The Odyssey Book 18
"But the women giggled, glancing back and forth—laughed in his face; and one smooth girl, ????, spoke to him most impudently. She was Dólios' daughter, taken as ward in childhood by Penélopê who gave her playthings to her heart's content and raised her as her own. Yet the girl felt nothing for her mistress, no compunction, but slept and made love with Eurymakhos."
??? is Melántho. These are the housemaids after Odysseus offered to tend the fires for them.
Which suitor does Odysseus give important advice to?
Amphinomos "'Amphínomos, your head is clear, I'd say; so was your father's—or at least I've heard good things of Nísos the Doulíkhion, whose son you are, they tell me—an easy man. And you seem gently bred. In view of that, I have a word to say to you, so listen
What suitor gets excited from Eumaios and Odysseus' fighting?
Antinoos "Under the lofty doorway, on the door sill of wide smooth ash, they held this rough exchange. And the tall full-blooded suitor, Antínoös, overhearing, broke into happy laughter. Then he said to the others: 'Oh, my friends, no luck like this ever turned up before! What a farce heaven has brought this house! The stranger and Iros have had words, they brag of boxing! Into the ring they go, and no more talk!'"
"'Ikários' daughter, O deep-minded queen! If someone cares to make you gifts, accept them! It is no courtesy to turn gifts away. But we go neither to our homes nor elsewhere until of all Akhaians here you take the best man for your lord.'"
Antinoos to Penelope. He is willing to give gifts to her but still feels she must make a decision of who she will marry
What does Athena do to Penelope before she goes to see the suitors?
Athena puts her to sleep to beautify her more "At this the good old woman left the chamber to tell the maids her bidding. But now too the grey-eyed goddess had her own designs. Upon the quiet daughter of Ikários she let clear drops of slumber fall, until the queen lay back asleep, her limbs unstrung, in her long chair. And while she slept the goddess endowed her with immortal grace to hold the eyes of the Akhaians. With ambrosia she bathed her cheeks and throat and smoothed her brow—ambrosia, used by flower-crowned Kythereia when she would join the rose-lipped Graces dancing. Grandeur she gave her, too, in height and form, and made her whiter than carved ivory. Touching her so, the perfect one was gone."
"This won them over. The soldier Moulios, Doulíkhion herald, comrade in arms of Lord Amphínomos, mixed the wine and served them all. They tipped out drops for the blissful gods, and drank the rest, and when they had drunk their thirst away they trailed off homeward drowsily to bed."
End of the chapter. The suitors make an offering before heading to bed.
"'Penélopê, deep-minded queen, daughter of Ikários, if all Akhaians in the land of Argos only saw you now! What hundreds more would join your suitors here to feast tomorrow! Beauty like yours no woman had before, or majesty, or mastery.'"
Eurymakhos complimenting Penelope when she came downstairs to talk with Telemakhos
"'Suitors of our distinguished queen,' he said, 'hear what my heart would have me say. This man comes with a certain aura of divinity into Odysseus' hall. He shines. He shines around the noggin, like a flashing light, having no hair at all to dim his lustre.' Then turning to Odysseus, raider of cities, he went on..."
Eurymakhos gathering his friends to watch him approach Odysseus/beggar as he tends the fire
How does Eurymakhos approach Odysseus/the beggar?
Eurymakhos teasingly asks Odysseus if he could work for him before deciding the beggar would rather beg "'Friend, you have a mind to work, do you? Could I hire you to clear stones from wasteland for me—you'll be paid enough— collecting boundary walls and planting trees? I'd give you a bread ration every day, a cloak to wrap in, sandals for your feet. Oh no: you learned your dodges long ago— no honest sweat. You'd rather tramp the country begging, to keep your hoggish belly full.'"
What does Eurymakhos do after Odysseus angered him by claiming to be able to beat the suitor at anything?
Eurymakhos throws a stool that hits the wine steward and spills the wine "'He had his foot-stool out: but now Odysseus took to his haunches by Amphínomos' knees, fearing Eurymakhos' missile, as it flew. It clipped a wine steward on the serving hand, so that his pitcher dropped with a loud clang while he fell backward, cursing, in the dust. In the shadowy hall a low sound rose—of suitors murmuring to one another.'"
"'Bundle of rags and lice! By god, I'll make you suffer for your gall, your insolent gabble before all our men.'"
Eurymakhos to Odysseus/beggar after Odysseus claims to be able to beat Eurymakhos at anything
Once he gets rid of Melantho and the housemaids, who picks on Odysseus next? Who makes this person pick on him?
