Odyssey, Book 17: The Beggar in the Hall
Homer · Greek original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 17 carries disguised Odysseus from the farm into his own hall while keeping recognition radically uneven. Telemachus returns publicly and manages Penelope’s grief, Theoclymenus’ reception, the custody of gifts, and news whose authority changes with each speaker. Theoclymenus claims that Odysseus is already in Ithaca, but Penelope answers conditionally; prophecy does not become recognition. On the road Eumaeus’ loyalty and competence remain bounded by enslaved service, while Melanthius turns hunger, labor, sale, and bodily violence into weapons of status. At the palace Argos recognizes without speech or divine prompting, and Odysseus hides the only human tear in the scene. Inside, Telemachus orders the begging circuit, and Athena later gives it the explicit diagnostic purpose of learning who is just and who is lawless, while none will be spared. Eumaeus defends invited specialists and enslaved household people; Antinous answers need with a footstool. Odysseus’ Egyptian story reuses his own fiction rather than narrator history, and the father and son answer the blow with the same silent gesture under different emotional pressure. Penelope learns through reports, interprets a sneeze, and seeks an interview, while Odysseus delays it until privacy is possible. Eumaeus returns to the pigs as song and dance continue, leaving restored presence concealed inside an oikos still governed by appetite, hierarchy, and threatened violence.
Narrative arc
- Telemachus leaves the farm under dawn and orders the disguised stranger brought later
- Eurycleia, enslaved women, and Penelope welcome Telemachus through differentiated bodily gestures
- Telemachus manages prayer, assembly, Theoclymenus, and Menelaus’ gifts under threat
- Penelope receives nested reports from Nestor and Menelaus without direct knowledge of Odysseus
- Theoclymenus asserts present Ithacan return while Penelope answers conditionally
- the suitors move from games to a feast supplied by the estates
- Eumaeus leads his disguised master toward town under explicit subordinate obligation
- Melanthius abuses, kicks, and threatens sale while Odysseus restrains lethal retaliation
- Odysseus recognizes the palace and Argos recognizes Odysseus
- Telemachus seats Eumaeus and feeds the unknown guest at the threshold
- Athena initiates a test that will save none of the suitors
- Eumaeus and Telemachus contest Antinous’ attack on hospitality and household service
- Odysseus deploys an Egyptian captivity fiction before Antinous strikes him
- father and son conceal grief and violent intention through a repeated silent gesture
- Penelope hears, summons, interprets, and conditionally rewards without recognizing
- Eumaeus warns Telemachus privately and returns to farm labor at evening
Central themes
- recognition distributed across animals, gods, kin, servants, and strangers
- xenia tested through food, invitation, status, violence, and the ownership of gifts
- oikos as building, stores, labor hierarchy, political inheritance, and concealed belonging
- enslaved service, competence, affection, coercion, threatened sale, and speaker judgment
- divine prompting beside mortal planning, restraint, abuse, and responsibility
- reports, prophecy, omen interpretation, tactical fiction, and narrator knowledge
- thumos, phrenes, noos, belly, appetite, and deliberation in local syntax
- formulaic repetition with changed speaker, scene, grammar, and ethical function
Telemachus leaves for the city and orders the stranger brought later 17.1–25
1ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
δὴ τότʼ ἔπειθʼ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα
Τηλέμαχος, φίλος υἱὸς Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο,
εἵλετο δʼ ἄλκιμον ἔγχος, ὅ οἱ παλάμηφιν ἀρήρει,
5ἄστυδε ἱέμενος, καὶ ἑὸν προσέειπε συβώτην·
ἄττʼ, ἦ τοι μὲν ἐγὼν εἶμʼ ἐς πόλιν, ὄφρα με μήτηρ
ὄψεται· οὐ γάρ μιν πρόσθεν παύσεσθαι ὀΐω
κλαυθμοῦ τε στυγεροῖο γόοιό τε δακρυόεντος,
πρίν γʼ αὐτόν με ἴδηται· ἀτὰρ σοί γʼ ὧδʼ ἐπιτέλλω.
