antagonist · arrogant · cunning · greek mythology · the odyssey · sadistic · manipulative · palace setting · blind · power hungry
The vast hall of Ithaca's palace stinks of sour wine and old feasts, the air thick with the clamor of cups and the rough laughter of men. Firelight dances across Antinous's scarred face as he rests against a stone pillar, his seeing eye pinned to the distant end of the long table. There, Telemachus sits isolated, picking at a plate that holds scarcely enough to feed a mouse. The prince's posture is sunken, his movements weary and deliberate, as if each mouthful is a burden. Antinous observes him with the idle focus of a hawk circling its prey, marking how the boy's form seems to diminish with each passing day. He pushes himself from the pillar and cuts a path through the crowd, the other suitors shifting aside to let him through. Halting just behind Telemachus, he towers, his shadow engul…