Eurymakos picks on him for a laugh from his friends. Athena is the person who wants Odysseus to be picked on "They, for their part, could not now be still or drop their mockery—for Athena wished Odysseus mortified still more. Eur´ymakhos, the son of Pôlybos, took up the baiting, angling for a laugh among his friends."
"'Well said, child, now is the time. Go down, and make it clear, hold nothing back from him. But you must bathe and put a shine upon your cheeks—not this way, streaked under your eyes and stained with tears. You make it worse, being forever sad, and now your boy's a bearded man! Remember you prayed the gods to let you see him so.'"
Eurynome telling Penelope to bathe before seeing the suitors so they don't know she was crying
How does Odysseus get the housemaids to let him keep the fire?
He calls them sluts that Telemakhos will punish "'One minute: let me tell Telémakhos how you talk in hall, you slut; he'll cut your arms and legs off!' This hard shot took the women's breath away and drove them quaking to their rooms, as though knives were behind: they felt he spoke the truth. So there he stood and kept the firelight high and looked the suitors over, while his mind roamed far ahead to what must be accomplished."
How does Amphinomos respond to Odysseus/beggar's warning?
He can't do anything about Odysseus and Telemakhos' plan to kill him. Athena doesn't want any suitors to survive "Gravely, when he had done, he made libation and took a sip of honey-hearted wine, giving the cup, then, back into the hands of the young nobleman. Amphínomos, for his part, shaking his head, with chill and burdened breast, turned in the great hall. Now his heart foreknew the wrath to come, but he could not take flight, being by Athena bound there. Death would have him broken by a spear thrown by Telémakhos. So he sat down where he had sat before."
How does Odysseus decide to fight Iros?
He decides not to kill him and give only a gentle blow "'Poor Iros felt a new fit of shaking take his knees. But the yard-boys pushed him out. Now both contenders put their hands up. Royal Odysseus pondered if he should hit him with all he had and drop the man dead on the spot, or only spar, with force enough to knock him down. Better that way, he thought—a gentle blow, else he might give himself away.'"
How does Odysseus/beggar respond to Penelope asking for gifts from the suitors?
He laughs "Odysseus' heart laughed when he heard all this— her sweet tones charming gifts out of the suitors with talk of marriage, though she intended none."
What does Odysseus offer to the housemaids while the suitors are feasting and partying?
He offers to tend the fire as the housemaids care for Penelope. "'Housemaids of Odysseus, your master so long absent in the world, go to the women's chambers, to your queen. Attend her, make the distaff whirl, divert her, stay in her room, comb wool for her. I stand here ready to tend these flares and offer light to everyone. They cannot tire me out, even if they wish to drink till Dawn. I am a patient man.'"
What warning does Odysseus/beggar give Amphinomos?
He says Odysseus will come and kill him unless he leaves "'I see you young blades living dangerously, a household eaten up, a wife dishonored— and yet the master will return, I tell you, to his own place, and soon; for he is near. So may some power take you out of this, homeward, and softly, not to face that man the hour he sets foot on his native ground. Between him and the suitors I foretell no quittance, no way out, unless by blood, once he shall stand beneath his own roof-beam.'"
How does Odysseus react to the fight?
He says he will do anything for food "'An old man, an old hulk, has no business fighting a young man, but my belly nags me; nothing will do but I must take a beating. Well, then, let every man here swear an oath not to step in for Iros. No one throw a punch for luck. I could be whipped that way.'"
How does Antinoos threaten Iros when he appears to want to back out of the fight? "Panic made Iros' heart jump, but the yard-boys hustled and got him belted by main force, though all his blubber quivered now with dread. Antínoös' angry voice rang in his ears..."
He says he will send Iros to King Ekhetos who will skin him alive "You sack of guts, you might as well be dead, might as well never have seen the light of day, if this man makes you tremble! Chicken-heart, afraid of an old wreck, far gone in misery! Well, here is what I say—and what I'll do. If this ragpicker can outfight you, whip you, I'll ship you out to that king in Epeíros, Ékhetos—he skins everyone alive. Let him just cut your nose off and your ears and pull your privy parts out by the roots to feed raw to his hunting dogs!'"
Before his warning, what life message does Odysseus/beggar give Amphinomos?
