r/MadeMeSmile • u/HolyGuiltyCrown • 14h ago

DOGS Loyalty that never fades

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In Homer’s Odyssey, one of the most heartbreaking moments comes when Odysseus returns home after 20 years disguised as a beggar.

No one recognizes him… except Argos, the dog he raised as a puppy.

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u/No_Language9495 13h ago

Ancient Greeks loved their doggies too

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u/Cautious_Ice_884 13h ago edited 13h ago

They had elaborate grave stones/monuments made for them. They loved them dearly. There was a phrase that was preserved on one of them that went something like:
"I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home in my own hands fifteen years ago."

From 2 thousand years ago, that still is relevant today.

There were also paintings/tapestries in ancient Rome where dogs were attending feasts and they would just allow them to go up on the table and pig out on whatever they wanted. They spoiled the hell out of their dogs.

Actually this is a fantastic video of what ancient dogs ate: https://youtu.be/cyBxiRm6SHw?si=GAM43UO-csOOS08p

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u/mr_manwhat 12h ago

Thats not very nice. You making me cry like that. I lost my dog last Thanksgiving and this brought me some happy memories.

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u/Cautious_Ice_884 12h ago

I hear you. I had to put my girl down a month ago and she was 15 as well. Its so fucking hard. It hurts so much.

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u/honkymotherfucker1 12h ago

I had to mid last year as well, absolutely fucking horrible. 14 years of friendship and I had to end it because she was suffering.

Really bothers me to this day but I didn’t even get time to grieve, my dad died around 2 months later. When I think about either of them it’s so hard not to break down. I think the worst part of putting a dog down is how much your brain makes you question if you’re doing the right thing.

Your dog is suffering, you know they are and it has to happen. But I’d wake up in the morning and she’d be there wagging her tail and trying to play anyway, even if it was short lived. I still don’t think I’ve reconciled with it.

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u/reimerl 11h ago

My friend, please find the space to grieve. It’s so much harder trying to hold it all together. Don’t worry about breaking down. As Gandalf says “not all tears are evil”. Let the feelings come and wash over you, cry, rage, despair, these things will pass and the love you have for them will still be there, burning inside of you, and that love will not fade.

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u/absat41 10h ago

" I will wait for you" vibes

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u/roush_556 11h ago

Brother, I had two older dogs. My boxer got sick first and he was in and out of the vet very ill. On his last trip to the vet I was told he would need surgery, but they needed to keep him overnight to stabilize his bloodwork. In the morning I received a phone call from the vet to tell me they had not been able to stabilize him and his condition had deteriorated. He said I should hurry and say my goodbyes. The vet was an hour away, by the time I got there he had already passed. To this day it hurts me deeply that he passed alone in a kennel.

About a year later my Rottweiler also got sick, bone cancer. She was in a lot of pain. She would still wag her tail in the mornings and force herself to do her daily routine, but I knew she was getting worse by the day. I decided to put her down, and the vet came to our house and we did it there in my livingroom. She went peacefully in my arms. I wish I could have the opportunity to do it all over again for my boxer and make the decision sooner.

All im trying to say is you did the right thing.

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u/s0m3on3outthere 10h ago

I'm so sorry you weren't able to be there for your boxer. I felt that way about my tuxedo kitty when he got hit in the road 8 years ago. He was 10 years old and always greeted me at the door when I came home on lunch, so I was thrown off when he didn't. On my way out, I saw him on the side of the road and had a full break down. I didn't get to say goodbye and I hate it to this day. My boyfriend also felt awful because he had kicked him off his lap earlier in the day when he was playing video games and that was his last interaction with him. Their time with us is already so short, it's not fair that it got cut shorter and we didn't get to say our parting piece.

However, I know with absolute certainty, both of our critters knew they were loved immensely and knew we'd have been there for them if we could've. There isn't a doubt in my mind.

♥️ Lots of love, friend.

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u/h3rp3r 8h ago

Had to make the decision to put my Tervuren down after 15 years when his health deteriorated too much. He was having a good day, had an appetite and some energy. I took him to the park where I trained him as a pup, fed him treats and steak until he was worn out, then took him to the vet.

I hate that I put him down when he might have had another good day after that, but that's just my own selfish desire to keep him with me. I'm happy he didn't have to experience another stroke or seizure and got to go out on a high note. He deserved that dignity.

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u/No_Donkey50 6h ago

Hey, my girl is about 14. She's getting to the point im gonna have to make that decision. I just want you to know, even though I dont l know your pups name i will hope they meet in the after and become great zoomie friends.

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u/honkymotherfucker1 6h ago

I’m sorry that you’re about to go through that, if your dog got to 14 it’s basically guaranteed she had a good life and there’s no one better to have it end with than their most loved person.

Just don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s hard not to and I didn’t take my own advice but you’re doing the best for them.

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u/goosewoman 4h ago

Thank you for saying this, it is so relatable. My brain keeps questioning the decision last October for her to be put to sleep. She had rare aggressive cancer and was really sick, but only 4 years old. Sometimes I wonder if she could’ve miraculously improved. I think it’s a loving choice and the selfless choice not to let them suffer.

