Book XIX is called "The Meeting with Penelope and the Recognition by Eurycleia." Odysseus, who still is in the disguise of the beggar, orders Telemachus to get rid of the suitors' weapons, just like they planned. Telemachus tells Eurycleia to shut the women in their rooms while he does so. Telemachus and Odysseus remove the weapons together. Athena lights the way for them. Telemachus is moved by how much Athena has helped them both. Penelope is waiting in her room for Odysseus, the beggar. Penelope tells the beggar about her life without Odysseus and how she tricked the suitors, but now, she's about to marry one of them to get out of Telemachus's house and give him some peace. Odysseus tells Penelope about his fake life and about how he hosted Odysseus once (boy, that sounds like a confusing sentence out of context). Penelope gets excited when she hears Odysseus's name, but doesn't quite believe that he's alive. Odysseus says that Odysseus will be back today and Penelope weeps with joy. She offers him a bath, and he says he wants one from the oldest maid who has suffered as much as he has. Penelope gets Eurycleia, who was Odysseus's nurse when he was a child. She comments that he looks a lot like Odysseus, but says he gets that a lot. During the bath, Odysseus realizes he has a scar on his thigh that he got when he was a boy and knows that if Eurycleia saw it she would recognize him. She sees it and proceeds to freak out. Odysseus makes her promise to be silent about it, and she does (who would disobey Odysseus?). Penelope comes back and asks the beggar (Odysseus) to interpret a dream. He says that dream means death to all the suitors, but she doesn't believe him. She says she's going to have a contest tomorrow and whichever suitor wins she will marry. The contest is for them to string Odysseus's old boy and shoot it through 12 axe heads. Odysseus promises that Odysseus will be there (what a weird sentence). She still doesn't really believe him and heads to bed.
Book XX is "Before the Slaughter." Oh, how we missed the gore that was in the Iliad. Well, it's coming very soon. Odysseys is lying down outside Penelope's room, but can't sleep. He sees some female servants going to sleep with the suitors. He's angry but keeps his mouth shut. Athena comes down and gives him a pep talk about killing 100+ suitors. Odysseus wakes up at dawn and asks Zeus for an omen that affirms he should be home. Zeus hears and sends a thunderclap and it's a nice sunny day, no storm clouds present. A maid working in the fields hears the clap and knows Zeus must be listening. She prays that he hard work feeding the suitors will soon be over (trust me, it is). Back to Odysseus, he takes the thunderclap as a good sign. Telemachus orders a feast for the day because it is a holiday. Odysseus runs into Eumaeus and Philoetius and he asks them if Odysseus did return if they would fight on his side against the suitors. They both say they would. During the feast, Athena thinks it would be a good idea to get Odysseus worked up so she has the suitors taunt him. They do. The prophesier Theoclymenus said he saw the great hall dripping with blood. He tells everyone and all the suitors laugh at him.
Book XXI is titled "The Trial of the Bow." Penelope now takes the sacred bow off the wall and reminisces how Odysseus got it. She tells the suitors about the contest. Eumaeus and Philoetius cry because this means Odysseus isn't coming back and Antinous mocks them both. Telemachus is the first to try and string the bow, not because he wants to marry Penelope, but because he wants to prove his manliness. After four tries, it seems as though he is about to do it, but Odysseus signals for him not to. Telemachus hands the bow to the first suitor who absolutely cannot string it. Antinous asks for some supplies to help them string the bow, which is cheating. Eumaeus and Philoetius leave the hall and Odysseus chases after them, revealing himself. Meanwhile, other suitors are failing to string the bow. To delay his turn, Antinous tells everyone he'll string it after they eat. Odysseus asks if he can string the bow. Antinous says no, but Penelope scolds him and says he should try. Telemachus orders his mom to go to her room. He also tells Eurycleia to lock the women away and not come out, even if they hear battle noises. The beggar takes his time stringing the bow as the suitors make fun of him...until he strings it and shoots the arrow through the 12 axe heads. Telemachus moves towards Odysseus with his weapons. HE'S BACK!
Book XXII is "The Slaughter of the Suitors." Blood and gore time. Odysseus goes for Antinous first. He hits him in the throat with an arrow while he's drinking wine. The other suits scatter. Other suitors are killed and Telemachus runs to the storage room with the weapons to arm Eumaeus and Philoetius. The problem with that is Melanthius follows them to the room and quickly arms the suitors. Odysseus is none too pleased with that. Telemachus apologizes and all is forgiven. Eumaeus and Philoetius are ordered to rush after Melanthius and tie him up in the storage room. While they're away, Odysseus and Telemachus are cornered. Athena disguises herself as Mentor again and Odysseus recognizes who she is. He asks for help. She says they haven't proved that they need her assistance yet. She watches while her two mortals pick off suitors one by one. Finally, Athena shows her sign--a shield--in the air and the suitors realize Odysseus has help from the gods. They beg for mercy but Odysseus shows none. Once all the suitors are dead (yeah, the place is dripping with blood), Odysseus tells Eurycleia to get out the disloyal women. She asks Odysseus if he should change clothes because his are bloodstained, but he declines (wonder why). Out of the 50 maids, 12 are disloyal. He orders them to drag the bodies of the suitors outside. He then tells Telemachus to chop the disloyal maids into pieces, but Telemachus gives them the more dishonorable death of hanging. Odysseus then purifies the hall and reunites with the loyal servants.
Book XXIII, "The Recognition by Penelope," starts with Eurycleia going to get Penelope to tell her that Odysseus has returned and killed all the suitors. Apparently she didn't hear the bloodbath going on because she doesn't believe her. She then goes to see the suitors dead and thinks that some other hero, not Odysseus, has saved her. She says that if this man was really Odysseus, he would know their secrets. Odysseus smiles knowingly. He then tells everyone to keep the death of the suitors a secret because he killed all 100+ noblemen. He decides to tell all of Ithaca they're having a party that night. During the feast, Odysseus sits by Penelope. She says that he can sleep in the bed outside of Penelope's room that Odysseus carved. He's furious because that means someone moved the bed outside of the room. Apparently that was the secret. Penelope now knows the man is Odysseus and they make love and swap stories from the last 20 years. The next morning, Odysseus says he will visit his father, Laertes. Odysseus orders the women to lock themselves away incase potential avengers come from the town. Odysseus, Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius all go to see Laertes while Athena wraps them in a cloud of mist for protection.
Book XXIV is titled "Peace." Finally, right? While Odysseus is one earth, Hermes is leading the ghosts of the dead suitors to the Underworld. Achilles and Agamemnon talk about the Trojan War and Agamemnon talks about his murder. They then ask the suitors why they are all in the Underworld. One tells the entire story, and blames Penelope in the process (what??). Agamemnon is happy for Odysseus who has a faithful wife, unlike his. Back on earth, Odysseus finds Laertes in his garden. He decides to test his loyalty. After a bit, Odysseus proves who he is by showing his father the scar on his thigh. Back in town, everyone has heard about the slaughter at the hall. Some townspeople are angry, but a council is formed and the council says that the gods are on Odysseus's side and it would be a bad idea to kill him. But Antinous's father says that they should kill Odysseus. Athena asks Zeus if he wants more blood to be shed in revenge. Zeus says that Odysseus can only become king again if the people accept him. The men march to Laertes's house to fight Odysseus. There's a small skirmish and Antinous's father is killed. Athena comes down and tells Odysseus to stop the battle or Zeus will be mad. Both parties swear peace in front of Athena. Now, Ithaca is back to normal.
What a touching story, right? I'll have the next post out soon!
Cassy
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