Argos - The Best Boy

Argos, the dog of Odysseus, recognized him after waiting 20 years for his return, wagged his tail and died peacefully. One of the most heartbreaking and perfect moments from The Odyssey. The perfect dog. The best boy.

One of the earliest and most heartbreaking depictions of the relationship between man and dog is in the Odyssey: - Argos is the only one who recognizes Odysseus immediately, even in disguise. - He is too weak to stand, but he wags his tail and drops his ears when he sees him. - Odysseus can't reveal himself or openly acknowledge him - Instead, he asks the swineherd about the dog, indirectly praising him. - He sheds a tear, and turns his face so no one notices. - After seeing his master one last time, Argos dies. Nearly three millennia, and this simple human moment is something everyone can relate to.

He held onto his final breath just to get one last touch from his master.

This painting shows the most heartbreaking reunion in all of literature. To understand it, you have to know who the dog is... His name is Argos, and he belongs to Ulysses, the Greek hero also known as Odysseus. Before Ulysses sailed away to fight in the Trojan War, he had raised Argos from a puppy, a fast and beautiful hunting dog. Then the war called, and Ulysses left. He would not come home for twenty years. When Ulysses finally set foot on his own island again, he came in disguise, dressed as a beggar, so that no one would know him. His house was full of men trying to steal his wife and his kingdom. To survive, he had to remain a stranger in his own home. No one recognized him. Not his loyal servants. Not the people who had known him all his life. But lying in the dirt by the gate, old and forgotten, covered in ticks, too weak to stand, was a dog. Argos had waited twenty years. And the moment he saw him, he knew. He was the only one. Nearly blind, half dead, he lifted his head and pricked up his ears, and he wagged his tail for the master he had never stopped waiting for. Ulysses saw him. And because he was in disguise, surrounded by enemies, he could not run to him, could not kneel down, could not say his name. He could only look at his old friend and, turning his face away so no one would see, let a single tear fall. And then, in Homer's own words, "the dark shadow of death closed down on Argos' eyes, the instant he had seen Odysseus, twenty years away." He had held on to life for one reason only: he was waiting to see him come home. And the moment he did, he could finally let go... It is such a beautiful painting, and the look on that dog's face is so universal, so instantly understood by anyone who has ever loved and waited, that it is enough to bring a grown man to tears.

the best boy 😭

Argos, the dog of Odysseus, recognized him after waiting 20 years for his return, wagged his tail and died peacefully. One of the most heartbreaking and perfect moments from The Odyssey. The perfect dog. The best boy.