Book 22-Death to The Suitors

With my great bow, I leapt up on the table and told the suitors their time was done. Antinoos, acting cocky, stood unafraid. I fired an arrow right at him and that was the end of that. The rest of the suitors yelled at me, but I didn't care. I revealed my identity to them, and they asked for forgiveness. Of course I wasn't going to forgive them, and I sent another arrow right into the chest of Eurymakhos. At this point the fight was on. As they charged me, Telemakhos and I took them down one by one. My son grabbed some armour and weapons, which helped more. While the fight continued, the suitors somehow got their dirty hands on my armour. I sent the swineherd and cowherd to take care of that traitor. I was getting a little nervous, but Athena came to my aid. She protected me from on-coming spears, and the four of us continued our slaughter. Even as they begged, I refused to give mercy, except for one because my son convinced me otherwise. Once all the suitors were taken care of, I sent Telemakhos and both of the herders dispose of the unfaithful maids. We had won the fight, and I felt like I was home again.

During the fight, Leodes came to me and begged for mercy. He asked, "Mercy, mercy on a suppliant, Odysseus! Never by word or act of mine, I swear, was any woman troubled here. I told the rest to put an end to it. They would not listen," (419). This may be the biggest lie I've ever heard in my lifetime. What an ignorant fool. Did he really think that I was going to believe that he was faithful to the great Odysseus. This man was just as bad as the other suitors. He got what he deserved.

Last night, Kresippos threw the cow's foot at me, but today he was killed for his terrible acts. Before he died, Eumaios looked down on him and said, "This will repay your cow's-foot courtesy to a great wanderer come home," (418). Kresippos truly deserved my punishment for treating me bad as an old man, and my house terribly while I was gone. Kresippos' actions are the definition of karma. Something bad always happens to people who do wrong things.