Book Twenty Two: Slaughter in the Hall

The very title of this book leaves little to the imagination. Slaughter= killing in the hall= in the palace. Finally, Odysseus kicks some suitor butt. How things play out:

1. shoots Antinous in the throat
2. many of the suitors think that Antinous killed by chance, but Odysseus then reveals himself saying that they would never imagine he would return
3. the men are scared, and Eurymachus makes a case that Antinous was the worse and just wanted the marriage to become king
4. Eurymachus offers for the suitors to pay Odysseus back, if they leave with their lives
5. Odysseus refuses and Eurymachus rallies the suitors to fight
6. Odysseus shoots Eurymachus, and he dies
7. Amphinomus rushed the king, but Telemachus spears him in the back
8. Telemachus decides to get arms for the four of them, and shields etc.
9. Melanthius accepts that there are on escape routes and decides to get some armor and weapons for the suitors
10. Telemachus realizes that he must have left the door open, and the swine and goatherd go to see if one of the women or Melanthius are responsible.
11. Eumaeus and Philoetius find Melanthius, and tie him up in the storage room.
12. Athena shows up as Mentor and asks Odysseus what happened to his fighting spirit
13. She then turns into a swallow and sits in the roof to test Telemachus and Odysseus
14. the suitors try to hit the four fighters witht ehri spears, but Athena had the spears miss, and the fighters kill suitors with their spears
15. the Cowherd killed Ctesippus and says that the spear is for the cow's hoof that was thrown at Odysseus
16. Leodes megs for mercy, but Odysseus cuts off his head
17. Phemius the bard begs for mercy, and Telemachus vouches for his innocence along with that of the herald
18. Hearing the prince, the herald comes out and begs for mercy, to which Odysseus tells them to stay in the courtyard
19. Eurycleia retrieves the unfaithful maids, and they are hung by Telemachus after cleaning up the bodies
20. Melanthius is hacked apart
21. Odysseus fumigates the house to purify it

Alot happened after the rather long and boring books. I found it weird how Telemachus so easily murdered a dozen women for them sleeping with the suitors. Also, although I understand why Odysseus did not grant their request, he did not even consider sparing the suitors for them to pay him. I would have given it some thought if it would mean peace in Ithaca. Also, 106 people were killed, but we only really heard about maybe a dozen. It just mentioned the stacks of bodies, and Odysseus is still considered a caring and good guy.