The Return of the King, Or How to Hang Up a Woman The Execution of the Maid-Servants in the Odyssey, XXII 457—473
The Return of the King, Or How to Hang Up a Woman The Execution of the Maid-Servants in the Odyssey, XXII 457—473

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the paper is the very gloomy and touching scene in the Odyssey, XXII 457—473, presenting the capital punishment received by the handmaids in Ithaca who were concubines to the suitors during the Odysseus’ long absence at homeland. The author of the present article tried to look at this passage from the perspective of Homeric audience which was evidently eager to hear such (and similar) scenes: abounding with the themes of violence, cruelty and death. Given the inevitable difficulties with the situating of the poems in a historical reality (the Dark Ages or the early archaic period) and with the identification of the so-called “Homeric society,” the author tried to pay more attention to the connection between the content of the poem and the expectations of its hearers. These expectations may be detected (or seen, at least) in the way the poet narrates the passage containing the violent death penalty in Odyssey, XXII 457—473. The execution passage allows us to look at Homer’s literary technique and to speculate about the sources of its representation. The passage may also serve as a point of departure for the considerations of the differences between the Greek society of the archaic era and that of the classical period. Above all, it also allows us to see the unique nature of both Homeric society and its values.

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