'The Odyssey' Movie Ending Explained: Did Odysseus Avenge Sinon?

[Spoiler Alert] The Odyssey’s ending was essentially about Odysseus coming back home in order to prevent Antinous from marrying Penelope, killing Telemachus, and sitting on the throne of Ithaca. Odysseus and his crew helped Agamemnon and his army sack the city of Troy, and then began making their journey back to Ithaca. But instead of following Agamemnon’s naval fleet, Odysseus chose to take a longer route because, firstly, he was done following that tyrant, and secondly, he wanted to see more of the world before going home. That ended up being a bad decision because, with every port of call, he kept losing members of his crew to horrors beyond human comprehension, like the Cyclops Polyphemus (Poseidon’s son), the Laestrygonians, Circe, Charybdis, Scylla, the Sirens, and finally Poseidon’s wrath. Odysseus washed up on the shores of Ogygia, where a nymph named Calypso fed him lotus flowers so that he forgot about his trauma. That allowed Odysseus to heal, physically speaking, but even when he was ready to remember his past and deal with his demons, Calypso kept his memory suppressed, because she was having a good time with him. After 7 years, Calypso lowkey pitied Odysseus and his yearning to be with his family, and allowed him to leave on a makeshift raft. While all that was going on, Ithaca was without a king. So, since Odysseus’ departure twenty years ago, everyday, suitors arrived, hoping for Penelope to choose a husband, make one of them king, and then raise an army against the fabled Sea People. The frontrunner in this contest was Antinous, who constantly undermined Telemachus and tried to seduce Penelope. Since Telemachus knew what kinda man Antinous was, and since he didn’t know if Odysseus was actually alive, he went looking for his father. Antinous ordered Polybus and the suitors to assassinate Pylos, but Odysseus, disguised as Sinon, came to Telemachus’ rescue and the two of them returned to Ithaca with the intention of dealing with Antinous and the suitors. Were they successful in that endeavor? What did Odysseus’ final realization  mean? Let’s find out.

Odyssesus choosing the name Sinon while returning to Ithaca wasn’t random at all; he needed to avenge him. When Agamemnon dragged the Ithacans into his mission to retrieve Helen, Odysseus knew that everyone who would join his army was gonna die. So, he didn’t force anyone to go to Troy with him; he organized a lottery system to choose his soldiers. Antinous’ name came up in the draw, and Sinon’s didn’t. Antinous got scared and he seemingly told Sinon that his father’s debt would be paid if he went to war in Antinous’ stead. Sinon, thinking of his father, accepted that deal. Both Odysseus and Eumaeus saw through this scheme, but Odysseus lowkey empathized with Antinous’s father because, much like every father out there, he had probably tried to prevent his son from becoming a sacrificial lamb in Agamemnon’s war. Hence, instead of calling out Antinous’ switcheroo, Odysseus made it look like he was making the choice for Antinous to stay in Ithaca and look after his family. Since Antonious’ father appreciated that sentiment, he said that Antonious would look after Telemachus and Penelope like his own family in Odysseus’ absence. Now, in an attempt to get the wooden horse into Troy, Odysseus essentially sacrificed Sinon. When Sinon went to Hades, he was reunited with his father’s spirit; that was when he learned that Antinous hadn’t stayed true to his word, and had allowed Sinon’s dad to die in poverty. Sinon blamed Odysseus for that, because his decision to change Sinon’s fate is what had led to that outcome. 

