The Odyssey Book 19

What animal do the men find on their hunting trip? (in Odysseus' story of getting his scar)

A boar "Before them a great boar lay hid in undergrowth, in a green thicket proof against the wind or sun's blaze, fine soever the needling sunlight, impervious too to any rain, so dense that cover was, heaped up with fallen leaves. Patter of hounds' feet, men's feet, woke the boar as they came up—and from his woody ambush with razor back bristling and raging eyes he trotted and stood at bay."

What happens in the dream Penelope tells beggar Oysseus about?

An eagle kills 20 geese "From a water's edge twenty fat geese have come to feed on grain beside my house. And I delight to see them. But now a mountain eagle with great wings and crooked beak storms in to break their necks and strew their bodies here. Away he soars into the bright sky; and I cry aloud— all this in dream—I wail and round me gather softly braided Akhaian women mourning because the eagle killed my geese.'"

"'Nurse, no need to tell me tales of these. I will have seen them, each one, for myself. Trust in the gods, be quiet, hold your peace.'"

Beggar Odysseus telling Eurymakhos not to worry about watching the other maids after she promises not to tell anyone he is Odysseus

"'But I saw with my own eyes at Knossos once Odysseus. Gales had caught him off Cape Malea, driven him southward on the coast of Krete, when he was bound for Troy. At Ámnisos, hard by the holy cave of Eileithuía, he lay to, and dropped anchor, in that open and rough roadstead riding out the blow. Meanwhile he came ashore, came inland, asking after Idómeneus: dear friends he said they were; but now ten mornings had already passed, ten or eleven, since my brother sailed. So I played host and took Odysseus home, saw him well lodged and fed, for we had plenty; then I made requisitions—barley, wine, and beeves for sacrifice—to give his company abundant fare along with him."

Beggar Odysseus telling Penelope Odysseus stayed with him

"'Women there, many of them, would cast their eyes on it. But I might add, for your consideration, whether he brought these things from home, or whether a shipmate gave them to him, coming aboard, I have no notion: some regardful host in another port perhaps it was. Affection followed him—there were few Akhaians like him. And I too made him gifts: a good bronze blade, a cloak with lining and a broidered shirt, and sent him off in his trim ship with honor.'"

Beggar Odysseus telling Penelope how everyone admired Odysseus so he doesn't know where he got the clothes he was wearing

"'Honorable wife of Odysseus Laërtiadês, you need not stain your beauty with these tears, nor wear yourself out grieving for your husband. Not that I can blame you. Any wife grieves for the man she married in her girlhood, lay with in love, bore children to—though he may be no prince like this Odysseus, whom they compare even to the gods'"

Beggar Odysseus to Penelope when she cries about his description of Odysseus

When does beggar Odysseus say Odysseus will return?

By the end of the day "'You see, then, he is alive and well, and headed homeward now, no more to be abroad far from his island, his dear wife and son. Here is my sworn word for it. Witness this, god of the zenith, noblest of the gods, and Lord Odysseus' hearthfire, now before me: I swear these things shall turn out as I say. Between this present dark and one day's ebb, after the wane, before the crescent moon, Odysseus will come.'"

"'It is for you, now, to choose a name for him, your child's dear baby; the answer to her prayers' 'My son-in-law, my daughter, call the boy by the name I tell you. Well you know, my hand has been against the world of men and women; odium and distrust I've won. Odysseus should be his given name. When he grows up, when he comes visiting his mother's home under Parnassos, where my treasures are, I'll make him gifts and send him back rejoicing.' Odysseus in due course went for the gifts, and old Autólykos and his sons embraced him with welcoming sweet words; and Amphithéa, his mother's mother, held him tight and kissed him, kissed his head and his fine eyes."

Eurkleia giving Odysseus' maternal grandfather, Autolkos, Odysseus to name the baby

"He spoke so soldierly her own speech halted on her tongue. Straight back she went to lock the doors of the women's hall. And now the two men sprang to work—father and princely son, loaded with round helms and studded bucklers, lifting the long spears, while in their path Pallas Athena held up a golden lamp of purest light."

