Mortal · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Irus
The palace beggar dethroned
A beggar jealous of a beggar; one pulled punch answers the question.
The public beggar of Ithaca — huge to look at, hollow underneath — nicknamed Irus because he carries the suitors' messages. When a second beggar appears in the doorway he tries to drive him off, the suitors gleefully make a match of it, and one carefully pulled punch from Odysseus breaks his jaw.
Bonds
- Irus servant of The Suitors — runs their errands for scraps
- Irus defies Odysseus — one punch settles it
Appears in
- Book XVIII Combat of Odysseus and Irus
Scenes
- Irus Confronts Odysseus — Book XVIII. Irus orders Odysseus off porch, threatens
- Suitors Stage a Brawl — Book XVIII. Antinoüs offers winner a goat’s paunch
- Oath and Undressing — Book XVIII. Odysseus exacts an oath, bares his limbs
- Odysseus Fells Irus — Book XVIII. Antinoüs threatens Irus, Odysseus fells him
- Irus Propped at the Gate — Book XVIII. Odysseus props beaten Irus at door
- Rebuke of Telemachus — Book XVIII. Penelope scolds, Telemachus blames suitors
- Melantho Taunts Odysseus — Book XVIII. Melantho mocks, Odysseus invokes Telemachus
- Footstool Strikes the Cupbearer — Book XVIII. Eurymachus hurls footstool, fells cupbearer