The Odyssey
Book 17:
Stranger at the Gates
Telemachus leaves Eumaeus’ hut and goes to the
palace on his own. When he arrives home, Erykleia and the other
maidservants bustle about him. When Penelope arrives, she orders him to
tell her about where he has been. He rebuffs her and leaves for the
assembly. It is only later when he has returned home that Penelope is
able to draw his story from him (in a wholly Odyssean manner.) Telemachus tells the story of his adventure and
builds to the moment when he learned from Menelaus that Odysseus is
still alive. He will not tell his mother the whole truth. Odysseus has
forbidden it. An old man named Theoklymenos tells Penelope that he has
had a vision, “I swear that Odysseus is on native soil, here and
now!” (17.171) Penelope responds by saying, “If only, my friend,
everything you say should come to pass!” Meanwhile the suitors are playing games and having
fun, preparing for dinner, and Odysseus and Eumaeus have begun their
long walk to the palace. As they draw near, they pass a springhouse
where a servant named Melanthios abuses them. He is thoroughly evil; his
language is the coarsest we have yet heard in the poem.
Look!- he sneered one scum nosing another scum along,
Dirt finds dirt by the will of god- it never fails!
Wretched pig-boy, where do you take your filthy swine,
This sickening beggar who licks the pot at feasts! (17. 235-39) He scurries off to dote after Erymachos. His sister
is this suitor’s mistress. As Phemios plucks his lyre, Odysseus rounds a corner
and sees his home for the first time in twenty years. His old dog Argos
is lying on a dung heap
near the gates. He has grown old awaiting his master’s return, but as
soon as he sees the beggar, he wags his tail and struggles to his feet.
Odysseus must turn away from Argos without revealing his identity, and
the old dog passes away, having seen his master once again. After making a round of the dinner table asking for
scraps (and casing the joint), Odysseus takes the traditional begging
station at the threshold of the gates, and Athena whispers advice to him
about what to do next. She suggests that he try the suitors’ patience
by making a second begging round. Odysseus launches into one of his
sailor’s yarns and annoys Antinoos who verbally abuses the old man and
throws his stool at him. It strikes Odysseus squarely in the back, but
he shakes off his pain and responds in the only way a poor man can: he
curses the arrogant aristocrat. Even the suitors are embarrassed by Antinoos
behavior. Penelope hears the blow and the ruckus following it, and she
openly curses Antinoos. She asks Eumaeus to bring the beggar before her,
eager for news even if she knows it is pointless and the beggar will lie
and tell her exactly what she wants to hear. Remarkably, this beggar
delays the interview. Odysseus is showing prudence; he wants the suitors
out of the way before his interview with Penelope. The Odyssey
Book 18:
The Beggar King of Ithaca
The suitors continue their cruel mockery of this old
man by provoking a boxing match between him and another scavenger, the
bully Iros. Odysseus could easily kill him, but he plays the hapless old
man screaming threats with fear. The suitors think this hilarious.
Alkinoos even argues that the loser of this match should have his nose,
ears and privates ripped off and fed to the dogs! When Odysseus removes
his rags in preparation for the fight, his powerful build is revealed
and everyone is astonished. He breaks Iros’ jaw with a single blow,
and the poor scavenger is dragged through the gates and cast on the dung
heap. Odysseus is welcomed to the suitors’ table and feted as the
beggar king of Ithaca! At the table Odysseus has a conversation with
Amphinamos in which he tries to warn this decently raised young man to
go home. He says that he should realize that fortune imitates changes in
the weather. Acting unrighteously will cause this change to be even more
severe. Amphinamos is polite, but he doesn’t take this beggar’s
advice and thus seals his doom.
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