by Randy Pinion

Created on: December 16, 2006   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Vengeance plays a pivotal role in the grand epic The Odyssey. Nearly as much as Odysseus desires to go home, he wants revenge when he at last arrives. The god Poseidon does all in his divine power to ruin Odysseus's life, to crush all his hope, to repay him for the blinding of his beloved son Polyphemus. Even Odysseus's own son, Telemachus, lusts for revenge in this tale of love and war. The plot revolves around vengeance nearly as much as it does around the adventure and excitement of the grand "journey"-theme it is so well-known for.

Just what is vengeance? Webbster's New World Dictionary tells us that vengeance is "A return of an injury for an injury, as in retribution or revenge." Sounds pretty serious, no? As said before, this emotion plays a major part in The Odyssey. Characters throughout the work are seeking revenge with a passion. Without it, the epic would be missing a major plot device and would not be half the story it is currently.

Telemachus is one of the major characters in the second portion of the epic; he is the main character's son, after all. His main character trait in the epic is, oddly enough, a desire for revenge in the name of his father. He eagerly helps Odysseus plan the slaughter of the suitors (who had been readily spending his inheritance, on top of disgracing his home, and torturing his mother), then happily joins in the battle against them. Afterwards, he orders the disloyal servants and maids to clean up the mess left by the warriors. When they are finished, he has them hung in the courtyard, completing his own personal vengeance. Although Telemachus does many other great acts and says many other great things, this is his main role in The Odyssey.

Odysseus spends the first half of The Odyssey waging a desperate battle against the sea god Poseidon, that he may return home. After many long, tortured years, he arrives upon an unfriendly land that was once his home. Forced to disguise himself as a beggar in order to even survive, Odysseus immediately begins plotting the downfall of the suitors destroying his home. His sole focus in the second half of the story is the utter destruction of the invaders of his home. After carefully mapping out every detail with his loyal servants and son, he enters his castle and carries out his bloody vengeance without mercy of any sort. Even after the suitors surrender at the death of their leader, Antinuous, Odysseus continues slaying them by the handful with his mighty longbow, his son and servants

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