The Odyssey Books 13- 17 Summary: Book 13: Ithaca At Last! When Odysseus arrives in Ithaca, the story's main action shifts from return to reunion and revenge. The fabulous world of the journey is left behind in the shift to the real world on Ithaca. Odysseus returns disguised as a beggar to a world of peasant huts, swineherds and dung heaps. He is on his own using the tactics of disguise, patience and self- control, waiting for the perfect moment to reveal his identity and strike his revenge. Odysseus sleeps during the final night voyage home. The Phaecians hoist him overboard in bed and fast asleep, and they leave him loaded with gifts at the base of an olive tree in Phorcis' Cove at the intersection between dream and reality. (see 13.108-141) Poseidon is furious when he finds out what the Phaecians have done. It is bad enough for Odysseus to have gotten home at all, but all those gifts and the great kleos Odysseus has earned from the adventure is insufferable to the sea god. In his anger Poseidon strikes the Phaecians: he turns their boat to stone and throws mountains around the harbors of Scheria. If you will, a permanent stone barrier goes up between the dream world and the waking world. The stone boat is left as a monument for mortals to gaze upon. Phaecia, the land that never knew trouble has lost its innocence. Sorrow has been visited upon it, and its carefree existence is now over. (13. 141-212) Odysseus is responsible for this misfortune. His name itself means trouble. "Oddyseuse" is a verb meaning to give trouble or pain to another. Can this be good for people? Within this paradox lies the meaning of The Odyssey. On the beach Odysseus gradually awakens. Athena has thrown a mist about him. Initially Odysseus fears that he has been cast adrift again. Upset, he badgers a shepherd boy who happens by for information, telling outrageous lies about his real identity. As he calms his fears and slowly realizes that he really is on the island of Ithaca, the shepherd boy standing before him reveals himself to be Athena. By looking beyond appearances Odysseus discovers the underlying divinity that surrounds us all. Odysseus realizes that Athena has been at his side throughout his journey, even at those moments of deepest fear and despair. Together Athena and Odysseus decide on a strategy to protect him as he plots vengeance against the suitors and waits for the right moment to reveal his identity. Athena uses her magic to disguise him as a beggar, a wanderer without a home. Using a mixture of courage and cunning, they will overcome the tremendous odds against him: there are one hundred suitors, and he is only one man.  Another way to think of the disguise is as a symbol for the enormous changes that have transformed Odysseus throughout his twenty-year absence. He truly is unrecognizable- but within, he is the same man with the same heart. He tests his countrymen and his wife by giving them opportunities to penetrate his disguise with their imagination. Only when they trust their intuition, the goddess within, and take a leap of faith, will they recognize the truth: this beggar is the king himself! Only those who take this leap of faith fully earn Odysseus' trust. The Odyssey Book 14: The Loyal Swineherd Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, spends his first night on Ithaca in the hut of Eumaeus, the swineherd. He arrives at Eumaeus' doorstep a nameless beggar and is promptly attacked by Eumaeus' dogs. Eumaeus displays immaculate xenia nonetheless. Over the next twenty-four hours he demonstrates his piety, generosity, and unshakable loyalty to Odysseus' family. When Odysseus has completed his testing of Eumaeus and fully trusts him, the true kingdom of Ithaca is reborn. Odysseus' task seems to be simply disposing of the suitors, but in reality it is far more complex. He must overcome the despair and passivity in Ithaca's citizens that has allowed the suitors to achieve control. To re-kindle hope, the people need to be willing to risk the possibility of disappointment. (Remember the meaning of Odysseus' name!) Odysseus must overcome disbelief in the possibility of the country's salvation. To do so he must make people believe the impossible is possible. A miracle is about to happen! Odysseus is coming home, and the herald of this joyous news is… this preposterous, hard drinking, yarn spinning sea dog? The hard roving sailor was a character well known in Greek fishing villages for being a terrible liar and shameless moocher. He moans about how hungry he is, demands a cloak, and tells impossible whoppers about his adventures. Odysseus tests Eumaeus' xenia and then gradually discloses hints about his true identity. He progresses slowly, yet by the end of the day he has established his authority over the swineherd's hut and given this loyal, long suffering subject hope that better days are at hand! (Hints: He knows Eumaeus' name and tells a remarkably believable story about Odysseus wheedling a cloak from a fellow soldier during a cold night at Troy.) The Odyssey  Book 15: The Prince Sets Sail for Home On the same night that Odysseus sleeps in Eumaeus' hut, Athena appears to Telemachus in a dream- revealing herself in her full splendor as a goddess. She orders Telemachus to return home as soon as possible. Telemachus awakens possessed by the intensity and urgency of this vision and prepares to leave, but his friend Pisistratos reminds him that it would be rude for them to leave Menelaos' home without saying thank you, goodbye and participating in the xenia of gift-giving.