MELANTHIUS (treacherous swineherd of Odysseus)

In the daily rhythm of the estate, he drove the best goats from his flock down to the city for the dinner of the suitors.^3,6,5,7 Two shepherds accompanied him on these journeys, and he tied the goats up under the gatehouse.^3,6 His duties extended to the interior of the house, where he lit fires in the courtyard, prepared seats covered in sheepskin, and retrieved large balls of lard.^8,9 He also poured wine for the group during their meals.¹⁰

When the disguised Odysseus and the swineherd Eumaeus approached the city, Melanthius overtook them near the fountain and greeted them with outrageous and unseemly language.³ He reviled the beggar, calling him an ill-conditioned cur, and mocked Odysseus for continuing to beg in the house without decency.^6,2 Out of pure wantonness, he kicked Odysseus on the hip, an act that made the hero very angry, though Odysseus chose to endure the insult rather than kill him with his staff.^11,3 Melanthius confidently declared that Odysseus would never return home and expressed a wish for Apollo to strike Telemachus dead.²

He selected twelve shields, helmets, and spears from the store-room, suggesting that a single brave man could block the narrow passage entrance.^12,13 He quickly brought the weapons back to give to the suitors, specifically offering to fetch more for Agelaus.^13,12 The swineherd observed this movement and rebuked him, noting that Melanthius had committed many wrongs in the house.^11,14

During the final confrontation, Melanthius was bound tightly behind his back with a painful bond.⁵ Eumaeus taunted him in his final moments, mocking him for driving goats for the suitors and saying he would sleep on a soft bed as he deserved.⁵ In a fit of rage, his hands and feet were cut off, and his nose and ears were severed by his tormentors.¹⁵ His internal organs were extracted and fed raw to dogs, a grim end to a life spent in servitude and betrayal.¹⁵ He was taken through the cloister into the inner court, where a noose was fastened around his body and he was hanged from a high pillar.^15,5