Eurkykleia locking the maids away as Telemakhos and Odysseus put away the weapons

What herald/messenger does beggar Odysseus tell Penelope about?

Eurybates "'A herald, somewhat older than himself, he kept beside him; I'll describe this man: round-shouldered, dusky, woolly-headed; Eurybatês, his name was—and Odysseus gave him preferment over the officers. He had a shrewd head, like the captain's own.'"

"'Oh, my child! I can do nothing for you! How Zeus hated you, no other man so much! No use, great heart, O faithful heart, the rich thighbones you burnt to Zeus who plays in lightning—and no man ever gave more to Zeus—with all your prayers for a green age, a tall son reared to manhood. There is no day of homecoming for you. Stranger, some women in some far off place perhaps have mocked my lord when he'd be home as now these strumpets mock you here. No wonder you would keep clear of all their whorishness and have no bath.'"

Eurykleia addressing beggar Odysseus like Odysseus and saying although Odysseus gave to the gods, they ensure he never comes home. She understands why Odysseus wouldn't want to be bathed by the other women that mock Odysseus

"Silent, the old nurse went to fetch more water, her basin being all spilt. When she had washed and rubbed his feet with golden oil, he turned, dragging his bench again to the fire side for warmth, and hid the scar under his rags."

Eurykleia leaving Odysseus after bathing him. Odysseus covers his scar from Penelope with a blanket

"'Oh yes! You are Odysseus! Ah, dear child! I could not see you until now—not till I knew my master's very body with my hands!'"

Eurykleia realizing beggar Odysseus is Odysseus

"'But here am I. The queen Penélopê, Ikários' daughter, bids me; so let me bathe your feet to serve my lady—to serve you, too. My heart within me stirs, mindful of something. Listen to what I say: strangers have come here, many through the years, but no one ever came, I swear, who seemed so like Odysseus—body, voice and limbs—as you do.'"

Eurykleia saying she will bathe beggar Odysseus, who looks so much like Odysseus

"'It is time, child, you took an interest in such things. I wish you'd put your mind on all your house and chattels. But who will go along to hold a light? You said no maids, no torch-bearers.' 'Our friend here. A man who shares my meat can bear a hand, no matter how far he is from home.'"

Eurykleia telling Telemakhos she thinks its good he is putting away Odysseus' old weapons. She asks will hold the torches when the maids leave. Telemakhos says the beggar will

Where does Odysseus/beggar say he is from? What does he say his name is?

H says his name is Aithon and he is from Krete "'One of the great islands of the world in midsea, in the winedark sea, is Krete: spacious and rich and populous, with ninety cities and a mingling of tongues. Akhaians there are found, along with Kretan hillmen of the old stock, and Kydonians, Dorians in three blood-lines, Pelasgians- and one among their ninety towns is Knossos. Here lived King Minos whom great Zeus received every ninth year in private council—Minos, the father of my father, Deukálion. Two sons Deukálion had: Idómeneus, who went to join the Atreidai before Troy in the beaked ships of war; and then myself, Aithôn by name—a stripling next my brother.'"

What happens after Odysseus gets his scar?

He is tended to before being sent home with gifts where he is praised "Then downhill swiftly they all repaired to the father's house, and there tended him well—so well they soon could send him, with Grandfather Autólykos' magnificent gifts, rejoicing, over sea to Ithaka. His father and the Lady Antikleía welcomed him, and wanted all the news of how he got his wound; so he spun out his tale, recalling how the boar's white tusk caught him when he was hunting on Parnassos"

What does Odysseus remember as Eurykleia begins to bathe his feet?

He remembers the scar of his thigh she will recognize "Then he kept still, while the old nurse filled up her basin glittering in firelight; she poured cold water in, then hot. But Lord Odysseus whirled suddenly from the fire to face the dark. The scar: he had forgotten that. She must not handle his scarred thigh, or the game was up. But when she bared her lord's leg, bending near, she knew the groove at once."

How does beggar Odysseus react to Penelope crying after he tells her he hosted Odysseus in Krete?

