homer's odyssey

Moral Perfidy in the Odyssey

In The Odyssey, Homer utilizes the lie as a motif, and in so doing, he establishes a moral dichotomy. The Odyssey is populated with lies and with liars, but the liars operate differently from one another. Indeed, when vocalized by some liars, the lies become virtuous necessities or demonstrate superior intelligence. Other liars prove themselves to be base and without morals as they lie to manipulate, to increase their own wealth or to take advantage of hospitality.

The lies themselves act as methods of characterization. In particular, Odysseus' lies contribute to Homer's characterization of the hero as wily and cunning. Ironically, when Odysseus uses lies strategically, they become weapons, and he is often able to establish important truths about the individuals to whom he lies. In total, Odysseus' use of lies in the second half of The Odyssey, while seemingly cruel to his wife and to his faithful servant, both allows him to reclaim his rightful place in his home and illustrates the inherent, ironic morality in some lies, namely that if a lie is told for the correct motives, it may be more moral than the truth.

Before addressing Odysseus' "virtuous" lying, the immoral perfidiousness of the suitors should be presented as a contrast. As Odysseus struggles to return home after the Trojan War, opportunistic suitors attempt to seduce Penelope and to take possession of Odysseus' home. A key Greek value is that of hospitality to the guest, and to violate this cultural virtue is to incur the wrath of the gods. Penelope is in an untenable position: technically, the suitors are guests to whom hospitality is owed, but she must also courageously preserve herself and Odysseus' home for him until he returns. The suitors foist themselves upon Odysseus' household and upon Penelope, demanding that she select one of them for a husband. Penelope, who exhibits another Greek virtue, that of wifely loyalty, initially refuses, but the suitors refuse to leave and "persist in eating up any number of his [Odysseus'] sheep and oxen" (1.49). Penelope clings to the hope that Odysseus is alive, and to protect their chances for future happiness, she concocts a lie, the analysis of which belongs more appropriately in the descriptions of "virtuous" lies. As characters, the suitors themselves are not good guests, and therefore, they are not good Greeks.

As a method of characterization, the suitors' lies indirectly reveal their bad natures more fully than their unmitigated gluttony. Telemachus, Odysseus' son, is enraged by the suitors' behavior toward his mother and by the plunder of his father's house. Telemachus appeals to King Menelaus for assistance, and in Telemachus' absence, the suitors plot to murder him. The suitors present a veneer of concern and familial care toward Penelope and Telemachus, but this facade of civility is a poorly concealed lie and a violation of one of the chief Greek virtues of hospitality. In The Odyssey, the suitors are presented as bumbling, immoral liars, little better than common thieves. The suitors' lies are motivated by their avarice, and these men are punished severely (by Odysseus) for their perfidy. The suitors' lies present quite a foil to the lies perpetrated by Odysseus, as well as those committed by Penelope. The suitors' immorally motivated lies are juxtaposed against. Odysseus' (and Penelope's) morally motivated lies to present an interesting perception of truth as a concept: in The Odyssey, what matters most is motivation, not action. In other words, Homer's tale seems to suggest that the ends do indeed justify the means.

The blatantly immoral and self-serving lies of the suitors contrast sharply against the comparatively moral lies of Penelope and Odysseus. Nevertheless, the lies that Penelope tells and the lies that Odysseus tells are different in both execution and intent. Odysseus' lies possess a more complex motivation, and are expressive of a seemingly paternalistic belief on Odysseus' part that only he is able to discern truth in the tangled situation, and only he will be able to put things back in order. Penelope's lies seem to be motivated by love and by preservation of her family and home.

