Why is antinous the first suitor killed

Telemachus takes control and orders Eumaeus to give Odysseus the bow. Needless to say, Odysseus easily strings it and sends the first arrow he grabs whistling through all twelve axes. Before the suitors realize what is happening, Odysseus shoots a second arrow through the throat of Antinous.

The suitors are confused and believe this shooting to be an accident. Odysseus finally reveals himself, and the suitors become terrified. Eurymachus tries to calm Odysseus down, insisting that Antinous was the only bad apple among them, but Odysseus announces that he will spare none of them.

Eurymachus then charges Odysseus, but he is cut down by another arrow. Amphinomus is the next to fall, at the spear of Telemachus. Telemachus gets more shields and swords from the storeroom to arm Eumaeus and Philoetius, but he forgets to lock it on his way out. Melanthius soon reaches the storeroom and gets out fresh arms for the suitors. A full battle now rages in the palace hall. Volleys of spears are exchanged, and Odysseus and his men kill several suitors while receiving only superficial wounds themselves.

Finally, Athena joins the battle, which then ends swiftly. The priest Leodes begs unsuccessfully for mercy. Odysseus has Eurycleia come out. She openly rejoices to see the suitors dead, but Odysseus checks her impropriety. She rounds up the disloyal servant women, who are first made to clear the corpses from the hall and wash the blood from the furniture; they are then sent outside and executed.

Odysseus tells Telemachus to cut them down with a sword, but Telemachus decides to hang them—a more disgraceful death. Last of all, the traitor Melanthius is tortured and killed. After the bloodbath, Odysseus has the house fumigated. The dramatic scene in which Odysseus effortlessly strings the bow is justly famous. Since the bow gives Odysseus a weapon in hand, it also allows for a seamless transition to the fighting of Book Homer tells us that Odysseus received the bow during a diplomatic trip to Messene, long before any of his hardships began, and that it has been seldom used since then.

Through his mastery of the bow, Odysseus comes full circle, once again the king and most powerful man in Ithaca. Athena plays a less prominent role in the battle than earlier books suggest she might.

Disguised as Mentor, she offers encouragement at a crucial moment, but her departure to the sidelines puts the focus squarely on Odysseus and his allies.

Of course, Athena would presumably intervene if the battle were to go awry, but her reserve until the very end allows the victory to be portrayed as the work of Odysseus and Telemachus.

When the suitors do fall, Homer makes their deaths seem fitting by reminding us of the foul deeds that merited this purge. Antinous, foremost among the suitors for his impudence, falls first. The fighting of Book 22 is the only pitched battle in The Odyssey , and while it cannot help but recall The Iliad , which abounds in bloodshed, the description remains thoroughly Odyssean. For one thing, it maintains the comic and domestic flavor that many critics find characteristic of The Odyssey.

The battle, for instance, occurs not on a field but in a palace with the doors locked. Additionally, some of the deaths have a kind of Gothic humor to them, as suitors like Antinous and Eurymachus trip over their dinners. Odysseus sees the danger but resists panic. His faithful herdsmen cut off Melanthius' second trip and hang him live by the rafters. At this crucial point in the battle, as Odysseus agonizes, Athena appears in the form of Mentor.

The king recognizes his true mentor, the goddess, and takes heart as she reminds him that these are not Trojans that he faces. These are only the suitors. He fights on with renewed vigor.

The king's faithful servant can't resist asking Ctesippus how he likes his mockery now Odysseus dispenses justice harshly but not without mercy. Leodes pleads that he was only the suitors' priest, but Odysseus knows that he was the first to try to string the bow and win Penelope. Odysseus decapitates him with one swipe, the head softly bouncing in the dust. Following Telemachus' recommendation, the king spares Phemius the bard and one of the heralds. With classic understatement, Odysseus observes that he has only a few "household chores" He asks Eurycleia to identify the maidservants who were disloyal.

A dozen are called in. They must clean the gore from the great hall, after which they are taken to the courtyard and hanged. The maidservants "kicked up heels for a little — not for long" Then Melanthius, the goatherd who assaulted Odysseus on the road to town and later mocked him at the palace, is dragged into the courtyard.

His nose and ears are cut off. His genitals are torn from his groin and fed to the dogs. His hands and feet are severed. It is safe to assume that he dies. The detailed descriptions of the battle and executions are especially effective, realistic, and thorough. The accounts of the deaths of Antinous What we come away with is this: In this land which has no courts or police and where each must settle his own disputes, Odysseus is not a man to offend.

The house is fumigated, probably with sulfur, for purposes both practical and symbolic. Odysseus' long struggle is over. The enemy is vanquished. His house is finally cleansed. It is time to reunite with Penelope. Previous Book Next Book Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List.