Odyssey Study Guide Contents
In the 19th Book of the Odyssey, Odysseus, still disguised as a grubby beggar, tells Telemachus they must stow away his weapons so the suitors can't use them. Telemachus is to say they're getting smoke damaged and he is afraid the suitors will start hurting themselves with them when they have had too much to drink.
Telemachus tells Eurycleia to keep the women away while he and the beggar move the weapons.
After the Odysseus-beggar and his son put Odysseus' weapons away, Telemachus goes to sleep, but Odysseus stays in the hall. Then Penelope comes down and sits by the fire while her maids clear away the dishes and food. Melantho scolds the Odysseus-beggar again and tells him to get outside. The Odysseus-beggar scolds and warns her Odysseus will be back.
Penelope joins the reprimand, reminding Melantho that she had asked to speak with him.
Eurynome brings a comfortable chair for the Odysseus-beggar.
Penelope ask who the stranger is and where he comes from. The Odysseus-beggar tries not to answer. Penelope then tells of what has happened to her. She is trying to save herself for Odysseus, but all around people are pressing marriage. Following divine inspiration, she set up a loom to make a shroud for Laertes. For three years she worked on it, unweaving by night what she wove by day. Then one of her slave betrayed her and the suitors caught her. Then she had to finish it. Now she can't avoid marriage any longer. When she finishes she again asks Odysseus to tell where he's from.
The Odysseus-beggar says he comes from Crete and is the son of Deucalion, brother of Idomeneus. When Odysseus came to Crete, he gave him guest gifts before he headed for Troy.
Penelope then tests the beggar. She asks what kind of clothing Odysseus wore. The Odysseus-beggar answers, naming a brooch Penelope had put on him the day he left. He also describes Eurybates, Odysseus' herald. Penelope is deeply moved and after crying a bit, tells the Odysseus-beggar that she gave Odysseus the named articles of apparel.
The Odysseus-beggar says he knows about the return of Odysseus.
He says Odysseus is now in the land of the Thesprotians. He lost his companions and ship en route from Thrinacia because his comrades killed the cattle of Helios. Odysseus was thrown to the land of the Phaeacians. Odysseus went to Dodona to hear the prophecy of Zeus about whether he should go to Ithaca. The Odysseus-beggar then swears by Zeus that Odysseus will return within the year.
Penelope says that if what he says is true, he will receive many gifts, but she's suspicious. She asks for a maid to wash the Odysseus-beggar and then put him to bed. In the morning she wants them to bathe and oil him, so he's fit to sit at breakfast.
The Odysseus-beggar says he'll only let an old woman wash him.
Penelope thinks that's a good idea and says Eurycleia can do it.
Eurycleia thinks it's a good idea, too, to avoid the abuse the other maids might make him endure. She also thinks he must be very like Odysseus. The Odysseus-beggar agrees that others, too, have thought he and Odysseus were very much alike.
Odysseus turns himself so he is in the shadow because he realizes Eurycleia would recognize his scar. He received the scar from a pig when he went to visit his grandfather Autolycus.
Eurycleia feels the scar and drops Odysseus' leg. It falls, knocking over the basin. Eurycleia tries to tell Penelope her long-awaited husband has returned, but can't make her hear her.
Odysseus grabs her and tells her she'll destroy him if she tells anyone he's back. Odysseus threatens her. Eurycleia assures him that she is loyal and if he can do in the suitors, she will tell him which maids were loyal and which were not. Odysseus says it's not necessary. He'll see for himself. Then the woman goes to get fresh water to replace the spilled water. She washes and anoints Odysseus.
Penelope says she is still torn between trying to keep the property for Telemachus and going with one of the suitors. She asks the beggar to interpret a dream she has had of 20 geese eating food until an eagle flies down from a mountain and breaks their necks. The eagle says he's her husband and he will let loose shameful doom on the suitors.
The Odysseus beggar replies that it is as it appears, and Odysseus will destroy the suitors.
Penelope says that dreams are slippery since they come from two places, the gate of polished horn and the gate of ivory. The ivory dreams deceive. She doesn't think her dream comes from the polished horn or truth side. Penelope says she'll do something to decide her own fate. She'll establish a contest for the suitors to do as well as her husband used to do when he shot an arrow through 12 axes. Whoever can most easily string the bow Odysseus used for the feat will be her husband.
Odysseus tells her to go for it because Odysseus will be there.
Penelope then goes to bed.
Book XVIII Summary|Book XX
Read a Public Domain translation of Odyssey Book XIX.Next: Major Characters in Book XIX, Notes on Odyssey Book XIX