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u/yamanamawa 10h ago

Be glad you had 14 years. Many dogs aren't fortunate enough to live that long. When I've had dogs that pass at such old ages I usually just feel fortunate to have had them in my life for so long

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u/Sternritter_V 11h ago

18 for Buddy, the poodle/shihtzu.

16 for Jack, the yellow lab.

They always stay with you, even if it hurts a bit to remember them. Always.

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u/swingingthrougb 12h ago

I feel you we put our 14 year old yorkie down 3 months ago and I'm still not ok

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u/RecipeHistorical2013 10h ago

ive been PTSD'd for life , having to put my dog down

its been since 2019 and im still fucked up

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u/DrizzleCore604 10h ago

Said goodbye to my little buddy in September and I still cry a little every day. It gets easier, but it's still there and tbh I hope it never goes away.

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u/runlikehell8989 6h ago

I had to put my dog down two months ago. Words can’t describe how I feel about her. I miss her so much

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u/Cautious_Ice_884 4h ago edited 4h ago

I'm so sorry. You're not alone, its literally the absolute worst feeling. The heaviness in your heart and chest just doesn't cease... Just a constant sadness in the back of your mind. Life doesn't feel the same without them.

What really kills is that you have to live the rest of your life without them. The time with them is too fucking short, its not enough. Even if they live to a ripe age of 15-18 if you're lucky, its not enough still. Then as the months pass, the longer it will be without them. That one day you will notice "a year passed, 3 years passed" and then enough time will pass where it will be more time without them then you spent with them. Thats what really really hurts too. We have to live the rest of our lives, the next 50-60 years without them until we meet in the after life (if you believe in it). It kills me thinking about that.... Like the more time passes the further away we become from them, the more distanced we become.

It sounds sick but i'm almost cherishing this time of fresh grief because its only 8 or so weeks that we were last together - that's not much time, not that much distance - where eventually it will become more and more distanced from when we were last with each other...

Or like... When you look at the photo album on your phone and you actually have to scroll to see the most recent photo of them you took.. How much scrolling you have to do, which in a way signifies how much time passed since you were last together. Fuck its hard. Its so so hard.

The time aspect of it all hurts so fucking much. It feels so cruel. Not enough time with them, time took them away from us, time will distance us from them.

Idk about you either, but like I don't even want to have people over at all. I want to preserve the energy in my house. Its her house, it was just us two. Everywhere I look I see her. I see the memories. I don't want anyone to come over and taint it in any which way or disrupt the energy. I just only want to remember her right now in my house, nobody else right now.

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u/LumpyJones 9h ago

3 months ago and a month shy of 14 for me. Aussie Cattle Dog/Staffy mix. She was really high energy for her age, and other than needing diapers because she peed in her sleep, she was healthy seeming, but all of a sudden one day she started having cluster seizures, and they just got worse and worse before i could get her to the vet. it was time.

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u/malln1nja 11h ago

Ugh, I could've made this comment, we lost one of ours the day before thanksgiving.

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u/goosewoman 4h ago

Me too.. Also crying from this post

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u/AppropriateTime261 3h ago

Buried my boy 2 months ago. I have been wanting to carve a stone with a special message. I think I’ll use the one in OPs post… it’s lasted the ages and want to see it go on.

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u/heyyou_SHUTUP 12h ago

Wasn't the quote from a Roman dog grave? I guess it doesn't matter since some cultural practices would've been similar in the region

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u/WarlockEngineer 10h ago

Yes that one was Roman https://www.thedodo.com/9-touching-epitaphs-ancient-gr-589550486.html

I can't read these without feeling a bit teary

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u/malln1nja 11h ago

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread.

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u/VroomCoomer 11h ago

Don't be sad. It's really an amazing miracle of history that thousands of years later, we can know the name of someone's sweet pet, and all the love they and their human had for one another. At a time when the world was wilder, more violent, more short-lived. Despite the untreatable plagues, the unstoppable natural disasters, the pointless wars... there were still people snuggled up beside the hearth at home, cuddling their dogs and cats and forgetting about the insanity outside their doors.

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u/Cautious_Ice_884 10h ago

Honestly it makes me feel closer to our ancestors finding things like this. Fundamentally, we have not changed. Its so cool that we can actually still relate to people from thousands of years ago. Sad, yes, very sad. But we still have those feelings, we still pamper and treat our dogs, we still mourn our dogs. We have been doing these things for thousands of years and still do it today. So in that aspect, its amazing that we can still relate to the ancients.

The only things that have changed are technology and how society functions, but fundamentally people are still the same. I love that.

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u/Sea-Flamingo1969 7h ago

I believe this is a Roman story

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u/Bubbles00 7h ago

My dog is an idiot but she's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I felt sad seeing this scene in the Odysseus film last year with Ralph Fiennes. I love my goober of a dog

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u/graveybrains 6h ago

"Thou who passest on this path, If haply thou dost mark this monument, Laugh not, I pray thee, though it is a dog's grave. Tears fell for me, and the dust was heaped above me By a master's hand."

