In reading book 18 about the confrontation between Iros and (disguised) Odysseus, I found that this passage was ironically amusing:
‘May Zeus, stranger, and all the other immortals give you what you want most of all and what is dear to your spirit, for having stopped the wandering of this greedy creature in our neighborhood. Soon we will take him across the mainland to Echetos, who preys on all men, and who is king there.’ So they spoke, and great Odysseus was pleased at the omen.
It is ironic that the suitors are giving omens about Odysseus getting what he most wants (the suitors’ own destruction) because he “stopped the wandering of this greedy creature in our own neighborhood…”, which is a metaphor for the suitors’ actions as well. If I was Odysseus, I would have had a hard time not laughing at that.
On a another note, is this king Echetos a kind of over-emphasized boogey man? Because he is said to “with pitiless bronze will cut off your nose and ears…etc”. He seems to be on the complete opposite end of reason and the end notes only said, “a cruel king somewhere in western Greece” and it makes you pity Iros a bit.
Also, I have wondered for a while…a lot of the characters seem to have stock/stereotypical names; Antinoos for example. Would this have been just a dramatic effect (like how in literature we have similar names for characters)? Because I honestly would not want to be named “Instead of a Mind” and I can’t imagine a mother looking at her newborn and saying that would be a good name for a child who hasn’t proven himself to do anything.
Yeah, these are pretty generic questions but it’s those little things that bother you the most.
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