The Return of Odysseus

Review and Anticipate: In Part 1 of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his companions face many perils on their voyage from Troy to Ithaka. At some moments, they are tempted by others to forsake their voyage; at others, their lives are endangered by powerful enemies. Ultimately, Odysseus’ men bring about their own destruction at the hand of Zeus when they kill the cattle belonging to Hêlios.

As Part 2 begins, Odysseus is alone when he reaches Ithaka after a twenty-year absence. What do you predict will happen when Odysseus arrives home?

"Twenty years gone, and I am back again..."

Odysseus has finished telling his story to the Phaiakians. The next day, young Phaiakian noblemen conduct him home by ship. He arrives in Ithaka after an absence of 20 years. The goddess Athena appears and informs him of the situation at home. Numerous suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, have been continually seeking the hand of his wife, Penélopê, in marriage, while overrunning Odysseus' palace and enjoying themselves at Penelope's expense. Moreover, they are plotting to murder Odysseus' son, Telemachus, before he can inherit his father's lands. Telemachus, who, like Penelope, still hopes for his father's return, has journeyed to Pylos and Sparta to learn what he can about his father's fate. Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and directs him to the hut of Eumaios (You-my-us) his old and faithful swineherd. While Odysseus and Eumaios are eating breakfast, Telemachus arrives. Athena then appears to Odysseus.

. . . From the air

she (Athena) walked, taking the form of a tall woman,

handsome and clever at her craft, and stood

beyond the gate in plain sight of Odysseus,

unseen, though, by Telemachus. There she said to him:

“Son of Laertes and the gods of old,

Odysseus, master of land ways and sea ways,

dissemble to your son no longer now.

The time has come: tell him how you together

will bring doom on the suitors in the town.

I shall not be far distant then, for I

myself desire battle.”

Saying no more,

she tipped her golden wand upon the man,

making his cloak pure white, and the knit tunic

fresh around him. Lithe and young she made him...

Then Lord Odysseus

reappeared—and his son was thunderstruck.

Fear in his eyes, he looked down and away

as though it were a god, and whispered:

“Stranger,

you are no longer what you were just now!

Your cloak is new; even your skin! You are

one of the gods who rule the sweep of heaven!

Be kind to us, we’ll make you fair oblation

and gifts of hammered gold. Have mercy on us!”

The noble and enduring man replied:

“No god. Why take me for a god? No, no.

I am that father whom your boyhood lacked

and suffered pain for lack of. I am he.

Twenty years gone, and I am back again

on my own island.

As for my change of skin,

that is a charm Athena, Hope of Soldiers,

uses as she will; she has the knack

to make me seem a beggar man sometimes

and sometimes young, with finer clothes about me.

It is no hard thing for the gods of heaven

to glorify a man or bring him low.”

Held back too long, the tears ran down his cheeks

as he embraced his son.

Telemachus began to weep. Salt tears

Telemachus said:

“Dear father! Tell me

what kind of vessel put you here ashore

on Ithaka? Your sailors, who were they?

I doubt you made it, walking on the sea!”

Then said Odysseus, who had borne the barren sea:

“Only plain truth shall I tell you, child.

Great seafarers, the Phaiakians, gave me passage

as they give other wanderers. By night

over the open ocean, while I slept,

they brought me in their cutter, set me down

on Ithaka, with gifts of bronze and gold

and stores of woven things. By the gods’ will

these lie all hidden in a cave. I came

to this wild place, directed by Athena,

so that we might lay plans to kill our enemies.

Count up the suitors for me, let me know

what men at arms are there, how many men.

I must put all my mind to it, to see

if we two by ourselves can take them on

or if we should look round for help.”

Telemachus

replied:

“O Father, all my life your fame

as a fighting man has echoed in my ears—

your skills with weapons and the tricks of war—

but what you speak of is a staggering thing,

beyond imagining, for me. How can two men

do battle with a houseful in their prime?

For I must tell you this is no affair

of ten or even twice ten men, but scores,

throngs of them.

You must think hard if you would conjure up

the fighting strength to take us through.”

Odysseus

who had endured the long war and the sea

answered:

“I’ll tell you now.

Suppose Athena’s arm is over us, and Zeus

her father’s, must I rack my brains for more?

I have a plan.

Here is your part: at break of day tomorrow

home with you, go mingle with our princes.

The swineherd later on will take me down

the port-side trail—a beggar, by my looks,

hangdog and old. If they make fun of me

in my own courtyard, let your ribs cage up

your springing heart, no matter what I suffer.

Look on, hold down your anger.

Now fix the next step in your mind.

Athena,

counseling me, will give me word, and I

shall signal to you, nodding: at that point

round up all armor, lances, gear of war

left in our hall, and stow the lot away

back in the vaulted store room.

When the suitors

miss those arms and question you, be soft

in what you say: answer:

‘I thought I’d move them

out of the smoke. They seemed no longer those

bright arms Odysseus left us years ago

when he went off to Troy.

One better reason, too, I had from Zeus:

suppose a brawl starts up when you are drunk,

you might be crazed and bloody one another,

and that would stain your feast, your courtship. Tempered

iron can magnetize a man.’

Say that.

But put aside two broadswords and two spears

for our own use, two oxhide shields nearby

when we go into action. Pallas Athena

and Zeus All Provident will see you through,

bemusing our young friends.

Now one thing more.

