Character

Argos

Odysseus's dog · bred by him before Troy, never hunted since

Argos on the dung heap outside the gate, too weak to rise, ears dropped toward the ragged beggar who has turned his face away to hide a tear.
Argos on the dung heap outside the gate, too weak to rise, ears dropped toward the ragged beggar who has turned his face away to hide a tear.

Odysseus's dog, bred by him before he sailed for Troy and never hunted since. Twenty years old, neglected and lying on a heap of dung outside the gates, he is the only creature in Ithaca to recognise his master instantly and without a token — he lifts his head, drops his ears, has not strength to move closer, and dies. Odysseus, still in disguise, has to turn his face away to hide the tear. It is the shortest and most famous scene in the poem.

Twenty years old, which no dog is. The poem never comments; it simply lets the arithmetic sit there.

Appears in

← All characters & places