10τὸν ξεῖνον δύστηνον ἄγʼ ἐς πόλιν, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἐκεῖθι
δαῖτα πτωχεύῃ· δώσει δέ οἱ ὅς κʼ ἐθέλῃσι
πύρνον καὶ κοτύλην· ἐμὲ δʼ οὔ πως ἔστιν ἅπαντας
ἀνθρώπους ἀνέχεσθαι, ἔχοντά περ ἄλγεα θυμῷ·
ὁ ξεῖνος δʼ εἴ περ μάλα μηνίει, ἄλγιον αὐτῷ
15ἔσσεται· ἦ γὰρ ἐμοὶ φίλʼ ἀληθέα μυθήσασθαι.
τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
ὦ φίλος, οὐδέ τοι αὐτὸς ἐρύκεσθαι μενεαίνω·
πτωχῷ βέλτερόν ἐστι κατὰ πτόλιν ἠὲ κατʼ ἀγροὺς
δαῖτα πτωχεύειν· δώσει δέ μοι ὅς κʼ ἐθέλῃσιν.
20οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ σταθμοῖσι μένειν ἔτι τηλίκος εἰμί,
ὥστʼ ἐπιτειλαμένῳ σημάντορι πάντα πιθέσθαι.
ἀλλʼ ἔρχευ· ἐμὲ δʼ ἄξει ἀνὴρ ὅδε, τὸν σὺ κελεύεις,
αὐτίκʼ ἐπεί κε πυρὸς θερέω ἀλέη τε γένηται.
αἰνῶς γὰρ τάδε εἵματʼ ἔχω κακά· μή με δαμάσσῃ
25στίβη ὑπηοίη· ἕκαθεν δέ τε ἄστυ φάτʼ εἶναι.
1When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,
Telemachus then bound fine sandals beneath his feet,
the dear son of godlike Odysseus,
and took up the stout spear that fitted his hand.
5Eager for the city, he addressed his swineherd:
‘Father, I am going to the city now, so my mother
may see me. I do not think she will stop
her hateful weeping and tearful lament
until she sees me herself. Here is my command to you:
10lead the suffering stranger to the city, so that there
he may beg for a meal. Whoever wishes will give him
a loaf and a cupful. There is no way for me to support every
person, burdened as I am with pains in my heart.
If the stranger is very angry, it will be worse
15for him, since I love to speak the truth.’
Resourceful Odysseus answered him:
‘Friend, I have no desire to be kept back myself.
It is better for a beggar to beg for meals through a city than the fields;
whoever wishes will give to me.
20I am no longer young enough to remain at the farm
and obey every command an overseer gives.
Go ahead; the man you appoint can guide me
once the fire has warmed me and warmth comes with the day.
These clothes I wear are terribly poor; I fear the morning frost
25may overcome me, and you say the city is far away.’
Commentary
At dawn Telemachus arms himself for the city and gives Eumaeus a restricted order: the disguised stranger is to beg there because the son cannot maintain every needy person. Odysseus accepts the route while making age, cold, clothing, and distance part of the practical decision.
17.1–5 The book opens with the recurrent rosy-fingered dawn line before adapting the departure frame to Telemachus’ cityward purpose. Line 17.1 is byte-exact in Greek and project English with 2.1, 5.228, and 15.189 among numerous occurrences. The formula marks ordinary epic renewal, while sandals, fitted spear, and named destination turn this dawn toward entry into the contested household rather than voyage or assembly.
17.6–9 Telemachus’ ἄττα address gives Eumaeus paternal warmth while the following imperative preserves the son’s authority. The address recurs at 16.31 and again at 17.599, but biological kinship is never substituted for the household relation. Telemachus grounds his immediate departure in Penelope’s continuing grief and then issues a direct command, so affection and hierarchy operate in the same speech.
17.10–15 Telemachus limits his support while directing the stranger toward a public economy of voluntary gifts. Loaf and cupful are left to whoever wishes to give, and Telemachus says his own pains prevent him from maintaining everyone. His warning that anger would worsen the stranger’s position is blunt and speaker-owned; the closing commitment to truth does not make the arrangement a complete statement of hospitality ethics.
