Book 18–21: The Odyssey

November 14, 2020
1 PM — 4 PM

Book 18
Irus, another beggar, strolls into the palace. He is very hot-headed for a beggar: he offends Odysseus and invites him to a boxing fight. He feels that he’s going to do the old man’s fast job, but Athena gives Odysseus extra power and height. Irus quickly regrets the old man’s threat and attempts to run, but the suitors have heard by now and are putting the pressure on the fight for their own amusement. When Odysseus finishes Irus, he stops just shy of killing him. Amphinomus, the suitor, is especially kind to Odysseus. Odysseus references his own previous brutality and folly as they chat, encourages him to live legitimately, and points at the imminent deaths of the suitors. Amphinomus seems very uneasy, but the writer notices that little has to be done-he is doomed to die on the spear of Telemachus. To show up before her suitors, Athena now places it in Penelope’s brain. To stir up their minds, the goddess gives her extra prominence and grace. She drives them on by telling them as Penelope talks to the suitors that Odysseus had told her to take a new husband if he did not return before Telemachus started developing facial hair. She then tricks them into offering her presents, to the quiet amusement of Odysseus, by saying that any suitor worth his salt will want to win her hand by offering her things instead of taking what is legitimately her own. The suitors lavish her with gifts, and Odysseus instructs the maids, as they party, to go to Penelope. As an unpleasant being and a drunk, the maidservant Melantho, the sister of Melanthius, insults him; Odysseus then shocks them with threats. Athena now prompts Eurymachus to insult him, aiming to make Odysseus even more furious at the suitors. Eurymachus throws a stool at him as Odysseus responds with insults of his own, but fails, striking a servant instead. Just when a riot is about to break out to the confusion of the suitors, Telemachus steps in and diffuses the situation.

The fight between Odysseus and Irus is seen by some people as comic relief, but it is not a joking matter for someone other than the pernicious suitors. In my opinion, Irus is a weak guy, despite being a moron and loudmouth. The character of Irus matches that of Antinous: They are both insolent bullies. Nonetheless, since he has power, reputation, and intellect, Antinous is way more dangerous. For the suitors, Irus is nothing more than a servant. He’s a champion of the joke, a sad prank, a fabrication. While Odysseus is irritated by the old clown, Odysseus does not really want to hurt him. Perhaps by instinct than design, he snaps the vagrant’s jaw. For the tussle, Odysseus shows his formidable physique, and the event foreshadows later triumphs.

November 15, 2020
2 PM — 3 PM

Book 19
Telemachus and Odysseus withdraw the weapons, as expected, when the suitors retire for the night. For them, Athena shines the room so that they can see how they function. Telemachus informs Eurycleia that to protect them from being destroyed, they store the weapons. Telemachus retires after they have safely disposed of the arms and Odysseus is joined by Penelope. She came to interrogate her curious guest from the women’s rooms. She assumes he appears to have seen Odysseus, and by asking him to explain her husband, she tests his integrity. The Greek hero himself is portrayed by Odysseus, capturing each aspect so accurately that it brings Penelope to tears. He then relates the story of how he met and finally came to Ithaca with Odysseus. This tale resembles what he told to Athena and Eumaeus respectively in many ways, although it is similar to neither. He informs Penelope that Odysseus had a long ordeal, in essence, but is alive and free to sail the oceans, and predicts that within the month Odysseus will be back. Penelope gives a bed to the beggar to sleep in but, he claims, he is used to the floor and refuses. He only eventually makes it possible for Eurycleia to wash his feet. When she places them in a water basin, she finds a scar on one of her feet. She instinctively identifies it as the scar got from Odysseus when he and his grandfather Autolycus went boar hunting. She wraps her arms around Odysseus, but though Athena keeps Penelope occupied, he silences her so that the secret of Odysseus can not be taken any further. Eurycleia, the believer restores herself and agrees to keep her secret. Penelope explains to Odysseus before she retires, a dream she had in which an eagle swoops down on her twenty pet geese and kills them all; it then hangs on her roof and says in a human voice that it is her husband who has just put her lovers to death. Penelope claims she doesn’t know what this dream means. Odysseus, rising to the occasion, describes it to her. But Penelope nonetheless agrees that she will pick a new husband: she will marry the first man who can fire an arrow through the twelve-axis holes set in a line.

This part of the epic is mostly dealing with the question of the identity of Odysseus. Scholars strongly disagree as to how much Penelope knows. She appears to consider the beggar on the surface as another traveler walking, definitely more fascinating than others, but of no great personal importance to her. The beggar Odysseus notes frequently that the return of her husband is imminent; she remains suspicious. However, under the surface, the reader can see some hints that Penelope is at least uncertain of the true identity of the vagrant.

