Who is Antinous in The Odyssey?

He is a leader of the suitors, the noblemen who move into Odysseus’s palace and try to force Penelope to marry one of them.

Why does Antinous throw a stool at the beggar?

He is angry that the beggar is asking for food, and he enjoys bullying people who seem weak. He has no idea the beggar is Odysseus.

What happens to Antinous in the original poem?

He is the first suitor Odysseus shoots after stringing the bow. In our retelling for young children, the suitors are driven out of the palace instead.

From The Odyssey

Antinous

Rude palace suitor • Greedy and proud

The boldest and rudest of the suitors, a boastful nobleman who feasts in Odysseus’s palace and wants to marry the queen.

Who is Antinous?

Antinous is the boldest and rudest of the suitors who move into Odysseus’s palace while he is away. He wants to marry Queen Penelope and take over Ithaca, and he bullies Telemachus and mocks anyone who gets in his way.

Antinous is a character in The Odyssey, the ancient Greek poem by Homer, retold for ages 6–9 by Sean Lee.

What is Antinous like?

rude
greedy
proud

Antinous’s story

Antinous is one of the two leaders of the suitors, along with Eurymachus, and the son of a nobleman of Ithaca called Eupeithes. Day after day he feasts on Odysseus’s cattle and wine, demands that Penelope choose a new husband and sneers at Telemachus.

When Telemachus sails off for news of his father, Antinous is alarmed. He gathers a crew and lies in wait to ambush the young prince’s ship on its way home, but Telemachus slips past him. Later, when an old beggar comes begging in the hall, Antinous insults him and throws a footstool at him, even though the other suitors warn him that a god might be in disguise.

He mocks the beggar for asking to try Odysseus’s great bow. When Odysseus strings it and reveals who he is, Antinous is the first suitor he strikes down.

“What god can have sent such a pestilence to plague us during our dinner?”

Antinous, complaining about the old beggar in the great hall, in Samuel Butler’s translation. From the original ancient Greek poem by Homer.

A moment to remember

When the old beggar asks him for a crust of bread, Antinous flies into a rage and hurls a heavy wooden footstool at him.

Penelope: queen he wants to marry
Telemachus: prince he plots against
Odysseus: king whose palace he has taken over
Athena: goddess who wants the suitors stopped

Talk about it

Antinous was a bully who thought he could take whatever he wanted. How can we stand up to unkind behavior?

Questions about Antinous

Who is Antinous in The Odyssey?: He is a leader of the suitors, the noblemen who move into Odysseus’s palace and try to force Penelope to marry one of them.
Why does Antinous throw a stool at the beggar?: He is angry that the beggar is asking for food, and he enjoys bullying people who seem weak. He has no idea the beggar is Odysseus.
What happens to Antinous in the original poem?: He is the first suitor Odysseus shoots after stringing the bow. In our retelling for young children, the suitors are driven out of the palace instead.