Penelope lies only to her enemies, who in this case are her numerous, persistent suitors. Penelope's lies also form a metaphor. To protect herself, her home, her marriage, and her family, Penelope literally "weaves" a series of lies, one of which takes the form of a woven cloth that is continually altered to give the appearance of truth, while preserving the lie. The suitors claim that Odysseus must be dead because he has yet to return from the Trojan War. Penelope, feeling otherwise, has faith that Odysseus will one day return to her and remains faithful to the reality of her marriage (the same cannot be said of Odysseus, as he engages in several dalliances with lovely supernatural females, as well as what might be described as a flirtation/attraction with a young and attractive mortal woman). Penelope promises the suitors that she will eventually satisfy them by selecting one of them as a husband, a replacement for Odysseus. This is a lie. Penelope will never succumb to the alleged charms of the suitors. She is tired, and she is frustrated, but her strength of character and of purpose is unshaken by the constant pressure of the hungry suitors. Penelope fabricates an elaborate lie to purchase time for negotiation and for Odysseus to finally make his way home. She promises the suitors that she will marry one of them when she finishes weaving an elaborate burial shroud for her much-loved father-in-law, Laertes. Unbeknownst to the suitors, Penelope weaves each day and unweaves her day's work each night. The funeral shroud will never be completed. This temporal device is effective for quite some time, which is another testament to Homer's characterization of the suitors as gluttonous, immoral dolts. To another observer, the funeral shroud's failure to grown any larger, even after much time and effort, would sound alarm bells. The suitors do eventually catch on to Penelope's lie, but not until they become comic in their foolishness. The suitors seem to lack the ability to analyze the world or to use their powers of observation to protect themselves. Again, the suitors present a dramatic contrast to wily Odysseus and long-suffering, faithful Penelope.

As portrayed by Homer, Penelope's lies do not seem immoral. They are gutsy acts of love, motivated by her devotion to her husband and family. She also exhibits extreme filial piety toward her father-in-law, which ironically assists her in the fulfillment of her ruse.

The suitors believe Penelope entirely when she claims to have such love and devotion for Laertes that she must finish his funeral shroud before she marries again, and Penelope does, in fact, possess love and devotion for Laertes. With great skill, Penelope is able to use her sincere love of Laertes to deceive the deceiving suitors. If Penelope were to have been completely truthful, were she to have presented the bare, honest facts to the suitors, she surely would have lost Odysseus' home for him. Penelope's manipulation of the suitors, while dishonest, was more moral than to have acted otherwise. Her lies extracted courage from her, and they required great skill, intelligence, and finesse in their perpetration. Their outcome, as is apparent from the ending of The Odyssey, included the favor of the gods. Penelope and Odysseus are reunited, the suitors are punished, and the home is persevered for its rightful owners. Odysseus proud of Penelope's perseverance, as well he should be: she lied to protect him.

As stated, in The Odyssey, Homer creates a dichotomy of lies. This dichotomy is rooted in the motivation of the liar. Immoral lies are motivated by greed, selfishness, covetousness, and fear. The suitors lie in their attempts to gain Odysseus' property and wife. The suitors present one truth to the world, but they are in actuality quite different. They fear Telemachus as he enters manhood and expresses his contempt for their unrighteous presence in his home, and the suitors respond by using subterfuge to plot the murder of the young man. The suitors are unredeemable in their lies, and they receive just punishment. Penelope also lies, but she is motivated by pure love and devotion, and Penelope only lies out of necessity and only to her enemies. She is rewarded for her efforts, and her family is preserved.

But what of Odysseus?

Odysseus lies quite consistently throughout The Odyssey. He lies to his men about the dangers they will face from Scylla and Charybdis, knowing full well that they will not perform their duties as he wants them to perform if they know the truth. He lies to Polyphemus, the Cyclops, to deceive his way out of trouble. Odysseus also tells various lies to people as he travels, painting himself in the best light possible. Odysseus uses lies as tools to achieve goals, to conquer enemies, and to escape danger. Why, however, does he lie to his devoted (and long-suffering) wife and to his most devoted servant in the second half of The Odyssey?

The dichotomy of lies in The Odyssey is more complex than merely evil people lying for evil reasons and good people lying for good reasons. There would seem to be a third category, that of Odysseus. Odysseus, once he has at long last made his way home to his family, still feels the need to lie. The restraint he shows upon seeing his dear wife and faithful servant for the first time in twenty years is truly remarkable. How can he prevent himself from running into their arms, declaring his continued existence? It is difficult to understand, but Odysseus is a complex hero.

