Daily Junction.mobi portal<p>While dogs, especially hunting dogs, may figure in art and funerary monuments as a status symbol, they also appear in contexts suggesting a close affectionate bond. <a href="https://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=7424">A relief from Sparta</a> shows a seated man with high-status accoutrements but also with a small dog pawing at his knees.</p>
<p>In classical Athenian funerary reliefs, such dogs are a <a href="https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/DMS/9AD440C3FDDA4FD9AA67CB007DEF66A9/9781803279978-sample.pdf">recurring motif</a>, predominantly accompanying figures of young age and especially children. </p>
<p>One example is the grave monument for a young girl named Euchalia, which depicts her with her parents, grandmother and a small dog poised on its hind legs and pawing at her knees. The dog is probably what was called a <em>Meletian</em> – a lapdog breed noted for its affection and gentleness.</p>
<h2>What Argos symbolises</h2>
<p>Dogs were not universally viewed positively in the ancient world – <a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/ca/article/14/1/41/25430/Dog-Helen-and-Homeric-Insult">“dog” is a derogatory term</a> applied as an insult to both women and men in the epics. But Argos’s fidelity is a marker both of Odysseus’s value to his own society, and of the worth of that society beneath all its disruption and decay. </p>
<p>While Odysseus is clearly needed back in Ithaca, he requires the support of down-to-earth slaves like the swineherd Eumaeus – and perhaps the psychological validation that Argos’s fidelity provides too. </p>
<p>The Argos episode contrasts with the start of <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerOdyssey14.html">book 14</a>, where Odysseus first arrives home. There, his own guard dogs at Eumaeus’s farmstead fail to recognise him and prepare to attack:</p>
<blockquote> <p>Suddenly then the baying dogs caught sight of Odysseus, and rushed upon him with loud barking, but Odysseus sat down, in his cunning, and the staff fell from his hand. Then in his own farmstead he would have suffered cruel hurt.</p> </blockquote>
<p>This is a sobering marker of how long Odysseus has been away, and how alien he and his home have become to one another. The point is reinforced when Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, arrives and the same dogs greet him with the sort of affection Argos later shows Odysseus. </p>
<figure> <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aoiivo4txE8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <figcaption><span class="caption">How the character of Argos inspired Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.</span></figcaption> </figure>
<p>This painfully parallels the way Odysseus must stand and look on as the swineherd and his own son – who cannot recognise him – reunite affectionately “like father and son”. It’s a reminder of all that Odysseus has missed through his long absence.</p>
<p>The Odyssey treats Argos’s story with a skilful balance of earthy realism, sharp irony and poignancy. Homer contrasts the dog’s energetic youth with his current neglect – sat on a dunghill, riddled with vermin when he is briefly reunited with his master. </p>
<p>There is a strong emotional connection, but physical contact and reunion prove impossible. Argos is too feeble to move towards Odysseus despite his pricked ears and wagging tail. Odysseus, although moved, dares not show recognition for fear of disclosing his identity at a dangerous moment, when he is surrounded by the murderous suitors trying to win Penelope’s heart. </p>
<p>Heart-warmingly, the faithful companion gets to see his master one last time before he dies. But there remains a sense of frustrated fulfilment that highlights the darker side of Odysseus’s story – all that can never be recovered after long absence, despite all that is regained.</p>
<p>Heroism and heroic achievement are highly valued and often celebrated in the Homeric poems. But these poems also celebrate and mourn the everyday relationships with man, woman and beast alike, which in this story are of equal – and perhaps more lasting – value.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/288214/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanna-phillippo-2740611">Susanna Phillippo</a>, Senior Lecturer in Classics, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/newcastle-university-906">Newcastle University</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sally-waite-2741352">Sally Waite</a>, Senior Lecturer in Greek Art and Archaeology History, Classics and Archaeology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/newcastle-university-906">Newcastle University</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dog-who-waited-for-odysseus-argos-reflects-the-deep-human-animal-bonds-of-ancient-greece-288214">original article</a>.</p> </div>