Antinous of Ithaca

In the Epic Cycle, Antinous (also Antinoüs; Latin: Antinous) or Antinoös (Ancient Greek: Ἀντίνοος, romanized: Antínoös means "opposite in character, resisting"), son of Eupeithes, is most known for his role in Homer's Odyssey. One of two prominent suitors vying for Penelope's hand in marriage, the other being Eurymachus, Antinous is presented as a violent, mean-spirited, and over-confident character who wilfully defiles Odysseus' home while the hero is lost at sea.[1] In an attempt to kill Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, Antinous sends out a small band of suitors in the strait between Ithaca and rugged Same where there is a rocky isle called Asteris, to intercept the young prince on his journey back to Ithaca from the hall of Menelaus.[2] The plan, however, fails, as Telemachus avoids the trap with help from the goddess Athena.

Antinous is a prime example of disregard for the custom of xenia (guest-friend hospitality); rather than reciprocating food and drink with stories and respect, he and his fellow suitors simply devour Odysseus' livestock. He also shows no respect for the lower-classed citizenry, as is exemplified when he assaults a beggar, who is actually Odysseus in disguise, with a chair, which even the other suitors disapprove of.[3] Antinous is the first of the suitors to be killed. Drinking in the Great Hall, he is slain by an arrow to the throat shot by Odysseus. Eurymachus then tries to blame Antinous for the suitors' wrongs.[4][5]

As he said this, he grabbed the stool and threw it. It hit the bottom of Odysseus' right shoulder, where it joins the back.  But he stood firm, like a rock— what Antinous had thrown didn't make him stagger. He shook his head in silence, making cruel plans deep in his heart. Odyssey Book XVII

Anthony Quinn as Antinous in Ulysses (1955)

Notes

Homer. Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Canada: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2000. Print.

Odyssey

Book IV: 627-628
Book IV: 845-850
Book XVII: 453-455

XXII, 8

"Antinous". doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e124400.

Graf, Fritz; Eck, Werner (2006). Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth; Landfester, Manfred; Salazar, Christine F.; Gentry, Francis G. (eds.). Antinous. Brill's New Pauly. Leiden: Brill.

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Characters in the Odyssey
House of Odysseus

Penelope (wife) Telemachus (son) Ctimene (sister) Anticlea (mother) Laërtes (father) Autolycus (grandfather) Eurycleia (chief servant) Mentor (advisor) Phemius (musician) Eumaeus (swineherd) Philoetius (cowherd) Melanthius (goatherd) Melantho (maid) Argos (pet-dog)

Monarchs and royals

Alcinous of Phaeacia Arete of Phaeacia Nestor of Pylos Menelaus of Sparta Helen Princess Nausicaa of Phaeacia Agamemnon of Mycenae

Gods

Aeolus (wind god) Athena Apollo Artemis Atlas Calypso Circe Helios Hermes Poseidon Zeus Oceanus Old Man of the Sea

Others

Achilles Ajax Amphimedon Anticlus Antiphates Antiphus Aretus Cyclopes Demodocus Demoptolemus Deucalion Dolius Echephron Echetus Elpenor Eupeithes Euryalus Eurylochus Halitherses Heracles Idomeneus Irus Kikonians Laodamas Laestrygones Medon Mentes Mesaulius Peisistratus Perimedes Perseus Polites Polydamna Polyphemus Scylla and Charybdis Sirens Stratichus Suitors of Penelope Tiresias Theoclymenus Thrasymedes

Suitors

Agelaus Amphinomus Antinous Ctesippus Eurymachus Leodes

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