17.16–25 A recurrent Odyssean response line introduces willing compliance, but the beggar’s age, labor capacity, fire, frost, and distance give the reply a new practical function. Line 17.16 is byte-exact with 15.380 and 16.201 and recurs internally at 17.192 and 17.353; the speakers and addressees change across those scenes. Here Odysseus accepts urban begging, resists continued subjection to a farm overseer’s commands, and delays only for bodily warmth.
Telemachus reaches home and directs Penelope’s prayer 17.26–60
26ὣς φάτο, Τηλέμαχος δὲ διὰ σταθμοῖο βεβήκει,
κραιπνὰ ποσὶ προβιβάς, κακὰ δὲ μνηστῆρσι φύτευεν.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἵκανε δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας,
ἔγχος μέν ῥʼ ἔστησε φέρων πρὸς κίονα μακρήν,
30αὐτὸς δʼ εἴσω ἴεν καὶ ὑπέρβη λάϊνον οὐδόν.
τὸν δὲ πολὺ πρώτη εἶδε τροφὸς Εὐρύκλεια,
κώεα καστορνῦσα θρόνοις ἔνι δαιδαλέοισι,
δακρύσασα δʼ ἔπειτʼ ἰθὺς κίεν· ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ ἄλλαι
δμῳαὶ Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος ἠγερέθοντο,
35καὶ κύνεον ἀγαπαζόμεναι κεφαλήν τε καὶ ὤμους.
ἡ δʼ ἴεν ἐκ θαλάμοιο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια,
Ἀρτέμιδι ἰκέλη ἠὲ χρυσέῃ Ἀφροδίτῃ,
ἀμφὶ δὲ παιδὶ φίλῳ βάλε πήχεε δακρύσασα,
κύσσε δέ μιν κεφαλήν τε καὶ ἄμφω φάεα καλά,
40καί ῥʼ ὀλοφυρομένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
ἦλθες, Τηλέμαχε, γλυκερὸν φάος. οὔ σʼ ἔτʼ ἐγώ γε
ὄψεσθαι ἐφάμην, ἐπεὶ ᾤχεο νηῒ Πύλονδε
λάθρη, ἐμεῦ ἀέκητι, φίλου μετὰ πατρὸς ἀκουήν.
ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι κατάλεξον ὅπως ἤντησας ὀπωπῆς.
45τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
μῆτερ ἐμή, μή μοι γόον ὄρνυθι μηδέ μοι ἦτορ
ἐν στήθεσσιν ὄρινε φυγόντι περ αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον·
ἀλλʼ ὑδρηναμένη, καθαρὰ χροῒ εἵμαθʼ ἑλοῦσα,
εἰς ὑπερῷʼ ἀναβᾶσα σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξὶν
50εὔχεο πᾶσι θεοῖσι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας
ῥέξειν, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς ἄντιτα ἔργα τελέσσῃ.
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ἀγορὴν ἐσελεύσομαι, ὄφρα καλέσσω
ξεῖνον, ὅτις μοι κεῖθεν ἅμʼ ἕσπετο δεῦρο κιόντι.
τὸν μὲν ἐγὼ προὔπεμψα σὺν ἀντιθέοις ἑτάροισι,
55Πείραιον δέ μιν ἠνώγεα προτὶ οἶκον ἄγοντα
ἐνδυκέως φιλέειν καὶ τιέμεν, εἰς ὅ κεν ἔλθω.
ὣς ἄρʼ ἐφώνησεν, τῇ δʼ ἄπτερος ἔπλετο μῦθος.
ἡ δʼ ὑδρηναμένη, καθαρὰ χροῒ εἵμαθʼ ἑλοῦσα,
εὔχετο πᾶσι θεοῖσι τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας
60ῥέξειν, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς ἄντιτα ἔργα τελέσσῃ.
26So he spoke. Telemachus strode through the farm,
moving swiftly on his feet and planting ruin for the suitors.
When he reached the well-inhabited house,
he carried his spear to a tall pillar and stood it there,
30then went inside and crossed the stone threshold.
His nurse Eurycleia saw him first of all
as she spread fleeces over the richly worked chairs.
Weeping, she went straight toward him, while the other
enslaved women of steadfast Odysseus gathered around.
35They welcomed him with kisses on his head and shoulders.
