Look Mom, I'm on the internet.

I am a goatherd. I keep goats. Really! Not a lot of people know of that word and instead refer to goat herders! That's like referring to shepherds as sheep herders, it was used by cattlemen to degrade the people who tended sheep. Just so we are all on the same page, in ancient times, herd animals were tended by people who took the name of the animals they kept. Shepherd, swineherd, cowherd, and goatherd were common occupations.

But why a loyal goatherd? 

Well, since about 750 BC the most famous goatherd was Melanthius, the son of Dolius, who plays the minor, yet important character of Odysseus' disloyal goatherd in Homer's Odyssey. In contrast,Odysseus' cowherd, Philoetius, and swineherd, Eumaeus, have both remained loyal to Odysseus during his twenty years of wanderings, as had the father and six brothers of Melanthius.

Melanthius provides the best goats of the herd to make a feast for the suitors of Penelope. He serves the suitors at the dining table, pouring them wine or lighting a fire in the hall upon their order. He is apparently favored a lot by them: Eurymachus is said to like him best of all, and he is allowed to have meals in the same dining hall with the suitors.

Odysseus, disguised as a beggar and accompanied by Eumaeus, encounters Melanthius by the fountain dedicated to the nymphs on his way into town. Melanthius immediately taunts Odysseus and proceeds to kicks him on the hip, unaware that he is really dishonoring his master, causing Odysseus to consider attacking him. Later, when Odysseus is brought in front of the suitors, Melanthius asserts that he knows nothing of the stranger, and that Eumaeus alone is responsible for bringing him in. His speech results in the suitors rebuking Eumaeus.

Early in the battle with the suitors, Eumaeus and Philoetius catch Melanthius trying to steal more weapons and armor for the suitors. On the orders of Odysseus, they bind him and string him up from the rafters, where he is mocked by Eumaeus. When the battle is won,Telemachus (the son of Odysseus), Eumaeus, and Philoetius hang the twelve unfaithful maidservants, which include Melanthius's sister Melantho, before turning their attention to Melanthius. They take him to the inner court, chop off his nose and ears with a sword, pull off his genitals to feed to the dogs, and then, in their fury, chop off his hands and feet. 

So to distinguish between this disloyal goatherd and all others, including me, I am known as Loyal Goatherd. 

  More later!