But blame and regret was fruitless; Sinon wanted Antinous to feel shame for betraying him and his father, and he tasked Odysseus with that mission, thereby giving him the opportunity to atone for the sin of sending Sinon and his dad to Hades. Odysseus had to put Antinous into the ground because, instead of looking after his son and wife, he had conspired to take the throne. And for what? Antinous didn’t follow Zeus’ Law; he didn’t respect the people, the animals, or the land. He was a conniving snake who yearned for power, because that was the only way to mask his insecurities and the courage he lacked to fight his own battles. To be honest, he didn’t have to even fight to prove that he was worthy of being Ithaca’s king; he just had to string that bow. Since he couldn’t, he should have accepted his defeat and walked away. When he saw Odysseus do it for the umpteenth time, he should have been humble enough to end his aspirations of becoming king and ushered Odysseus back to his throne. Instead, he and the other suitors attacked Odysseus. If, much like many of the suitors, Antinous had bent the knee and admitted that he was no match for Odysseus, maybe he would have been spared, but he didn’t do that as well. Hence, Odysseus killed Antinous. I think many would assume that Antinous was killed because he tried to claim Penelope in Odysseus’ absence, but that’s not all. He was guilty of bringing ruin upon Ithaca and betraying Sinon. With that said, was Antinous entirely responsible for his actions, or was he simply following in Odysseus’ footsteps?

In the ending of The Odyssey, it was revealed that Telemachus had been made king of Ithaca, meanwhile Odysseus (patched-up after his fight with Antinous and the suitors) and Penelope had sailed to the “unknown west” to honor the people who had given their lives for him and his kingdom. Odysseus talked about the fact that the fragile bond between men had been broken, and that the events of Troy would only be remembered through songs. When Penelope asked why the story of Troy would be told through songs alone, Odysseus said something along the lines of songs serving as a reminder for those who can write. Penelope wondered if civilization would be reborn or not, and Odysseus’ response was that a new dawn would illuminate this world that had been plunged into darkness and, along with that, their mistakes will be forgotten again. The final shot of the movie was Odysseus looking at the burning wooden horse in Troy, with a “What the hell have we done?” expression on his face. What did that sequence of events mean? Let’s start with Odysseus choosing exile over the throne or death. Odysseus’ war crimes were so immense that twenty years of unintentional, amnesiac exile and punishment wasn’t enough. He had desecrated everything synonymous with Athena (Athena seemingly took the form of the priestess who was beheaded in Troy to haunt Odysseus or maybe he imagined Athena herself being beheaded when her statue was beheaded). I don’t know what would have happened if Odysseus had rejected Agamemnon’s call to action, but since he didn’t see Agamemnon’s order as a request (because he thought that Agamemnon would sacrifice Telemachus, just like he had sacrificed his and Clytemnestra’s child), he got the ball rolling, which led to the desecration of Zeus’ Law. Odysseus had shown that he had the gall to use faith as a weapon to take down a civilization.

Odysseus was a mortal man, so, if he could “defy the gods,” anybody could do it, for better or for worse (usually for worse). Antinous’ non-god-fearing actions were a consequence of what Odysseus did in Troy. Odysseus had set the precedent and Antinous, and many others, were simply emulating his unkind, violent behavior. And that almost ended up tearing his family to bits. Odysseus judged Agamemnon for being warmonger, and he hated Antinous for being a deceiver, but he himself was a different kind of evil. If he sat on the throne again, there was a possibility he’d repeat his mistakes; he took a chance on Telemachus and hoped that he’d repair the fabric of the society that Odysseus had ruined. Meanwhile, Odysseus, with Penelope by his side, would seek penance for all the people he had wronged (Penelope accepted that decision because she wanted to be with the love of her life; she didn’t deserve exile). That said, Odysseus wasn’t a hundred percent hopeful about said repair job, because he knew that his story would be passed down generations through songs, and songs have a way of glorifying certain parts and erasing the icky stuff. By the time these stories would reach the era of writers, he anticipated that they would have been distorted to such an extent that the story of Odysseus’ exploits in Troy would be seen as a feat to be emulated instead of being treated as a cautionary tale. Odysseus was aware of humanity’s self-destructive tendencies, their ability to use god to create fear among their subjects, and their talent when it comes to waging wars in the name of god. He expects the latest generations of humanity to put a stop to the use of religion and faith to kill humans; he wants us to see that humans belong to the same species and we should coexist instead of dancing to the whims of vile, inhumane individuals. Will we ever do that? I don’t know but feel free to educate me in the comments section below.