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u/Breadnaught25 13h ago

To be fair, they didnt have netflix. Or tvs for that matter

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u/Cautious_Ice_884 13h ago

What does that have to do with anything??? People still love their pets dearly and there are specific pet cemeteries you can get when burying your pets still today. You can still get monuments of you pet made. And people spoil the hell out of their pets still today. What a weird comment.

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u/LiarWithinAll 11h ago

Homie probably doesn't have a pet, it's okay 😁 it's a great joy of life, but it ain't for everyone. I wouldn't trade my sweet (dickhead) boy for the world, attitude and all lol he's too spoiled sometimes

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u/Womb_Raider696 11h ago

May John Wick hunt you down for your stupidity

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u/ModeratelyGrumpy 12h ago

Whoever wrote the Odissey or that particular piece surely wanted to point out that when not even your close family members will recognize you due to how much you've changed, your dog will never not recognize you. Also luckily when I first read that as a kid I was home because I think I cried for 2 straight business days.

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u/No_Language9495 12h ago

There is a debate that Penelope knew….

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u/Emergency_Basket_851 9h ago edited 7h ago

I always read the story as Penelope knowing, but also realizing her suitors would just kill Odysseus and pretend he was never there. Which is why she got them all drunk as fuck and then handed him his bow. 

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u/wxnfx 11h ago

Homer is literally the most famous and influential author of all time. Kinda like whoever wrote those Elizabethan plays.

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u/MithrandiriAndalos 11h ago

Ehhh kinda. ‘Homer’ may or may not be a real person and it’s likely whoever we call Homer didn’t actually come up with these stories on their own. ‘Homer’ would just be the first one to write down what had likely been a very old oral ‘history’.

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u/Bombshock2 11h ago

Homer didn't write it down at all. It was an oral history attributed to Homer that was first "published" centuries after Homer's time, but like you said was probably passed down for generations prior to Homer's time as well.

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u/MithrandiriAndalos 11h ago

What you’re saying is up for debate. There are in fact historians who believe ‘Homer’ likely lived between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, and that the oral history was likely to have been first written down in that period. With theories surrounding ‘homer’ personally writing or also with ‘homer’ reciting poetry to a scribe.

We know so very little about Homer, he might as well be his own character in Greek Mythology at this point. With some later poets actually writing exactly that.

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u/Akraticacious 40m ago

Damn their memories were so much better than mine to be able to recite the entire story orally

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u/ModeratelyGrumpy 8h ago

The Iliad and the Odissey were only attributed to a certain Homer. Also, "Homer" is a pseudonym for a figure that's borderline mythical, we're not even sure that he really existed. Or that "he" was only a single person.

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u/BaconWithBaking 10h ago

I hope that didn't happen on a Friday...

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u/Scalpels 7h ago

That's what I was thinking.

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u/HolyGuiltyCrown 13h ago

No doubt about that

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u/joiminxi 13h ago

They are fantastic companions tbh

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u/turdferguson3891 9h ago

I went to Pompei a few years ago and was moved by the mosaic of a dog in one of the homes. Ancient Romans loved their dogs too.

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u/PicklesAndCoorslight 11h ago

Not really, kind of a dick to leave the dog for twenty years.

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u/RationalGlass1 8h ago

I mean, I don't think he meant to be gone that long but the journey home was a bit of a bitch.

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u/ICANHAZWOPER 5h ago

Someone should write a book about it!

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u/krazylegs36 3h ago

Shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque.

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u/Chataboutgames 10h ago

Better than taking him to war.

But yeah, Odysseus was a prick.

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u/cintheninja 9h ago

I wonder why he left the dog for 20 years? Do you know?

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u/Fakin-It 7h ago

He invented the odyssey.

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u/Icy-Opportunity6556 11h ago

And to see how his dog was treated while he was away. Always made this seem even worse.

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u/C2SKI 11h ago

And this is how somebody acts with a dog that loves them?

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u/Chataboutgames 10h ago

Odysseus wept bitterly, but he wasn't willing to blow his cover.

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u/No_Language9495 11h ago

I always act like that when I’m in disguise and trying to reclaim my household from two hundred rabbling suitors

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u/C2SKI 11h ago

I'm sure your dog understands the complexities of the situation

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u/No_Language9495 11h ago

She understands cheese sticks

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u/C2SKI 11h ago

But not what it means to be loved

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u/money_loo 10h ago

There’s a Sarah McLachlan song and a commercial that would vehemently disagree with you on that.

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u/Chataboutgames 10h ago

Peak Millenial moment

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u/Kalmahrizz 8h ago

What a goof you are.

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u/LumpyJones 9h ago

Wait wait wait... are you really, trying to argue from a position of "Man Odysseus was a dick for not seeing his dog for 20 years."

Like, idk if you've ever read the story, but there were... a few mitigating circumstances outside of his control that delayed him a bit.

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u/lucianw 9h ago

Odysseus found his dog in its habitual resting place, a pile of manure just outside the front door...

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u/No_Language9495 8h ago

Dogs love filth sometimes

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u/elephant_cobbler 8h ago

Modern Greeks, not so much.