The hero Odysseus in Homer's epic from Greek mythology
Book Eighteen
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Now a real beggar shows up at the palace and warns Odysseus off his turf. This man, Irus, is always running errands for the suitors. Odysseus says that there are pickings enough for the two of them, but Irus threatens fisticuffs and the suitors egg him on.
Odysseus rises to the challenge and rolls up his tunic into a boxer's belt. The suitors goggle at the muscles revealed. Not wishing to kill Irus with a single blow, Odysseus breaks his jaw instead. Another suitor, Eurymachus, marks himself for revenge by trying to hit Odysseus with a footstool as Antinous had done. |
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| Irus (EYE-rus) Irus was the suitors' nickname for the beggar, a pun on the goddess Iris. This deity was the rainbow and, like Hermes, a messenger of the gods. |
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 Featuring the hero Odysseus in Homer's epic from Greek mythology
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Book Eighteen
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Now a real beggar shows up at the palace and warns Odysseus off his turf. This man, Irus, is always running errands for the suitors. Odysseus says that there are pickings enough for the two of them, but Irus threatens fisticuffs and the suitors egg him on.
Odysseus rises to the challenge and rolls up his tunic into a boxer's belt. The suitors goggle at the muscles revealed. Not wishing to kill Irus with a single blow, Odysseus breaks his jaw instead. Another suitor, Eurymachus, marks himself for revenge by trying to hit Odysseus with a footstool as Antinous had done. |
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| Irus (EYE-rus) Irus was the suitors' nickname for the beggar, a pun on the goddess Iris. This deity was the rainbow and, like Hermes, a messenger of the gods. |