The Odyssey Essay

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What changes your fate, what dictates whether you live or die trying? In Homer’s The Odyssey, Agamemnon’s and Odysseus’s fate contrast because of their differing homecomings and loyalty of their wives. These two factors leads to the death of Agamemnon and to the success of Odysseus.

When Agamemnon returns home he doesn’t think he has made enemies while fighting with his fellow Achaeans for ten long years in Troy. Aegisthus He is spotted by a spy when he arrives, who notifies Aegisthus of his homecoming. Aegisthus who courts Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, creates a plot to murder her husband. Aegisthus welcomes Agamemnon home, full of ugly thoughts in his mind, and invites him and his men to a feast. Agamemnon is extremely naive because he instantly trusts Aegisthus and is welcomed home, just as he expects. He is unaware of his doom and accepts the invitation without caution. His naivety will prove to be his downfall. While they are feasting, an ambush that Aegisthus had set up butchers Agamemnon and his men in the palace hall. Agamemnon has made a very large mistake in being naive and it costs him his life. Odysseus, who is more cunning, takes a cautious approach in his homecoming.

Upon his arrival home in Ithaca, Odysseus disguises himself as an old beggar so that he can see if he has made any enemies. He does not trust everyone like Agamemnon did. His disguise allows him to test the loyalty of friends and servants, to distinguish who his allies are and who his enemies are before he engages them. Even the loyalest of his friends, Eumaeus the swineherd, is not immediately trusted. Despite the abuse that he suffers from the suitors, he doesn’t react immediately and remains calm. He endures the abuse so that he can have time to plan the destruction of the suitors and secure the loyalties of his allies before he attacks effectively. His perseverance is very important because he doesn’t reveal his disguise by reacting to any abuse he receives. devise a plan, to take revenge on the suitors. Odysseus’s cunning plan allows him to strike the insolent Suitors by surprise and slaughter them in his palace hall. With his cautious return home, Odysseus is able to take revenge on the suitors and reclaim his home by waiting patiently to seek out his enemies and coming up with a plan to slaughter them. Agamemnon’s homecoming contrasts with that of Odysseus because of his naivety, which makes him unsuspecting of the plot of his murder. Opposite to Agamemnon, Odysseus disguises himself which allows him to find his enemies and time to plan their deaths.

Although their different homecomings are important in deciding their fate, the loyalty of their wives are crucial in their outcomes. At first, Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, is loyal to him because a deaf ear to Aegisthus dishonourable schemes of courtship. Overtime, while Agamemnon is away at Troy, she becomes tempted by Aegisthus charm and his wooing. She commits adultery with him and breaks her loyalty and love for Agamemnon. Also angered because of the murder of her daughter, Iphigenia, by Agamemnon, it further drives Clytemnestra's motivation to take on revenge on her husband. Clytemnestra helps Aegisthus set up a treacherous scheme to slaughter her husband by surprise upon his homecoming. As a loyal wife, Penelope stays true to Odysseus’s love(As a more loyal wife who waits twenty years for Odysseus to return, Penelope is very opposite).

Penelope’s loyalty to Odysseus is very important in the outcome of his fate. The Suitors, men from all over the kingdom gather in Odysseus's palace to
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