Celeste Denny

Mrs. Zen
10/16/18

Ready to 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 suitors. He refers to his “tactician’s wit” which told that he

was good at planning(16. 266). 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.

Odysseus told Telemachus to leave out weapons for the two of them. He was implying that it

wouldn’t be hard to beat the suitors because of his strength . 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 but were unsuccessful. One of the suitors, Amphinomus, planned to “kill

the prince [himself]” (16.448). By planning to kill Telemachus, Amphinomus showed that he is

going to try and take the throne himself and rule Ithaca. Through these plans 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

Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by: Robert Fagles. The Penguin Books. 1997
Celeste Denny
Mrs. Zen
10/16/18