Odyssey, Christianity, Marriage
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After years of struggling with the gods, Odysseus returns home and avenges himself against the suitors who have coveted his wife during his absence. He is disguised as a beggar in rags but his son, Telemachus, knows it is his father. When her nurse comes to inform Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, that her husband has returned, Penelope refuses to believe her and thinks the gods have turned her senses. Sparing the nurse a beating because of her old gray head, Penelope tells her to go. At this point the nurse informs Penelope that it truly is her husband. Penelope is concerned that while it may be her husband, who has this man, who has been gone for so many years and experienced so many atrocities, become? As we read “One moment he seemed…Odysseus, to the life-- / the next, no, he was not the man she knew, / a huddled mass of rags was all she saw” (Kass and Kass 548).Penelope is chastised by her nurse for having little trust, and Telemachus berates her for her cold heart because she appears to be aloof from her returned husband “What other wife could have a spirit so unbending? / Holding back from her husband, home at last for her / after bearing twenty years of brutal struggle - / your heart was always harder than a rock” (Kass et al. 550). Penelope explains she is merely stunned with wonder. She explains to her son that she and Odysseus share a secret language known only to them “We two have secret signs, / known to us both but hidden f
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dysseus and the reunion of the married couple. We can especially see the Christian elements when it comes to aspects like the sacredness of the marriage bed and vows of chastity and the quality of covetousness. The suitors who have camped out in Odysseus’ house, ate his food, drank his wine and tried to woo his wife are portrayed as the lowest form of creatures. As the nurse tells Penelope “He’s come home, just as I tell you!… / …so he could pay those vipers back in kind!” (Kass et al. 348). If we look to the English NIV Bible, we see that there are many verses devoted to the ills of coveting. As noted in Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” The verse from Deuteronomy 5:21 is identical in wording.
The suitors who have stolen into Odysseus’ home have coveted all of the above. They have transgressed against him similar to the words in Micah 2:2 “They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance.” The suitors have defrauded Odysseus of his home and tried to rob Telemachus, their fellowman, of h
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Approximate Word count = 1566
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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