He says mankind is frail and believes in what the gods provide. "'Of mortal creatures, all that breathe and move, earth bears none frailer than mankind. What man believes in woe to come, so long as valor and tough knees are supplied him by the gods? But when the gods in bliss bring miseries on, then willy-nilly, blindly, he endures. Our minds are as the days are, dark or bright, blown over by the father of gods and men. So I, too, in my time thought to be happy; but far and rash I ventured, counting on my own right arm, my father, and my kin; behold me now. No man should flout the law, but keep in peace what gifts the gods may give.'"
What does Telemakhos suggest the suitors do after Eurymakhos throws the stool?
He suggests they go to bed "'Bright souls, alight with wine, you can no longer hide the cups you've taken. Aye, some god is goading you. Why not go home to bed?— I mean when you are moved to. No one jumps at my command."
What does Telemakhos compare Iros after the fight to when talking with Penelope?
He tells her he wishes he could see the suitors the same way he saw Iros "'But you should know the suitors did not have their way, matching the stranger here and Iros—for the stranger beat him to the ground. O Father Zeus! Athena and Apollo! could I see the suitors hipped like that! Courtyard and hall strewn with our friends, too weak-kneed to get up, chapfallen to their collarbones, the way old Iros rolls his head there by the gate as though he were pig-drunk! No energy to stagger on his homeward path; no fight left in his numb legs!'"
What does Penelope say Odysseus told her before leaving for Troy? "'Eur´ymakhos, my qualities—I know— my face, my figure, all were lost or blighted 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. Can I forget?—the day he left this island, enfolding my right hand and wrist in his, he said...'"
He told her he will try and make it back, but if he doesn't by the time Telemakhos has grown up then Penelope can marry someone new and move away "'My lady, the Akhaian troops will not easily make it home again full strength, unhurt, from Troy. They say the Trojans are fighters too; good lances and good bowmen, horsemen, charioteers—and those can be decisive when a battle hangs in doubt. So whether God will send me back, or whether I'll be a captive there, I cannot tell. Here, then, you must attend to everything. My parents in our house will be a care for you as they are now, or more, while I am gone. Wait for the beard to darken our boy's cheek; then marry whom you will, and move away.'"
"'Clear out, grandfather, or else be hauled out by the ankle bone. See them all giving me the wink? That means, 'Go on and drag him out!' I hate to do it. Up with you! Or would you like a fist fight?'"
Iros trying to drive out Odysseus/beggar
"'Ho, listen to him! The swine can talk your arm off, like an old oven woman! With two punches I'd knock him snoring, if I had a mind to— and not a tooth left in his head, the same as an old sow caught in the corn! Belt up! And let this company see the way I do it when we square off. Can you fight a fresher man?'"
Iros trying to start a fight with Odysseus
"'You must be crazy, punch drunk, you old goat. Instead of going out to find a smithy to sleep warm in—or a tavern bench—you stay putting your oar in, amid all our men. Numbskull, not to be scared! The wine you drank has clogged your brain, or are you always this way, boasting like a fool? Or have you lost your mind because you beat that tramp, that Iros? Look out, or someone better may get up and give you a good knocking about the ears to send you out all bloody.'"
Melantho calling the beggar/Odysseys crazy after he offers to tend the fires for her and the housemaids
"'The two were at close quarters now, and Iros lunged hitting the shoulder. Then Odysseus hooked him under the ear and shattered his jaw bone, so bright red blood came bubbling from his mouth, as down he pitched into the dust, bleating, kicking against the ground, his teeth stove in. The suitors whooped and swung their arms, half dead with pangs of laughter. Then, by the ankle bone, Odysseus hauled the fallen one outside, crossing the courtyard to the gate, and piled him against the wall.'"
Odysseus ahead in his fight with Iros. He broke Iros' jaw.
"Odysseus found grim cheer in their good wishes— his work had started well. Now from the fire his fat blood pudding came, deposited before him by Antínoös—then, to boot, two brown loaves from the basket, and some wine in a fine cup of gold. These gifts Amphínomos gave him. Then he said: 'Here's luck, grandfather; a new day; may the worst be over now.'"
Odysseus being given blood pudding for winning his fight with Iros.
"All shouted, 'Aye!' So now Odysseus made his shirt a belt and roped his rags around his loins, baring his hurdler's thighs and boxer's breadth of shoulder, the dense rib-sheath and upper arms. Athena stood nearby to give him bulk and power, while the young suitors watched with narrowed eyes— and comments went around: 'By god, old Iros now retiros.' 'Aye, he asked for it, he'll get it—bloody, too.' "'The build this fellow had, under his rags!'"