Discerning Penelope came from her chamber,
like Artemis or golden Aphrodite.
Weeping, she threw her arms around her dear son,
kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes,
40and in her sorrow addressed him with winged words:
‘You have come, Telemachus, my sweet light. I thought
I would never see you again after you sailed to Pylos
in secret and against my will, seeking news of your dear father.
Come, tell me everything that met your eyes.’
45Discerning Telemachus answered her face to face:
‘Mother, do not rouse my lament or stir the heart
within my chest, since I have escaped sheer destruction.
Wash yourself, take clean clothes for your body,
go upstairs with your attendant women,
50and vow to all the gods that you will offer perfect hecatombs
if Zeus ever brings acts of retribution to fulfillment.
I am going to the assembly to summon
a stranger who followed me here from abroad.
I sent him ahead with my godlike companions
55and told Peiraeus to take him to his house,
receive him warmly, and honor him until I came.’
So he spoke, and no answering word took wing from her.
She washed herself and took clean clothes for her body,
then vowed to all the gods that she would offer perfect hecatombs
60if Zeus ever brought acts of retribution to fulfillment.
Commentary
Telemachus crosses his own threshold and is welcomed first by Eurycleia and the enslaved women, then by Penelope through embrace and precisely named kisses. He redirects his mother from lament toward prayer and an assembly errand; her wordless compliance is narrated through the actions she performs.
17.26–30 The narrator converts Telemachus’ departure into forward plot while preserving ordinary bodily movement and household thresholds. His swift stride is followed by the narrator’s prospective statement that he is planting ruin for the suitors. Spear placement and crossing the stone threshold then restore concrete action; intention and future consequence remain distinct from accomplished killing.
17.31–35 Eurycleia and the enslaved women perform differentiated welcome within the labor of preparing the hall. Eurycleia is spreading fleeces when she sees Telemachus first and moves toward him in tears; the other women gather and kiss head and shoulders. Warmth and collective recognition are explicit, but so are the status noun and the furnishing work from which the welcome interrupts them.
17.36–40 Penelope’s welcome is separately staged through comparison, embrace, and kisses to head and both eyes. The narrator distinguishes her from the gathered women and gives her a new movement out of the chamber. The divine comparison intensifies appearance, while the precise bodily sequence and tears belong to a mother greeting a son she feared lost, not to recognition of Odysseus.
17.41–47 Penelope and Telemachus speak from sharply different emotional and informational positions after his return. She calls him her light, names the secret voyage and her lack of consent, and asks for what met his eyes. He answers from survival, asking her not to reactivate lament; his escape from destruction is narrator-supported by the preceding books, while his management of her emotion remains a son’s command.
17.48–57 Telemachus’ washing-and-vow instructions reuse Book 4 departure diction, while the wingless-word close marks response by action rather than speech. Lines 17.48-49 are byte-exact with 4.750-751, and 17.56 is byte-exact with 15.543; changed destinations and addressees give the formulas new force. The absence of an answering utterance at 17.57 does not signal refusal, because the next passage narrates compliance.
17.58–60 Penelope enacts the purification and vow in a compact reprise that preserves the condition on retribution. Line 17.58 is punctuation-normalized with 4.759, while 17.60 is byte-exact internally with 17.51. The shift from Telemachus’ future instruction to Penelope’s completed washing and performed vow distinguishes accomplished preparation from the still-unfulfilled sacrificial and retaliatory condition.
Telemachus meets his father’s companions and entrusts Menelaus’ gifts 17.61–83
61Τηλέμαχος δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα διὲκ μεγάροιο βεβήκει
ἔγχος ἔχων· ἅμα τῷ γε δύω κύνες ἀργοὶ ἕποντο.
θεσπεσίην δʼ ἄρα τῷ γε χάριν κατέχευεν Ἀθήνη·
τὸν δʼ ἄρα πάντες λαοὶ ἐπερχόμενον θηεῦντο.
65ἀμφὶ δέ μιν μνηστῆρες ἀγήνορες ἠγερέθοντο
ἔσθλʼ ἀγορεύοντες, κακὰ δὲ φρεσὶ βυσσοδόμευον.
