Loyalty

"No, I am not a god," the long-enduring, great Odysseus returned. Why confuse me with one who never dies? No, I am your father- the Odysseys you wept for all your days, you bore a world of pain, the cruel abuse of men."

-Odysseus (The Odyssey; Book 16, Page 344, Line 209)

With Odysseus now revealing his true identity to his son, he is now closer than ever to completing his homecoming. When he returns home to his wife, slaughters the suitors, and is recognized by the Ithacans, he will receive glory (kleos) and complete his journey as a hero. The theme of delayed identification in the Odyssey has rightfully been discussed as a lesson that the Greeks wanted to teach: boasting and arrogance will only bring harm and conflict to a man. The Odyssey, and more specifically the theme of delayed identification, also shows a contemporary reader just how much deception and treachery occured in Ancient Greece. The suitors, for instance, had no problem with raiding Odysseus'-a local hero-home as soon as they believed him to be gone. Mutiny also took place earlier in the story when Odysseus' shipmates thought he was stealing from them. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, he must first test the loyalty of the swineherd Eumaeus. The extraordinary part occurs when Odysseus does not even reveal his true identity to his son until he is sure of Telemachus' intentions.