Odysseus getting ready to fight with Athena's help. The suitors are surprised at his muscle under his rags
"'Eur´ymakhos, we two might try our hands against each other in early summer when the days are long, in meadow grass, with one good scythe for me and one as good for you: we'd cut our way down a deep hayfield, fasting to late evening. Or we could try our hands behind a plow, driving the best of oxen—fat, well-fed, well-matched for age and pulling power, and say four strips apiece of loam the share could break: you'd see then if I cleft you a straight furrow. Competition in arms? If Zeus Kroníon roused up a scuffle now, give me a shield, two spears, a dogskin cap with plates of bronze to fit my temples, and you'd see me go where the first rank of fighters lock in battle. There would be no more jeers about my belly. You thick-skinned menace to all courtesy! You think you are a great man and a champion, but up against few men, poor stuff, at that. Just let Odysseus return, those doors wide open as they are, you'd find too narrow to suit you on your sudden journey out.'"
Odysseus/beggar telling Eurymakhos he could beat him with plows or weapons
How does Odysseus/beggar respond to Iros trying to get him to leave?
Odysseus/beggar tells him there's room for both of them. They don't need to fight, which would only lead in Iros getting hurt "'Master, I am no trouble to you here. I offer no remarks. I grudge you nothing. Take all you get, and welcome. Here is room for two on this doorslab—or do you own it? You are a tramp, I think, like me. Patience: a windfall from the gods will come. But drop that talk of using fists; it could annoy me. Old as I am, I might just crack a rib or split a lip for you. My life would go even more peacefully, after tomorrow, looking for no more visits here from you.'"
"Here, take your post. Sit here to keep the dogs and pigs away. You can give up your habit of command over poor waifs and beggarmen—you swab. Another time you may not know what hit you.'"
Odysseus/beggar to Iros after beating him up
"Pleased at this answer, every man sent a squire to fetch a gift— Antínoös, a wide resplendent robe, embroidered fine, and fastened with twelve brooches, pins pressed into sheathing tubes of gold; Eurymakhos, a necklace, wrought in gold, with sunray pieces of clear glinting amber. Eurydamas's men came back with pendants, ear-drops in triple clusters of warm lights; and from the hoard of Lord Pol´yktor's son, Peisándros, came a band for her white throat, jewelled adornment. Other wondrous things were brought as gifts from the Akhaian princes. Penélopê then mounted the stair again, her maids behind, with treasure in their arms."
Penelope receiving her gifts from the suitors
"'The years he spoke of are now past; the night comes when a bitter marriage overtakes me, desolate as I am, deprived by Zeus of all the sweets of life.'"
Penelope to the suitors about marrying someone new after Odysseus has been away for so long
"Now came the maids, bare-armed and lovely, voices breaking into the room. The queen awoke and as she rubbed her cheek she sighed: 'Ah, soft that drowse I lay embraced in, pain forgot! If only Artemis the Pure would give me death as mild, and soon! No heart-ache more, no wearing out my lifetime with desire and sorrow, mindful of my lord, good man in all ways that he was, best of the Akhaians!'"
Penelope's maids waking her to go see the suitors. She wishes Artemis would give her a painless death soon
Why does Penelope tell Eurynome she wants to show herself to the suitors in this chapter?
She doesn't really know and therefore decides when she is down there she will tell Telemakhos to shun the suitors. Athena wants her to show everyone her beauty. "And now heart-prompting from the grey-eyed goddess came to the quiet queen, Penélopê: a wish to show herself before the suitors; for thus by fanning their desire again Athena meant to set her beauty high before her husband's eyes, before her son. Knowing no reason, laughing confusedly, she said: 'Eurynomê, I have a craving I never had at all—I would be seen among those ruffians, hateful as they are. I might well say a word, then, to my son, for his own good—tell him to shun that crowd; for all their gay talk, they are bent on evil.'"
How does Penelope respond to Eurynome wanting her to bathe before going to see the suitors?
She says bathing won't bring back the sheen taken from her when Odysseus left "'Eurynomê, it is a kind thought, but I will not hear it—to bathe and sleek with perfumed oil. No, no, the gods forever took my sheen away when my lord sailed for Troy in the decked ships. Only tell my Autonoë to come, and Hippodameía; they should be attending me in hall, if I appear there. I could not enter alone into that crowd of men.'"
What does Penelope tell Telemakhos when she comes downstairs after he nap?