He resisted the urge to cry "'Imagine how his heart ached for his lady, his wife in tears; and yet he never blinked; his eyes might have been made of horn or iron for all that she could see. He had this trick—wept, if he willed to, inwardly.'"

What does beggar Odysseus tell Penelope for proof of having seen Odysseus?

He says Odysseus had its been a while, but Odysseus had a purple cloak, gold brooch, and tunic "'Lady, so long a time now lies between, it is hard to speak of it. Here is the twentieth year since that man left the island of my father. But I shall tell what memory calls to mind. A purple cloak, and fleecy, he had on— a double thick one. Then, he wore a brooch made of pure gold with twin tubes for the prongs, and on the face a work of art: a hunting dog pinning a spotted fawn in agony between his forepaws—wonderful to see how being gold, and nothing more, he bit the golden deer convulsed, with wild hooves flying. Odysseus' shirt I noticed, too—a fine closefitting tunic like dry onion skin, so soft it was, and shiny.'"

What does beggar Odysseus say King Phaidon showed him?

He says Phaidon showed him Odysseus' treasure "'Phaidôn, however, showed me Odysseus' treasure. Ten generations of his heirs or more could live on what lay piled in that great room. The man himself had gone up to Dodona to ask the spelling leaves of the old oak what Zeus would have him do—how to return to Ithaka after so many years—by stealth or openly.'"

How does beggar Odysseus interpret Penelope's dream?

He says it is obvious, Odysseus is returning to kill the suitors "'My dear, how can you choose to read the dream differently? Has not Odysseus himself shown you what is to come? Death to the suitors, sure death, too. Not one escapes his doom.'"

What does Telemakhos point out as he and Odysseus put away the weapons?

He says the gods seem to be helping them "'Oh, Father, here is a marvel! All around I see the walls and roof beams, pedestals and pillars, lighted as though by white fire blazing near. One of the gods of heaven is in this place!'"

Before Telemakhos puts away the weapons like Odysseus asked, what does he do?

He tells Eurykleia to lock the maids in their rooms while he hides them "'Nurse, go shut the women in their quarters while I shift Father's armor back to the inner rooms—these beautiful arms unburnished, caked with black soot in his years abroad. I was a child then. Well, I am not now. I want them shielded from the draught and smoke.'"

How does Odysseus attempt to intimidate Melantho?

He tells her Penelope, Odysseus, or Telemakhos will stand up to her one day "'Mistress, mend your ways, or you may lose all this vivacity of yours. What if her ladyship were stirred to anger? What if Odysseus came?— and I can tell you, there is hope of that— or if the man is done for, still his son lives to be reckoned with, by Apollo's will. None of you can go wantoning on the sly and fool him now. He is too old for that.'"

What does Odysseus tell Telemakhos to do in the beginning of this chapter as part of their plan?

He tells him to hide the weapons "'The arms,' he said. 'Harness and weapons must be out of sight in the inner room. And if the suitors miss them, be mild; just say 'I had a mind to move them out of the smoke. They seemed no longer the bright arms that Odysseus left at home when he went off to Troy. Here where the fire's hot breath came, they had grown black and drear. One better reason struck me, too :suppose a brawl starts up when you've been drinking— you might in madness let each other's blood, and that would stain your feast, your courtship. Iron itself can draw men's hands.'"

How does beggar Odysseus respond to being offered a bath and bed by Penelope?

He won't take the bed,but will take the bath as long as it is by the old servant "Honorable lady, wife of Odysseus Laërtiadês, a weight of rugs and cover? Not for me. I've had none since the day I saw the mountains of Krete, white with snow, low on the sea line fading behind me as the long oars drove me north. Let me lie down tonight as I've lain often, many a night unsleeping, many a time afield on hard ground waiting for pure Dawn. No: and I have no longing for a footbath either; none of these maids will touch my feet, unless there is an old one, old and wise, one who has lived through suffering as I have: I would not mind letting my feet be touched by that old servant.'"

What won't the beggar/Odysseus tell Penelope? Why?

He won't tell her where he is from because it will make him cry "'O my dear lady, this being so, let it suffice to ask me of other matters—not my blood, my homeland. Do not enforce me to recall my pain. My heart is sore; but I must not be found sitting in tears here, in another's house: it is not well forever to be grieving. One of the maids might say—or you might think— I had got maudlin over cups of wine.'"

