How does justice work in the odyssey

What kinds of transgressions are punishable by death? Is there even a system at all? If the gods are subject to the same whims, grudges, desires, and pettiness as the mortals, isn't "justice" and especially "divine justice" as inconstant and illogical as basic emotion? Why does Athene want all the suitors to die—even the sort-of-cute-and-fuzzy ones? Is this "justice" according to the Odyssey? How are random events like Elpenor's death justified?

Is justice in the ancient Greek system just a cover for personal vengeance? Is it fair? What does "fair" even mean in this world? Are there any instances of more civil methods of punishment and reconciliation? Skip to main content. Toggle navigation. JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it. Loney, Alexander. Repository Usage Stats.

More Info. The Odyssey. Plot Summary. All Symbols Food Birds. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.

Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play. Sign Up. Already have an account? Sign in. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Download this LitChart! Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Edition on The Odyssey can help.

Themes All Themes. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive.

Themes and Colors. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Odyssey , which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Related Themes from Other Texts. Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…. Find Related Themes. How often theme appears:. Book 1. Book 2. Book 3. Book 4. Book 5. Book 6. Book 7. Book 8. Book 9. Book Book 1 Quotes. Related Characters: Zeus speaker. Page Number and Citation : 1. Explanation and Analysis:.

Book 2 Quotes. Page Number and Citation : 2. Book 3 Quotes. Related Characters: Athena speaker , Telemachus.