αὐτὰρ ὁ τῶν μὲν ἔπειτα ἀλεύατο πουλὺν ὅμιλον,
ἀλλʼ ἵνα Μέντωρ ἧστο καὶ Ἄντιφος ἠδʼ Ἁλιθέρσης,
οἵ τε οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πατρώϊοι ἦσαν ἑταῖροι,
70ἔνθα καθέζετʼ ἰών· τοὶ δʼ ἐξερέεινον ἕκαστα.
τοῖσι δὲ Πείραιος δουρικλυτὸς ἐγγύθεν ἦλθεν
ξεῖνον ἄγων ἀγορήνδε διὰ πτόλιν· οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔτι δὴν
Τηλέμαχος ξείνοιο ἑκὰς τράπετʼ, ἀλλὰ παρέστη.
τὸν καὶ Πείραιος πρότερος πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπε·
75Τηλέμαχʼ, αἶψʼ ὄτρυνον ἐμὸν ποτὶ δῶμα γυναῖκας,
ὥς τοι δῶρʼ ἀποπέμψω, ἅ τοι Μενέλαος ἔδωκε.
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Πείραιʼ, οὐ γάρ τʼ ἴδμεν ὅπως ἔσται τάδε ἔργα.
εἴ κεν ἐμὲ μνηστῆρες ἀγήνορες ἐν μεγάροισι
80λάθρη κτείναντες πατρώϊα πάντα δάσωνται,
αὐτὸν ἔχοντά σε βούλομʼ ἐπαυρέμεν, ἤ τινα τῶνδε·
εἰ δέ κʼ ἐγὼ τούτοισι φόνον καὶ κῆρα φυτεύσω,
δὴ τότε μοι χαίροντι φέρειν πρὸς δώματα χαίρων.
61Telemachus passed out through the hall
holding his spear, with two swift dogs following him.
Athena poured marvelous grace over him,
and all the people watched him as he approached.
65The overbearing suitors gathered around him,
speaking fair words while plotting harm deep in their minds.
He avoided their great crowd
and went where Mentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses sat,
men who had been his father’s companions from the beginning.
70He sat down there, and they asked about everything.
Peiraeus, renowned for his spear, came near them,
leading the stranger through the city to the assembly. Telemachus did not
remain apart from his guest for long, but stood beside him.
Peiraeus spoke to him first:
75‘Telemachus, send women quickly to my house,
so I can send you the gifts Menelaus gave you.’
Discerning Telemachus answered him face to face:
‘Peiraeus, we do not know how these events will end.
If the overbearing suitors secretly kill me in the halls
80and divide all my father’s possessions,
I would rather you keep and enjoy them—or one of your people.
But if I plant death and doom among them,
then bring the gifts gladly to my house, and I will be glad.’
Commentary
Athena gives Telemachus conspicuous public grace while the suitors surround him with fair speech and concealed harm. He turns instead to his father’s longstanding companions, receives Theoclymenus from Peiraeus, and leaves Menelaus’ gifts outside the palace under a survival-dependent arrangement.
17.61–66 Athena’s public enhancement does not prevent the suitors from pairing attractive speech with concealed harm. Telemachus carries his spear with two dogs, receives divine grace, and becomes an object of collective attention. The suitors’ outward words and inward plans are explicitly opposed by the narrator, keeping divine favor, public appearance, and mortal conspiracy on separate causal levels.
17.67–70 Telemachus avoids the suitor crowd and chooses men defined by longstanding association with his father. Mentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses are named as paternal companions from the beginning, and they question Telemachus about everything. The scene gives him an alternative public affiliation without turning their curiosity into knowledge of the farm plan or guaranteed political support.
17.71–77 Peiraeus completes delegated guest care by bringing Theoclymenus into the assembly and proposing return of Menelaus’ gifts. Telemachus does not leave the guest standing apart; he goes beside him before Peiraeus speaks. The request to send women for the gifts presupposes household labor at Peiraeus’ house, while Telemachus retains authority over the transfer.
17.78–83 Telemachus treats the gifts as contingent property while openly imagining either his murder or the suitors’ destruction. If he dies and the paternal estate is divided, Peiraeus is to keep the gifts; if Telemachus plants death among the suitors, they may be delivered with mutual joy. Both branches are prospective, but they show that household property, survival, and reciprocal trust are being managed under political violence.