Who does beggar Odysseus say told him about Odysseus' recent whereabouts?

King Phaidon, who beggar Odysseus says he was staying with "'I had this from King Phaidôn of Thesprótia; and, tipping wine out, Phaidôn swore to me the ship was launched, the seamen standing by to bring Odysseus to his land at last, but I got out to sea ahead of him by the king's order—as it chanced a freighter left port for the grain bins of Doulíkhion.

Who makes fun of the beggar for the second time when he goes to meet Penelope? What does this person say?

Melántho, who says Odysseus is creeping the woman and should leave before Melantho throws a torch at his back "'Ah, stranger, are you still here, so creepy, late at night hanging about, looking the women over? You old goat, go outside, cuddle your supper; get out, or a torch may kindle you behind!'"

"Odysseus, being on top of him, had the first shot, lunging to stick him; but the boar had already charged under the long spear. He hooked aslant with one white tusk and ripped out flesh above the knee, but missed the bone. Odysseus' second thrust went home by luck, his bright spear passing through the shoulder joint; and the beast fell, moaning as life pulsed away. Autólykos' tall sons took up the wounded, working skillfully over the Prince Odysseus to bind his gash, and with a rune they stanched the dark flow of blood."

Odysseus as a child fighting with a boar that gives him his scar

"When the young Dawn spread in the eastern sky her finger tips of rose, the men and dogs went hunting, taking Odysseus. They climbed Parnassos' rugged flank mantled in forest, entering amid high windy folds at noon when Hêlios beat upon the valley floor and on the winding Ocean whence he came. With hounds questing ahead, in open order, the sons of Autólykos went down a glen, Odysseus in the lead, behind the dogs, pointing his long-shadowing spear."

Odysseus as a child with his uncles and maternal grandfather, Autoklos, hunting in the morning of their hunting trip

"'Will you destroy me, nurse, who gave me milk at your own breast? Now with a hard lifetime behind I've come in the twentieth year home to my father's island. You found me out, as the chance was given you. Be quiet; keep it from the others, else I warn you, and I mean it, too, if by my hand god brings the suitors down I'll kill you, nurse or not, when the time comes— when the time comes to kill the other women.'"

Odysseus threatening to kill Eurykleia after she discovers him

"'Little devil, why pitch into me again? Because I go unwashed and wear these rags, and make the rounds? But so I must, being needy; that is the way a vagabond must live. And do not overlook this: in my time I too had luck, lived well, stood well with men, and gave alms, often, to poor wanderers like him you see before you—aye, to all sorts, no matter in what dire want. I owned servants—many, I say—and all the rest that goes with what men call prosperity. But Zeus the son of Kronos brought me down.'"

Odysseus to Melantho after being called out by him for creeping on Penelope. He says he had high positions once where he actually gave money to the poor.

Why does Odysseus tell Telemakhos he can go to bed after they put away the weapons?

Odysseus wants to test the woman "'Be still: keep still about it: just remember it. The gods who rule Olympos make this light. You may go off to bed now. Here I stay to test your mother and her maids again. Out of her long grief she will question me.'"

"The father called on his noble sons to make a feast, and going about it briskly they led in an ox of five years, whom they killed and flayed and cut in bits for roasting on the skewers with skilled hands, with care; then shared it out. So all the day until the sun went down they feasted to their hearts' content. At evening, after the sun was down and dusk had come, they turned to bed and took the gift of sleep."

Odysseus' uncles and maternal grandfather, Autoklos, eating an ox on their trip hunting before they go to bed.

"'O honorable wife of Lord Odysseus, must you go on asking about my family? Then I will tell you, though my pain be doubled by it: and whose pain would not if he had been away as long as I have and had hard roving in the world of men? But I will tell you even so, my lady.'"

Odysseus/beggar beginning to tell Penelope about his fake past

"My lady, never a man in the wide world should have a fault to find with you. Your name has gone out under heaven like the sweet honor of some god-fearing king, who rules in equity over the strong: his black lands bear both wheat and barley, fruit trees laden bright, new lambs at lambing time—and the deep sea gives great hauls of fish by his good strategy, so that his folk fare well."

