Homer's Odyssey, Book 18

“Now hold your post — play the scarecrow to all the pigs and dogs! But no more lording it over strangers, no more playing the beggar-king for you, you loathsome fool, or you'll bring down something worse around your neck!”

Art: The Fight Between Ulysses and Irus, by Jan Muller (1589) via Met Museum.

In his palace in Ithaca, Odysseus faces a series of taunts, tests, and rising tensions. When Irus, a gluttonous beggar, sees Odysseus in disguise, he imagines the newcomer will compete with him for scraps, and the suitors—ever sowers of chaos and discord—up the ante in the hopes of encouraging a fight. Odysseus could vanquish Irus in a split second, but he doesn’t. Instead, he goes along with the suitors’ plan to have them brawl for amusement. He calculates a single punch and knocks his opponent out. Just enough to put Irus out of commission but not kill him. And in that moment, Homer teaches us an important lesson: strength through restraint—the very kind of restraint Odysseus’s men failed to show when they slaughtered and ate the cattle of the Sun. Odysseus knows when to fight. He also knows when to hold back. During this book, Penelope also emerges, more beautiful than ever. Her grace, defiance of the suitors, and quiet resistance are their own types of weapons. Imagine the dramatic impact on Odysseus in disguise: the ultimate test of restraint as his beloved wife looks on. This episode in the story gives us lots to think about. From asking ourselves what true strength looks like, to navigating humiliation and quietly maintaining the upper hand, and thinking about how power isn’t always about an overt show of brute force—at least not yet. Little do the suitors know they’re outmatched and time is running out…