When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he is disguised as an old man, a beggar of sorts. Odysseus encounters his best manservant, Eumaeus, as he is tending Odysseus' pigs. Eumaeus does not recognize Odysseus in his disguise, and Odysseus does not correct Eumaeus' error. From Eumaeus, Odysseus learns that Eumaeus has "lost the best of masters, and am in continual grief on his [Odysseus'] account" because Eumaeus has to "attend swine for other people to eat, while he [Odysseus], if he yet lives to see the light of day, is starving in some distant land" (14.7-8). Eumaeus treats Odysseus, even though he is dressed as an old beggar, as an honored guest, once again upholding the honored Greek virtue of hospitality to strangers, which pleases Odysseus in a proprietary sort of way. Odysseus sees that his swineherd is still very faithful to him, misses his presence, and despises the way in which Odysseus' fortune is being squandered. Eumaeus, ever pious and appropriate, feeds Odysseus well (with his own property), and tells him the story of Penelope's suitors and the manner in which Odysseus' home and family are being abused. Eumaeus is particularly angry that the suitors are wasteful and continually demand that the best of the pigs and other foods and wines be sent to them for their consumption, while Penelope has no power to stop them. As Odysseus eats and drinks what Eumaeus gives him, he is silent, "brooding his revenge" (14.51). Odysseus does not tell Eumaeus the truth. In fact, he tells Eumaeus a series of outright lies. Although Odysseus knows to whom Eumaeus is referring, he pretends to know Odysseus not. Instead, he pries more information out of Eumaeus, including that fact that Eumaeus himself seems to think that Odysseus is dead. To this, Odysseus, in the guise of the beggar, tells Eumaeus that he "will not merely say, but will swear, that he [Odysseus] is coming" (14.72), but still Odysseus does not reveal the truth. Eumaeus is in obvious distress over the loss of his master, but Odysseus does not bother to ease Eumaeus' suffering, although he could have. Why does Odysseus behave with such cruelty?

Eumaeus reveals more about the situation in Ithaca, including the fact that the suitors are lying in wait for Telemachus to return, so they can murder him and take possession of Penelope and Odysseus' property. After this last revelation, Eumaeus presses the beggar/Odysseus to share his own story, and Odysseus proceeds to spin a large collection of nonsense about his personal history, including the fact that he is "by birth a Cretan," "the son of a slave [whom he had] purchased for a concubine," son to "Castor son of Hylax," and the possessor of the smallest inheritance of all of his brothers (14.97-99). Odysseus also presents himself as a bit of a mercenary (which is a bit closer to the truth). The exchange is humorous. Odysseus, who is notoriously wily and clever, claims to be a simple warrior fallen upon hard times. Outrageously, he claims to have fought with Odysseus at one point. It should also be noted that Odysseus seems to enjoy telling his fabricated autobiography to Eumaeus, and he embellishes it with many details designed to give the tale veracity with the old man. It is quite an adventure story, filled with the nobility of an honorable king who protects him from those who wish to kill him. The "Egyptians" with whom the "beggar" supposed stayed for many years make the beggar wealthy, but alas, the beggar is bamboozled by a Phoenician, who takes advantage of the beggar for all he is worth. There is also a shipwreck, many dangers, and kind people along the way. Fortunes are won, and fortunes are lost, all by this miraculous beggar. All said, the tale Odysseus tells Eumaeus is an utter lie, but it echoes the truth of the variety of what Odysseus has himself been through while trying to come home again. There may be enough evidence in the text to suggest that Odysseus is amused by his own cleverness in devising this tall tale and in skirting, but never touching, upon the truth. Odysseus even compliments himself, calling Eumaeus' master " a good man" (14.185). Eumaeus, being a swineherd, finds the beggar's/Odysseus' story to be quite interesting, but he contests what the beggar claims about Odysseus' return to Ithaca. Eumaeus says that "the gods one and all of them detest him [Odysseus], or they would have taken him before Troy, or let him die with friends around him when the days of his fighting were done" (14.189-190). Still, Odysseus does not speak the truth or attempt to ease Eumaeus' suffering, although he does consistently reassure Eumaeus that Odysseus will return and have his revenge one day.

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus is characterized as wily, intelligent, and endlessly creative. Odysseus is the MacGyver of the ancient world. A strong argument can be made that Odysseus' lies, although they are to his faithful servant, are self-protective. Odysseus needs to have reliable information about the current state of his home, his wife, and his people. Eumaeus proves, although ignorantly, that he is a faithful and pious servant, making the proper sacrifices to the gods and upholding the Greek value of hospitality to strangers. It would have gone against character for Odysseus to reveal himself blindly to Eumaeus. Odysseus needed to ascertain for himself whether the old man could be trusted.

That said, in this episode, Odysseus does seem to be enjoying himself at the expense of Eumaeus. He enjoys his own cleverness in telling the tale, weaving in elements of the real and the unreal, even claiming to have met himself and granting himself praise. These actions portray Odysseus and more than a little arrogant and insensitive to the feelings of others. It is this sort of arrogance that may have caused Odysseus' difficulties in the first place. The gods do not appreciate hubris, which is Odysseus' greatest flaw.