Odysseus/beggar when meeting with Penelope. He tells her she has been talked about like a king in heaven

Who does Penelope mention when talking about her lack of sleep?

Pandareos' daughter who was turned into the nightingale for killing her son Itylos "'Think, how Pandáreos' daughter, pale forever, sings as the nightingale in the new leaves through those long quiet hours of night, on some thick-flowering orchard bough in spring; how she rills out and tilts her note, high now, now low, mourning for Itylos whom she killed in madness— her child, and her lord Zêthos' only child. My forlorn thought flows variable as her song, wondering...'"

"'Now all these lies he made appear so truthful she wept as she sat listening. The skin of her pale face grew moist the way pure snow softens and glistens on the mountains, thawed by Southwind after powdering from the West, and, as the snow melts, mountain streams run full: so her white cheeks were wetted by these tears shed for her lord—and he close by her side.'"

Penelope after beggar Odysseus tells her about hosting Odysseus in Krete

"'If there be one man there to bully or annoy him, that man wins no further triumph here, burn though he may. How will you understand me, friend, how find in me, more than in common women, any courage or gentleness, if you are kept in rags and filthy at our feast? Men's lives are short. The hard man and his cruelties will be cursed behind his back, and mocked in death. But one whose heart and ways are kind—of him strangers will bear report to the wide world, and distant men will praise him.'"

Penelope after offering beggar Odysseus a bath. She says he can only respect her if he is dressed nicely and that men's lives are short. They must spend it right

"'If you were willing to sit with me and comfort me, my friend, no tide of sleep would ever close my eyes. But mortals cannot go forever sleepless. This the undying gods decree for all who live and die on earth, kind furrowed earth. Upstairs I go, then, to my single bed, my sighing bed, wet with so many tears after my Lord Odysseus took ship to see that misery at Ilion, unspeakable. Let me rest there, you here. You can stretch out on the bare floor, or else command a bed.'"

Penelope at the end of the chapter saying she is going to bed

"'Oh, shameless, through and through! And do you think me blind, blind to your conquest? It will cost your life. You knew I waited—for you heard me say it—waited to see this man in hall and question him about my lord; I am so hard beset.'"

Penelope chiding Melantho for mistreating Odysseus and her 'conquest' aka sleeping with Eurymakhos

"'Ah, stranger, if what you say could ever happen! You would soon know our love! Our bounty, too: men would turn after you to call you blessed. But my heart tells me what must be. Odysseus will not come to me; no ship will be prepared for you. We have no master quick to receive and furnish out a guest as Lord Odysseus was. Or did I dream him?'"

Penelope doubting Odysseus will come back that day like beggar Odysseus promises

"So she went up to her chamber softly lit, accompanied by her maids. Once there, she wept for Odysseus, her husband, till Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyes."

Penelope going to sleep at the end of the chapter

"Presently Penélopê from her chamber stepped in her thoughtful beauty. So might Artemis or golden Aphroditê have descended; and maids drew to the hearth her own smooth chair inlaid with silver whorls and ivory. The artisan Ikmálios had made it, long before, with a footrest in a single piece, and soft upon the seat a heavy fleece was thrown. Here by the fire the queen sat down. Her maids, leaving their quarters, came with white arms bare to clear the wine cups and the bread, and move the trestle boards where men had lingered drinking. Fiery ashes out of the pine-chip flares they tossed, and piled on fuel for light and heat."

Penelope meeting with Odysseus and being compared to a goddess

"'Dear guest, no foreign man so sympathetic ever came to my house, no guest more likeable, so wry and humble are the things you say. I have an old maidservant ripe with years, one who in her time nursed my lord. She took him into her arms the hour his mother bore him. Let her, then, wash your feet, though she is frail. Come here, stand by me, faithful Eurykleia, and bathe—bathe your master, I almost said, for they are of an age, and now Odysseus' feet and hands would be enseamed like his. Men grow old soon in hardship'."