Theoclymenus enters the household and shares the meal 17.84–100
84ὣς εἰπὼν ξεῖνον ταλαπείριον ἦγεν ἐς οἶκον.
85αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἵκοντο δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας,
χλαίνας μὲν κατέθεντο κατὰ κλισμούς τε θρόνους τε,
ἐς δʼ ἀσαμίνθους βάντες ἐϋξέστας λούσαντο.
τοὺς δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν δμῳαὶ λοῦσαν καὶ χρῖσαν ἐλαίῳ,
ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρα χλαίνας οὔλας βάλον ἠδὲ χιτῶνας,
90ἔκ ῥʼ ἀσαμίνθων βάντες ἐπὶ κλισμοῖσι καθῖζον.
χέρνιβα δʼ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα
καλῇ χρυσείῃ, ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος,
νίψασθαι· παρὰ δὲ ξεστὴν ἐτάνυσσε τράπεζαν.
σῖτον δʼ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα,
95εἴδατα πόλλʼ ἐπιθεῖσα, χαριζομένη παρεόντων.
μήτηρ δʼ ἀντίον ἷζε παρὰ σταθμὸν μεγάροιο
κλισμῷ κεκλιμένη, λέπτʼ ἠλάκατα στρωφῶσα.
οἱ δʼ ἐπʼ ὀνείαθʼ ἑτοῖμα προκείμενα χεῖρας ἴαλλον,
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,
100τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
84So saying, Telemachus led the much-tried stranger home.
85When they reached the well-inhabited house,
they laid their cloaks down upon chairs and seats,
stepped into the polished baths, and bathed.
When the enslaved women had washed them and rubbed them with oil,
they draped woolen cloaks and tunics around them.
90Stepping out of the baths, they sat down on chairs.
An attendant brought water for their hands in a fine
golden pitcher over a silver basin
so they could wash, and drew a polished table beside them.
The respected housekeeper brought and set down bread,
95adding many foods and giving freely from the stores at hand.
His mother sat opposite beside a pillar of the hall,
reclining in a chair and twisting fine yarn.
They reached their hands toward the good food set ready before them.
When they had put away their desire for food and drink,
100discerning Penelope began to speak:
Commentary
Telemachus himself leads Theoclymenus home. Bathing, clothing, handwashing, stored food, and seating establish his reception, while Penelope spins opposite the guests and waits until appetite is satisfied before opening the inquiry.
17.84–90 Theoclymenus’ reception begins with formulaic house entry, bathing, and clothing whose repeated shape does not erase who guides whom. Telemachus is the subject who leads the guest home at 17.84. Lines 17.88-89 are byte-exact with 4.49-50, while the wider bathing sequence belongs here to a fugitive seer received by the returned son rather than to the Spartan wedding household.
17.91–100 Handwashing, table placement, food, and satisfied appetite reuse the epic’s reception architecture before Penelope begins speech. Lines 17.91-95 align line by line with 4.52-56 through byte-exact and punctuation-normalized classes; 17.98 is punctuation-normalized with 1.149 and 8.484 among others, and 17.99 is byte-exact with 3.67 and 8.485. Penelope’s spinning position differentiates this household scene from its comparanda.
Penelope asks for news and Telemachus reports his journey 17.101–123
101Τηλέμαχʼ, ἦ τοι ἐγὼν ὑπερώϊον εἰσαναβᾶσα
λέξομαι εἰς εὐνήν, ἥ μοι στονόεσσα τέτυκται,
αἰεὶ δάκρυσʼ ἐμοῖσι πεφυρμένη, ἐξ οὗ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ᾤχεθʼ ἅμʼ Ἀτρεΐδῃσιν ἐς Ἴλιον· οὐδέ μοι ἔτλης,
105πρὶν ἐλθεῖν μνηστῆρας ἀγήνορας ἐς τόδε δῶμα,
νόστον σοῦ πατρὸς σάφα εἰπέμεν, εἴ που ἄκουσας.
τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι, μῆτερ, ἀληθείην καταλέξω.
