Eumaios
Eumaios ( Greek Εὔμαιος , Latin Eumaeus ) is in the ancient Greek epic of the Odyssey the faithful shepherd and also friend of Odysseus .
Eumaios was of noble descent, since his father Ktesios (a son of Ormenus ) ruled the island of Syria as king. There, when Eumaius was still a boy, a ship with Phoenician merchants moored . One of the seafarers seduced a compatriot who was little Eumaios' wet nurse. She came from Sidon , was a king's daughter and was stolen by Taphi as a young girl and sold to the ktesios. With the promise to bring them back to their homeland, the Phoenicians seduced them to come to the ship shortly before departure, to steal some valuables beforehand and to lure little Eumaios on board. Seven days after departure, the Phoenician wet nurse died and her body was thrown overboard. But Eumaios was sold as a slave to Laërtes , the father of Odysseus, and brought up together with Odysseus and his sister Ktimene .
At first Eumaios served as the swineherd of Laërtes and after his abdication worked in the same function for Odysseus, to whom he remained loyal even during his 20-year absence. Reluctantly, he surrendered his best pigs to the suitors of Penelope , who were sitting in the palace , and who also remained loyal to her husband Odysseus all along.
Eumaius, who lived in a cottage in the country, was the first person Odysseus visited in Ithaca when he returned from his long wandering. Although the old sow-herder did not recognize his master, since he had been given the form of a beggar by Athena , he welcomed him in a friendly manner and entertained him. Odysseus initially did not reveal his identity, although he was soon able to convince himself of the loyalty of his servant. Instead, he pretended to be the son of a rich Cretan who had taken part in the Trojan War as a general . He was informed about the events during his long absence and told Eumaios that Odysseus would return home soon, which the swineherd refused to believe.
Even Telemachus came after his return from Sparta into the tent of Eumaeus, where he met his father Odysseus, he also initially did not recognize. But he was enlightened by his father about his true identity when Eumaius informed Penelope that her son was returning home. Telemachus then went to the palace, and soon afterwards his father and Eumaius too. Odysseus kept his beggar masquerade to deceive.
Shortly before the decisive argument with the suitors, Odysseus also revealed himself to Eumaius, who stood by him and his son as much as he could in this fight.
Eumaios is often referred to in the epic as the “ divine shepherd ” and is the only person in the entire Odyssey who is addressed directly by the narrator in the second person.
According to Aristotle , Telemachus gave freedom to Eumaios, who is said to have been the progenitor of the Coliads, a noble family from Ithaca.
Images of Eumaios can be found on some antique vases.
Web links
literature
- Martin Schmidt: The world of Eumaios , in: Andreas Luther (ed.): History and fiction in the Homeric Odyssey , Beck, Munich 2006, pp. 117-138.