Penelope offering Eurykleia to bathe Odysseus

"''Friend, allow me one brief question more. You know, the time for bed, sweet rest, is coming soon, if only that warm luxury of slumber would come to enfold us, in our trouble. But for me my fate at night is anguish and no rest. By day being busy, seeing to my work, I find relief sometimes from loss and sorrow; but when night comes and all the world's abed I lie in mine alone, my heart thudding, while bitter thoughts and fears crowd on my grief.'"

Penelope returning to beggar Odysseus after Eurykleia bathed him. She talks about her sleepless nights

"'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.'"

Penelope telling the beggar/Odysseus about how she tricked the suitors with Laertes' shroud

"She turned away and said to the housekeeper: 'Eur´ynomê, a bench, a spread of sheepskin, to put my guest at ease. Now he shall talk and listen, and be questioned.' Willing hands brought a smooth bench, and dropped a fleece upon it. Here the adventurer and king sat down"

Penelope welcoming the beggar so they can talk

What does Penelope ask Odysseus when she returns to him after he is bathed by Eurykleia? (after talking about her sleepless nights and the nightingale)

She asks if she should stay with her son in their hall or marry and move elsewhere "'...shall I stay beside my son and guard my own things here, my maids, my hall, to honor my lord's bed and the common talk? Or had I best join fortunes with a suitor, the noblest one, most lavish in his gifts? Is it now time for that? My son being still a callow boy forbade marriage, or absence from my lord's domain; but now the child is grown, grown up, a man, he, too, begins to pray for my departure, aghast at all the suitors gorge on.'"

What does Penelope ask her maids to do for beggar Odysseus after the beggar says Odysseus will come back today?

She asks them to bathe him and prepare a bed for him "'Maids, maids: come wash him, make a bed for him, bedstead and colored rugs and coverlets to let him lie warm into the gold of Dawn. In morning light you'll bathe him and anoint him so that he'll take his place beside Telémakhos feasting in hall.'"

What does Penelope first ask Odysseus when they meet to talk?

She asks who he is, from where, and what parents? "'Friend, let me ask you first of all: who are you, where do you come from, of what nation and parents were you born?'"

What does Eurykleia tell Odysseus about keeping quiet about knowing him?

She promises not to tell and to separate the loyal from unloyal maids later "'Oh, what mad words are these you let escape you! Child, you know my blood, my bones are yours; no one could whip this out of me. I'll be a woman turned to stone, iron I'll be. And let me tell you too—mind now—if god cuts down the arrogant suitors by your hand, I can report to you on all the maids, those who dishonor you, and the innocent.'"

What does Penelope tell Odysseus about herself?

She says her beauty has dimindished in Odysseus' time away and if he were here she would be better. But instead, the suitors continue courting her "'Stranger, my looks, my face, my carriage, were soon lost or faded when the Akhaians 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 Zak´ynthos, 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? How could I? wasted with longing for Odysseus, while here they press for marriage.'"

What does Penelope tell Odysseus/Telemakhos about the current state of her marriage?

She says she can't avoid getting married anymore and asks Odysseus for his advice "'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. But you too confide in me, tell me your ancestry. You were not born of mythic oak or stone.'"

What does Penelope say about beggar Odysseus' description of Odysseus?

She says she gave him those clothes "'Before this you won my sympathy, but now indeed you shall be our respected guest and friend. With my own hands I put that cloak and tunic upon him—took them folded from their place— and the bright brooch for ornament. Gone now, I will not meet the man again returning to his own home fields. Unkind the fate that sent him young in the long ship to see that misery at Ilion, unspeakable!"

How does Penelope describe dreams to the beggar/Odysseus?

She says there are honest horn dreams and fake ivory dreams. She thinks her dream was an ivory dream "'Friend, many and many a dream is mere confusion, a cobweb of no consequence at all. Two gates for ghostly dreams there are: one gateway of honest horn, and one of ivory. Issuing by the ivory gate are dreams of glimmering illusion, fantasies, but those that come through solid polished horn may be borne out, if mortals only know them. I doubt it came by horn, my fearful dream— too good to be true, that, for my son and me''

What does Penelope want from beggar Odysseus after he tells her how Odysseus stayed with him?