ᾠχόμεθʼ ἔς τε Πύλον καὶ Νέστορα, ποιμένα λαῶν·
110δεξάμενος δέ με κεῖνος ἐν ὑψηλοῖσι δόμοισιν
ἐνδυκέως ἐφίλει, ὡς εἴ τε πατὴρ ἑὸν υἱὸν
ἐλθόντα χρόνιον νέον ἄλλοθεν· ὣς ἐμὲ κεῖνος
ἐνδυκέως ἐκόμιζε σὺν υἱάσι κυδαλίμοισιν.
αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος οὔ ποτʼ ἔφασκεν,
115ζωοῦ οὐδὲ θανόντος, ἐπιχθονίων τευ ἀκοῦσαι·
ἀλλά μʼ ἐς Ἀτρεΐδην, δουρικλειτὸν Μενέλαον,
ἵπποισι προὔπεμψε καὶ ἅρμασι κολλητοῖσιν.
ἔνθʼ ἴδον Ἀργείην Ἑλένην, ἧς εἵνεκα πολλὰ
Ἀργεῖοι Τρῶές τε θεῶν ἰότητι μόγησαν.
120εἴρετο δʼ αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτα βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος
ὅττευ χρηΐζων ἱκόμην Λακεδαίμονα δῖαν·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ τῷ πᾶσαν ἀληθείην κατέλεξα·
καὶ τότε δή με ἔπεσσιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπεν·
101‘Telemachus, I will go upstairs
and lie upon the bed that has become a place of groaning for me,
always soaked with my tears, ever since Odysseus
went with the sons of Atreus to Ilium. Yet you have not brought yourself,
105before the overbearing suitors come into this house,
to tell me clearly of your father’s return, if you heard anything.’
Discerning Telemachus answered her face to face:
‘Mother, I will tell you the truth.
We went to Pylos and Nestor, shepherd of the people.
110He received me in his high-roofed house
and cared for me warmly, as a father might care for his son
newly returned after a long time from another country. So Nestor
tended me warmly together with his honored sons.
But he said he had heard no report from any mortal
115whether steadfast Odysseus was alive or dead.
He sent me on to the son of Atreus, Menelaus renowned for his spear,
with horses and a close-fitted chariot.
There I saw Argive Helen, for whose sake
Argives and Trojans suffered greatly by the gods’ will.
120Menelaus, good at the war cry, immediately asked
what need had brought me to shining Lacedaemon.
I told him the whole truth.
Then he answered me in these words:
Commentary
Penelope says she will withdraw to the bed of grief and demands a clear account of any news concerning Odysseus. Telemachus answers by nesting Nestor’s hospitality and ignorance, his journey to Menelaus, his sight of Helen, and Menelaus’ question inside his own report.
17.101–107 Penelope frames Telemachus’ delayed news as a failure of courage and presses him to speak before the suitors enter the house. Her bed carries continuous grief since Odysseus’ departure, and she asks specifically for clear nostos information. The reproach belongs to her perspective: Telemachus has already managed other urgent tasks, but he has not yet given the account she wants.
17.108–123 Telemachus’ promised truth is a chain of attributed observations and reports rather than a single omniscient answer. He names his journey, Nestor’s fatherlike reception, Nestor’s declared ignorance of life or death, onward transport, sight of Helen, Menelaus’ question, and his own reply. Each step preserves who knew, saw, asked, or said what before the quotation begins.
Telemachus quotes Menelaus’ report and recounts his own return 17.124–150
124ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δὴ κρατερόφρονος ἀνδρὸς ἐν εὐνῇ
125ἤθελον εὐνηθῆναι, ἀνάλκιδες αὐτοὶ ἐόντες.
ὡς δʼ ὁπότʼ ἐν ξυλόχῳ ἔλαφος κρατεροῖο λέοντος
νεβροὺς κοιμήσασα νεηγενέας γαλαθηνοὺς
κνημοὺς ἐξερέῃσι καὶ ἄγκεα ποιήεντα
βοσκομένη, ὁ δʼ ἔπειτα ἑὴν εἰσήλυθεν εὐνήν,
130ἀμφοτέροισι δὲ τοῖσιν ἀεικέα πότμον ἐφῆκεν,
ὣς Ὀδυσεὺς κείνοισιν ἀεικέα πότμον ἐφήσει.