November 16, 2020
12 PM — 2 PM

Book 20
Both Penelope and Odysseus had difficulties sleeping at night. Odysseus fears that so many suitors will never be able to overpower him and Telemachus, but Athena reassures him that all is possible by the gods. Penelope wakes and prays for Artemis to kill her, tormented by the death of her husband and her determination to remarry. Her anxiety awakens Odysseus, who calls for a positive omen from Zeus. Zeus responds with a clap of thunder and is heard cursing the suitors at once by a maid in an adjacent room. Odysseus and Telemachus greet, in succession, the swineherd Eumaeus, the foul Melanthius, and Philoetius, as the palace comes to life the next day a kind and loyal herdsman who states that he has not yet given up hope of the return of Odysseus. The suitors come in, plotting Telemachus’s assassination once again. However as a portent of destruction appears in the shape of an eagle holding a dove in its talons, Amphinomus persuades them to call it off. Yet Athena holds the suitors antagonistic all through dinner to deter Odysseus’s rage from losing its edge. A rich and greedy suitor, Ctesippus, throws a cow’s hoof at Odysseus, in reaction to which Telemachus, with his sword, attempts to ram him through. The suitors laugh and grin, not realizing that they are soaked with blood and that their faces have acquired a foreign, ghostly appearance, both of which Theoclymenus interprets as portents of inescapable destruction.

Much of this section is directed to Homer’s presentation of information against maidservants and suitors. As they sneak out of the house, Odysseus hears the maids chuckling in expectation of another night with their lovers. In particular, their trials with the suitors bother him because these are disgraceful acts of dishonesty to Penelope. Melanthius, the goatherd, is another disloyal servant. On the king’s initial ride to town with Eumaeus, we recall him from his attack on the beggar/Odysseus. Melanthius is bullying the guest again. In their usual haughty way, the suitors behave. Taking his turn, Ctesippus insults the disguised king and casts an ox hoof at him. Telemachus boldly scolds them and catalogs their offenses, further building the case against the suitors. While Telemachus may be emboldened in part because he is aware of the presence of his father, this passage also shows that he is now a stronger, more mature prince than the one depicted early in the epic.

Questions to prepare and write about in your weekly journal:
What forms of mistreatment does Odysseus endure upon returning to his palace?
He endures harassment and insults from the suitors when Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still dressed as a beggar. His old nurse, Eurycleia, is the only entity who knows him, but she swears not to expose his secret.

What is the purpose of this mistreatment from the perspective of the story?
The return of Odysseus reflects the transition from life as a frontline warrior back to life as a husband, father, and household leader. Ultimately, Odysseus is driven by a need to regain these aspects of his identity and once again become the person he was before he left so many years ago for the Trojan War. The suitors mistreating him is just going to prompt him to be more confident and get his identity

Are there any good suitors?
Amphinomus, son of King Nisos, is the most sympathetic of the suitors. Amphinomus attempts twice to dissuade the suitors from murdering Telemachus. Odysseus recognizes this and attempts to warn Amphinomus to leave the home before the final battle. Despite this, Amphinomus stays and dies along with the other suitors.

November 17, 2020
12 PM — 2 PM

Book 21
Penelope sets out the bow and axes of Odysseus and declares to the suitors that in marriage, the archer who can fire an arrow cleanly through the axes will have her back. First, Telemachus tries to set an example, but he’s not even able to string a bow. Leodes, the suitor, tries the bow and fails: it’s too rigid to bend. Other suitors lack the power to even string it. Odysseus, meanwhile, talks outside the palace to Eumaeus and the cowherd, Philoetius: he tells them his true identity, shows them his scar as evidence and enlists them in the war to come. After the suitors have attempted it, he asks Eumaeus to hold his bow and tell the maids to lock their doors; he asks Philoetius to lock the courtyard so that no male may escape. Odysseus returns to the palace, where the bow has just struggled to string Eurymachus. The suitors are told by Odysseus to relax and pray to the Archer God as he attempts the bow himself, only to entertain them. Antinous violently warns him that he may end up like the intoxicated Centaur Eurythion, mauled by the Lapiths, his hosts. Yet Penelope advises the suitors to make the stranger try his luck; she says there is no guilt in such a thing, contrary to the shame given to the household by the suitors. Telemachus declares his right to be the one to hand over the bow and takes Penelope to her quarters. Eumaeus carries the bow to the king amidst the mocking of the suitors. Odysseus strings the bow as gracefully as a bard tuning his lyre; Zeus sends down a bolt of lightning. Then the king shoots the arrow cleanly through the row of axes. He says to Telemachus: it’s time for the song and dance that follow a feast.

Penelope’s contest collection, one that only Odysseus could win, confirms the suspicion that she is sure of the true identity of the beggar Odysseus. Penelope directly counters Antinous’s objection when the beggar Odysseus asks for an unofficial chance at the bow. Dismissing the notion that the visitor will claim her as his bride, she replies that she is clearly hospitable by offering a shot to the roaming stranger. The beggar would not, of course, demand her for his bride; Odysseus would not have to do so.

How does the swineherd Eumaios compare to the other characters we have encountered in the Odyssey so far. Is he a hero? Does he show good hospitality? Can he be trusted? Why do you believe Odysseus does not reveal his identity to him?

Odysseus is treated well by Eumaeus, offering food and shelter to someone he thinks is simply a pauper. Odysseus spins a distorted tale when pushed to explain himself, misleading Eumaeus into believing that he is not the son of Laertes, but of Castor. I would say that he is a hero and is very trustable. I believe Odysseus does not reveal his identity to him to see if he is trustworthy.