She wants proof from him "I think that I shall say, friend, give me some proof, if it is really true that you were host in that place to my husband with his brave men, as you declare. Come, tell me the quality of his clothing, how he looked, and some particular of his company."

What does Eurykleia want to do when she realizes beggar Odysseus is Odysseus?

She wants to tell Penelope "Her eyes turned to Penélopê with desire to make her lord, her husband, known—in vain, because Athena had bemused the queen, so that she took no notice, paid no heed."

"Telémakhos went across the hall and out under the light of torches—crossed the court to the tower chamber where he had always slept. Here now again he lay, waiting for dawn, while in the great hall by Athena's side Odysseus waited with his mind on slaughter."

Telemakhos going to bed after hiding the weapons with Odysseus, who waits for Penelope to test her loyalty

Where does beggar Odysseus say he went next that was supposed to bring Odysseus home? Why didn't they?

The Phaiakians, but Odysseus wanted to adventure around more "'He rode the ship's keel. Big seas cast him up on the island of Phaiákians, godlike men who took him to their hearts. They honored him with many gifts and a safe passage home, or so they wished. Long since he should have been here, but he thought better to restore his fortune playing the vagabond about the world; and no adventurer could beat Odysseus at living by his wits—no man alive.'"

"'Dear honorable lady, wife of Odysseus Laërtiadês, let there be no postponement of the trial. Odysseus, who knows the shifts of combat, will be here: aye, he'll be here long before one of these lads can stretch or string that bow or shoot to thread the iron!'"

The beggar/Odysseus responding to Penelope saying she will have a contest for the suitors. He says Odysseus will be there

What does the eagle tell Penelope in her dream?

The eagle says he is Odysseus attacking the suitors "'Then down out of the sky he drops to a cornice beam with mortal voice telling me not to weep. 'Be glad,' says he, 'renowned Ikários' daughter: here is no dream but something real as day, something about to happen. All those geese were suitors, and the bird was I. See now, I am no eagle but your lord come back to bring inglorious death upon them all!' As he said this, my honeyed slumber left me. Peering through half-shut eyes, I saw the geese in hall, still feeding at the self-same trough.'"

Where does beggar Odysseus tell Penelope Odysseus' men all died at?

Thinkakia by Zeus and Helios for eating Helios' cattle "'But listen: weep no more, and listen: I have a thing to tell you, something true. I heard but lately of your lord's return, heard that he is alive, not far away, among Thesprótians in their green land amassing fortune to bring home. His company went down in shipwreck in the winedark sea off the coast of Thrinákia. Zeus and Hêlios held it against him that his men had killed the kine of Hêlios. The crew drowned for this.'"

How many days does beggar Odysseus say Odysseus spent with Aithon?

Twelve days "'Twelve days they stayed with us, the Akhaians, while that wind out of the north shut everyone inside— even on land you could not keep your feet, such fury was abroad. On the thirteenth, when the gale dropped, they put to sea.'"

What does Penelope decide she will do with the suitors?

Whoever can put a bow through twelve axeheads will be who she marries "But one thing more I wish to tell you: listen carefully. It is a black day, this that comes. Odysseus' house and I are to be parted. I shall decree a contest for the day. We have twelve axe heads. In his time, my lord could line them up, all twelve, at intervals like a ship's ribbing; then he'd back away a long way off and whip an arrow through. Now I'll impose this trial on the suitors. The one who easily handles and strings the bow and shoots through all twelve axes I shall marry, whoever he may be—then look my last on this my first love's beautiful brimming house. But I'll remember, though I dream it only."

Where and with whom did Odysseus get his scar?

With his maternal grandfather, Autolkos on Parnassos "An old wound a boar's white tusk inflicted, on Parnassos years ago. He had gone hunting there in company with his uncles and Autólykos, his mother's father—a great thief and swindler by Hermês' favor, for Autólykos pleased him with burnt offerings of sheep and kids. The god acted as his accomplice. Well, Autólykos on a trip to Ithaka arrived just after his daughter's boy was born."