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Once more Odysseus feels a strong urge to go into action. The intensity of his agitation (cf. 9:  ) is indicated by  (10, only here in combination with  ), the metaphor  (13, 16), and the simile triggered by that metaphor:  . . . (14-6). Barking inwardly is almost a paradox, since barking normally involves quite a bit of noise. The verb symbolizes Odysseus' aggression, his eagerness to act (cf. in the simile:  ). The bitch of the simile, which barks because it wants to protect its tender puppies, also reveals the reason for Odysseus' aggrbession: he feels he must protect his house against the threat posed by the suitors and the disloyal maids.14 The intensity of Odysseus' feelings requires a mighty act of self-restraint. Since he is alone he can talk aloud in a monologue (1821), even reprimand himself ( : 17,  : 22). He urges himself to endure (note the thrice repeated  ) by calling to mind his successful defeat of the Cyclops. His words have the desired effect:  (234, note the unique combination  ). Thus once again the rational alternative, to let the maids go to their lovers, prevails over the irrational one, to kill them. The reader, however, will hardly fail to notice the menacing tone of 'for the last and latest time' ( : 13) in Odysseus' unspoken thoughts;15 soon the unfaithful maids will be killed by their master. |
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After this powerful act of self-restraint there follows a repetition of incidents: once more Odysseus is reviled by the goatherd Melanthius (cf. passage 5) and he reacts with silence and inward brooding (20.1834, cf. passage 6); once more a suitor, Ctesippus, throws an object at him (cf. passage 6),16 but this time we observe a change in Odysseus' reaction: |
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Odysseus avoided
this by an easy shift of his head. And he inwardly smiled
a very sardonic smile.
(Od. 20.3002) |
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Whereas the first time Odysseus was actually hit, this time he easily avoids the projectile, a cow-foot, by ducking. The acts of the suitors, even their insolence, become more and more ineffective.17 Odysseus' inward reaction |
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14 See Rose (1979) 2630. |
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15 The expression recurs only once, in what seems to be a mixture of a wish and a curse by Penelope (4.6845). |
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16 This is actually the third time an object is thrown at him, but the second time (18.3948) contains no passage of unspoken thought. |
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17 See Fenik (1974) 1867. |
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