Who are the suitors in the Odyssey? What is their fate?

Who Are the Suitors in the Odyssey? What Is Their Fate?

Men who wish to wed the “widowed” Penelope are the suitors in the Odyssey. They are never successful. Odysseus ultimately kills them for wasting his riches and bothering Penelope.

However, his wife Penelope never gives up faith that one day she will be reunited with her late husband. It appears that she is the only one who still has faith in his comeback. Some believe that because she is a “widow,” she is single. Hundreds of men quickly approach her, hoping for her hand in marriage, but she turns them all down.

In general, the suitors in the Odyssey are not kind and sympathetic people. They are portrayed by Homer as rude, piggish guys. Penelope and Telemachus must band together to oppose them as their presence is detrimental rather than charming. The suitors are useless in the palace. They are destroying the livestock, consuming the food, and pestering the widow while tearing through the palace.

Penelope is unable to drive them from her home because doing so would be impolite. Rather than making a choice right away, she creates cunning “ruses” or tricks. She first requests that they hold off until she is done making Odysseus’ father’s funeral shroud. But her deception is exposed after three years. Instead, she sets up an archery competition. She vows to wed the first person who can string Odysseus’s bow through twelve axes. Odysseus is the only one who manages to accomplish it, while none of the other suitors can. At last, Penelope recognizes him and joyfully rejoins her spouse.