If son of mine you are and blood of mine,

let no one hear Odysseus is about.

Neither Laertes, nor the swineherd here,

nor any slave, nor even Penelope.

But you and I alone must learn how far

the women are corrupted; we should know

how to locate good men among our hands,

the loyal and respectful, and the shirkers

who take you lightly, as alone and young.”

The Suitors: So Telemachus and Odysseus set their plan into motion. Still disguised as a beggar, Odysseus enters his home and asks the suitors for bread and meat. He is confronted by the haughty suitor, Antinous (uh-tea-nos).

But here Antinous broke in, shouting:

“God!

What evil wind blew in this pest?

Get over,

stand in the passage! Nudge my table, will you?

Egyptian whips are sweet

to what you’ll come to here, you nosing rat,

making your pitch to everyone!

With guile Odysseus drew away, then said:

“A pity that you have more looks than heart.

You’d grudge a pinch of salt from your own larder

to your own handy man. You sit here, fat

on others’ meat, and cannot bring yourself

to rummage out a crust of bread for me!”

Then anger made Antinous’ heart beat hard,

and, glowering under his brows, he answered:

“Now!

You think you’ll shuffle off and get away

after that impudence? Oh, no you don’t!”

The stool he let fly hit the man’s right shoulder

on the packed muscle under the shoulder blade—

like solid rock, for all the effect one saw.

Odysseus only shook his head, containing

thoughts of bloody work, as he walked on,

then sat, and dropped his loaded bag again

upon the door sill.

But now the rest were mortified, and someone

spoke from the crowd of young bucks to rebuke him:

“A poor show, that—hitting this famished tramp—

bad business, if he happened to be a god.

You know they go in foreign guise, the gods do,

looking like strangers, turning up

in towns and settlements to keep an eye

on manners, good or bad.”

But at this notion

Antinous only shrugged.

Telemachas,

after the blow his father bore, sat still

without a tear, though his heart felt the blow.

Slowly he shook his head from side to side,

containing murderous thoughts.

Penelope

on the higher level of her room had heard

the blow, and knew who gave it. Now she murmured:

“Would god you could be hit yourself, Antinous—

hit by Apollo’s bowshot!”

And Eurynomê

her housekeeper, put in:

“He and no other?

If all we pray for came to pass, not one

would live till dawn!”

Her gentle mistress said:

“Oh, Nan, they are a bad lot; they intend

ruin for all of us; but Antinous

appears a blacker-hearted hound than any.

Here is a poor man come, a wanderer,

driven by want to beg his bread, and everyone

in hall gave bits, to cram his bag—only

Antínous threw a stool, and banged his shoulder!’’

Penelope: Later that night, Penelope meets with the beggar. They talk for a while and Penelope reveals her feelings about Odysseus.

“Stranger, my looks,

my face, my carriage, were soon lost or faded

when the Achaians crossed the sea to Troy,

Odysseus my lord among the rest.

If he returned, if he were here to care for me,

I might be happily renowned!

But grief instead heaven sent me—years of pain.

Sons of the noblest families on the islands,

Doulíkhion, Samê, wooded Zakynthos,

with native Ithakans, are here to court me,

against my wish; and they consume this house.

Can I give proper heed to guest or suppliant

or herald on the realm’s affairs?

Ruses served my turn

to draw the time out—first a close-grained web

I had the happy thought to set up weaving

on my big loom in hall. I said, that day:

‘Young men—my suitors, now my lord is dead,

let me finish my weaving before I marry,

or else my thread will have been spun in vain.

It is a shroud I weave for Lord Laërtês

when cold Death comes to lay him on his bier.

The country wives would hold me in dishonor

if he, with all his fortune, lay unshrouded.’

I reached their hearts that way, and they agreed.

So every day I wove on the great loom,

but every night by torchlight I unwove it;

and so for three years I deceived the Akhaians.

But when the seasons brought a fourth year on,

as long months waned, and the long days were spent,

through impudent folly in the slinking maids

they caught me—clamored up to me at night;

I had no choice then but to finish it.

And now, as matters stand at last,

I have no strength left to evade a marriage,

cannot find any further way; my parents

urge it upon me, and my son

will not stand by while they eat up his property.

He comprehends it, being a man full grown,

able to oversee the kind of house

Zeus would endow with honor"

Guiding Questions

**Remember, Odysseus was gone 10 years for the war and then it took him another 10 years to get home.

1.) How did Odysseus finally get home?

2.) What has Athena done to Odysseus's appearance?

3.) Why is Telemachus concerned about Odysseus trying to return home?

4.) What is Odysseus' plan to get rid of the suitors?

5a.) What is Telemachus' job in this plan?

5b.) What does Odysseus say Telemachus should tell the suitors if they question why he has done this?

6.) How does Antinous respond to the beggar (Odysseus in disguise)?

7.) What does Antinous do in response to Odysseus' rebuking of him?

8.) What do the other suitors think of Antinous' response to Odysseus (from question 2)?

9.) What does Penelope say she wishes would happen to Antinous?

10.) Why does Penelope's mistress say Antinous is the worst of the suitors?

11.) How does Penelope describe her feelings about when Odyssesu left?

12.) What was Penelope's plan to avoid having to choose a new husband?

Analyzing Character Development:

Look back at the highlighted portions of this chapter. What do they reveal about Odysseus? How has he changed since the beginning of the story? Consider his flaws.