Mortal · Character in Homer’s Odyssey
Medon
Herald who told the queen
Carries the house's secrets both ways, and mostly to the good.
The herald of the household, kept on to serve the suitors and privy to their talk. He overhears the plot to ambush Telemachus at sea and carries it straight to Penelope; in the slaughter he is found hidden under a fresh ox-hide, and Telemachus' word saves him along with the bard.
Bonds
- Medon servant of Odysseus — herald of the household
- Medon warns Penelope — word of the ambush at sea
Appears in
- Book IV Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus
- Book XVI Odysseus Discovering Himself to Telemachus
- Book XVII Return of Odysseus to His Palace
- Book XXII Death of the Suitors
- Book XXIV Conclusion
Scenes
- Antinoüs Plots an Ambush — Book IV. Antinoüs demands ship to ambush Telemachus
- Medon Warns Penelope — Book IV. Medon overhears plot, warns Penelope
- Penelope’s Anguish — Book IV. Penelope asks why, collapses wailing
- Counting the Suitors — Book XVI. Telemachus counts the suitors, hears voyage
- Penelope Confronts Antinoüs — Book XVI. Penelope rebukes Antinoüs, Eurymachus lies
- Suitors Called to Supper — Book XVII. Medon calls suitors to feast
- Medon Spared — Book XXII. Telemachus pleads for Medon, both spared
- Medon Defends Odysseus — Book XXIV. Medon says a god aided Odysseus
- Halitherses Urges Peace — Book XXIV. Halitherses urges peace, ignored