The End of the Odyssey and of Revenge
This chapter deals with the apparent problem of the end of the Odyssey. The poem could have ended with Odysseus’ and Penelope’s reunion, but it continues in order to provide a final statement on tisis. Thus, the transmitted ending should be considered integral to the poem, against a long tradition that considers it spurious. The final confrontation of the suitors’ relatives and Odysseus’ allies reveals how the natural course of a tisis narrative is to incite further tisis. Other illustrations of the open-endedness of tisis in the poem are also considered. In order for the poem to end, not only must every last suitor die but even the memory of their slaughter must be erased. The possibility of alternative narratives is closed off. This radical conclusion is highlighted in a final speech by Zeus in which he uses strikingly original language to ordain a general amnesia.