even though your host treats you well, they do not have too. Therefore, be grateful and always display exceptional xenia whether you are the blessed guest or the divine host.