Celeste Denny

Mrs. Zen
Block A
10/16/18

Ready to for Battle For Power

In The Odyssey by Homer, both Odysseus and the suitors are scheming and preparing to

fight for the throne. When Odysseus tells Telemachus that he is his father, they start thinking of

ways to get revenge on the suitors. Odysseus and Telemachus were planning to kill the suitors

for what they had done to their home. Their plan was to take away the suitors’ armor and leave

out weapons of their own to kill the Hesuitors. He referd torefers to his “tactician’s wit” which

told that he was good at planning. (16. 266). Odysseus’ confidence, in his strategy, made the

reader more sure that Odysseus would get his revenge on the suitors Odysseus had so much

confidence that he told Telemachus that they could fight the suitors by themselves and “without

allies” (16.268). Even though Odysseus had gotten into trouble because of his confidence, he had

gotten out of many problems with his intuition. Odysseus’ confidence in beating the suitors

helped him ultimately win in battle. He had gotten in many problems such as when he tried to

tell the Cyclops Polyphemus Odysseus told Telemachus to leave out weapons for the two of

them. “leave a pair of swords” (16.327). He was implying that it wouldn’t be hard to beat the

suitors because of his strength and his relationship with the goddess Athena. The suitors also had

a plan to kill Telemachus. Since Penelope wasn’t going to marry one of them, they wanted to kill

Telemachus so she would have to marry one for there to be a king. When Telemachus was on his

journey, they planned his death “sudden death” but were unsuccessful. (16.419). One of the

suitors, Amphinomus, planned to “kill the prince [himself]” (16.448). By planning to kill

Telemachus himself, Amphinomus showed that he is going to try and take the throne himself and

rule Ithaca. Through these plans that were made, it is inferred that there will be a battle between
Odysseus and the suitors for the throne. Both sides, Odysseus and the suitors were willing to do

what it took to have power over Ithaca.

Works Cited: Formatted: Centered

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by: Robert Fagles. The Penguin Books. 1997