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Foreshadowing of Events Which Will Happen Against the Suitors

The story so far: great king of Ithaca, Odysseus, 20 years ago left to sack the sacred heights of Troy. After ten years of conflict, he is one of the few to not return home from the city. Instead, he undergoes a series of unfortunate and mythical adventures through the realm of Hades, witnesses much of his crew be turned into pigs by Circe, the goddess of magic, angers the god of the sun Helios, and encounters the fearsome serpentine Scylla and horrifying Charybdis, a whirlpool monster. He eventually settles on the island of Ogygia, where he is held captive by the beautiful nymph Calypso.

After escaping Calypso and being assisted with sailing home by the Phaeacian people, Odysseus finally arrives at Ithaca, but disguises himself as a beggar in order to stealthily aid his son in killing the suitors that aggressively fight for Odysseus' wife Penelope's hand in marriage.

In Book 17 of the text, there are several moments which hint at the downfall of the suitors. The biggest ones include towards the beginning of the Book, just after Telemachus finally greets his mother at long last, he speaks to his dear friend Piraeus, who Telemachus hints at the downfall of the suitors by saying:

"But if I can bring down slaughter on that crew, you send the gifts to my house—we’ll share the joy.”

When Telemachus is recounting to his mother when he went to see the red-haired king Menelaus, he describes Menelaus’s reaction when hearing of the suitors:

‘How shameful! That’s the bed of a brave man of war they’d like to crawl inside, those spineless, craven cowards! Weak as the doe that beds down her fawns in a mighty lion’s den—her newborn sucklings— then trails off to the mountain spurs and grassy bends to graze her fill, but back the lion comes to his own lair and the master deals both fawns a ghastly bloody death, just what Odysseus will deal that mob—ghastly death. Ah if only—Father Zeus, Athena and lord Apollo— that man who years ago in the games at Lesbos rose to Philomelides’ challenge, wrestled him, pinned him down with one tremendous throw and the Argives roared with joy … if only that Odysseus sported with those suitors, a blood wedding, a quick death would take the lot!’

Finally, Theoclymenus reassures Penelope that Odysseus is indeed on native soil and is planning to bring grief to the suitors, due to the fact that he saw an eagle (Odysseus) clutching a goose (the suitors) in its talons fly past him:

“Noble lady, wife of Laertes’ son, Odysseus, Menelaus can have no perfect revelations; mark my words—I will make you a prophecy, quite precise, and I’ll hold nothing back. I swear by Zeus, the first of all the gods, by this table of hospitality here, my host, by Odysseus’ hearth where I have come for help— I swear Odysseus is on native soil, here and now! Poised or on the prowl, learning of these rank crimes he’s sowing seeds of ruin for all your suitors. So clear, so true, that bird-sign I saw as I sat on the benched ship and sounded out the future to the prince!”

What do these mean for the fate of the suitors? Well, because this is an epic poem, about the struggles and triumphs of a grand hero (who is obviously Odysseus), it seems likely that, after all of the things he has endured, he will finally slaughter these insolent folks. But we’ll just have to see.

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