Argos (dog)

Argos
Ἄργος

Odysseus and Argos reunite, Thirty More Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin (1905)
Species	Dog
Sex	Male
Notable role	Hunting dog
Known for	Waiting faithfully for Odysseus to return to Ithaca
Owner	Odysseus
Residence	Ithaca

In Homer's Odyssey, Argos (/ˈɑːrɡɒs, -ɡəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἄργος), sometimes referred to as Argus, is Odysseus's faithful dog. Bred to be a hunting dog before Odysseus leaves for the Trojan War, Argos is neglected after Odysseus is presumed dead. Twenty years later, Odysseus returns to Ithaca and finds him lying in piles of manure, immobile from age and neglect, and infested with parasites. When Argos sees Odysseus, he immediately drops his ears and wags his tail. Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus cannot greet his dog without revealing his identity, but secretly weeps. Upon seeing his master return home, Argos dies.

The Argos scene is among the most well-known episodes in the Odyssey and scholars of classical literature have commented on its structure, meaning, and literary value. Argos has been described as a symbol of faithfulness and a metaphor for the decline of Odysseus and his household (oikos) within the larger narrative of the poem. Argos's death is signaled using language typically reserved for the noble deaths of warriors, and a periphrastic construction is used to focalize the narrative as if told from his perspective.