She scolds him for letting the beggar be treated so terribly "'Telémakhos, what has come over you? Lightminded you were not, in all your boyhood. Now you are full grown, come of age; a man from foreign parts might take you for the son of royalty, to go by your good looks; and have you no more thoughtfulness or manners? How could it happen in our hall that you permit the stranger to be so abused? Here, in our house, a guest, can any man suffer indignity, come by such injury? What can this be for you but public shame?'"
How does Penelope critique the suitors?
She tells them they need to present gifts "'How galling, too, to see newfangled manners in my suitors! Others who go to court a gentlewoman, daughter of a rich house, if they are rivals, bring their own beeves and sheep along; her friends ought to be feasted, gifts are due to her; would any dare to live at her expense?"
"'Friend, if you will stand and fight, as pride requires, don't worry about a foul blow from behind. Whoever hits you will take on the crowd. You have my word as host; you have the word of these two kings, Antínoös and Eurymakhos— a pair of thinking men."
Telemakhos assuring Odysseus/beggar before the fight that the suitors will make sure no one intervenes
"'Mother, I cannot take it ill that you are angry. I know the meaning of these actions now, both good and bad. I had been young and blind. How can I always keep to what is fair while these sit here to put fear in me?—princes from near and far whose interest is my ruin; are any on my side?''"
Telemakhos to Penelope after she chides him for not stopping Iros fighting the beggar/Odysseus. He says he understands why she is upset but cannot stand up for what is right when the suitors scare him
Who enters Odysseus' house at the beginning of the chapter?
The beggar Iros "Now a true scavenger came in—a public tramp who begged around the town of Ithaka, a by-word for his insatiable swag-belly, feeding and drinking, dawn to dark. No pith was in him, and no nerve, huge as he looked. Arnaios, as his gentle mother called him, he had been nicknamed "Iros" by the young for being ready to take messages."
What do the suitors do after giving Penelope her gifts?
The dance and party into the night as housemaids of Odysseus taking care of the fires "And now the suitors gave themselves to dancing, to harp and haunting song, as night drew on; black night indeed came on them at their pleasure. But three torch fires were placed in the long hall to give them light. On hand were stores of fuel, dry seasoned chips of resinous wood, split up by the bronze hatchet blade—these were mixed in among the flames to keep them flaring bright; each housemaid of Odysseus took her turn"
"When he had slung his rucksack by the string over his shoulder, like a wad of rags, he sat down on the broad door sill again, as laughing suitors came to flock inside; and each young buck in passing gave him greeting, saying, maybe, 'Zeus fill your pouch for this! May the gods grant your heart's desire!' 'Well done to put that walking famine out of business.' 'We'll ship him out to that king in Epeíros, Ékhetos—he skins everyone alive.'"
The suitors congratulating Odysseus for winning his fight with Iros
"'Ai!' they said, 'This vagabond would have done well to perish somewhere else, and make us no such rumpus.Here we are, quarreling over tramps; good meat and wine forgotten; good sense gone by the board.'"
The suitors realizing the feast and party they have been missing while watching the fight between Eurymakhos and Odysseus
"She rose and left her glowing upper room, and down the stairs, with her two maids in train, this beautiful lady went before the suitors. Then by a pillar of the solid roof she paused, her shining veil across her cheek, the two girls close to her and still; and in that instant weakness took those men in the knee joints, their hearts grew faint with lust; not one but swore to god to lie beside her."
The suitors seeing Penelope
What is Antinoos' reward for the winner of Iros and Odysseus/Beggars' fight?
The winning beggar will be able to eat with them "'Gentlemen, quiet! One more thing: here are goat stomachs ready on the fire to stuff with blood and fat, good supper pudding. The man who wins this gallant bout may step up here and take the one he likes. And let him feast with us from this day on: no other beggar will be admitted here when we are at our wine.'"
How the suitors react to Telemakhos suggesting they go to bed? Who can convince them they should?
They don't like Telemakhos' orders but listens to Amphinomos who tells them there's no need to fight. They should make a final offering and go to bed "Struck by his blithe manner, the young men's teeth grew fixed in their under lips, but now the son of Nísos, Lord Amphínomos of Aretíadês, addressed them all: 'O friends, no ruffling replies are called for; that was fair counsel. Hands off the stranger, now, and hands off any other servant here in the great house of King Odysseus. Come, let my own herald wet our cups once more, we'll make an offering, and then to bed. The stranger can be left behind in hall; Telémakhos may care for him; he came to Telémakhos' door, not ours.'"