αἲ γάρ, Ζεῦ τε πάτερ καὶ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἄπολλον,
τοῖος ἐὼν οἷός ποτʼ ἐϋκτιμένῃ ἐνὶ Λέσβῳ
ἐξ ἔριδος Φιλομηλεΐδῃ ἐπάλαισεν ἀναστάς,
135κὰδ δʼ ἔβαλε κρατερῶς, κεχάροντο δὲ πάντες Ἀχαιοί,
τοῖος ἐὼν μνηστῆρσιν ὁμιλήσειεν Ὀδυσσεύς·
πάντες κʼ ὠκύμοροί τε γενοίατο πικρόγαμοί τε.
ταῦτα δʼ ἅ μʼ εἰρωτᾷς καὶ λίσσεαι, οὐκ ἂν ἐγώ γε
ἄλλα παρὲξ εἴποιμι παρακλιδὸν οὐδʼ ἀπατήσω,
140ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν μοι ἔειπε γέρων ἅλιος νημερτής,
τῶν οὐδέν τοι ἐγὼ κρύψω ἔπος οὐδʼ ἐπικεύσω.
φῆ μιν ὅ γʼ ἐν νήσῳ ἰδέειν κρατέρʼ ἄλγεʼ ἔχοντα,
νύμφης ἐν μεγάροισι Καλυψοῦς, ἥ μιν ἀνάγκῃ
ἴσχει· ὁ δʼ οὐ δύναται ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι.
145οὐ γάρ οἱ πάρα νῆες ἐπήρετμοι καὶ ἑταῖροι,
οἵ κέν μιν πέμποιεν ἐπʼ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης
ὣς ἔφατʼ Ἀτρεΐδης, δουρικλειτὸς Μενέλαος.
ταῦτα τελευτήσας νεόμην· ἔδοσαν δέ μοι οὖρον
ἀθάνατοι, τοί μʼ ὦκα φίλην ἐς πατρίδʼ ἔπεμψαν.
150ὣς φάτο, τῇ δʼ ἄρα θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ὄρινε.
124“How shameful! Weaklings themselves, they wanted to lie
125in the bed of a strong-hearted man.
Just as when a doe puts her newborn, milk-fed fawns
to sleep in the lair of a mighty lion
and ranges the slopes and grassy valleys
to graze, until the lion enters his own resting place
130and brings a shameful death upon them both,
so Odysseus will bring a shameful death upon those men.
If only, father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo,
Odysseus could meet the suitors as he was once in well-built Lesbos,
when he rose and wrestled Philomeleides in a contest,
135threw him down with force, and all the Achaeans rejoiced.
If Odysseus in such strength could engage the suitors,
they would all meet swift death and a bitter wedding.
As for what you ask and entreat of me, I will not
turn aside to tell you something else, nor will I deceive you.
140I will tell what the unerring Old Man of the Sea told me,
and I will hide or conceal from you not a single word.
He said he saw Odysseus on an island, suffering harsh pains
in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him
by force, and he cannot reach his native land.
145He has no oared ships or companions there
to carry him over the sea’s broad back.”
That is what the son of Atreus, Menelaus renowned for his spear, told me.
After completing my mission I returned. The immortals gave me a fair wind
and sent me swiftly to my dear native land.’
150So he spoke and stirred the heart within her chest.
Commentary
Telemachus quotes Menelaus’ condemnation and the lion-and-fawns comparison before relaying the old sea-god’s report of Calypso’s coercive detention and Odysseus’ lack of ship and companions. He then returns to his own voyage, attributing the fair wind and swift homecoming to the immortals.
17.124–137 Telemachus transmits Menelaus’ lion-and-fawns warning through a substantially repeated Book 4 block whose formula classes are not uniform. Lines 17.124 and 17.126-132, 17.134-138 are byte-exact with 4.333 and 4.335-347 where they overlap; 17.125 is punctuation-normalized with 4.334, while 17.133 and 17.139 are locally adapted. Menelaus remains the quoted speaker, and Telemachus’ repetition moves a Spartan forecast into Penelope’s Ithacan hearing.
17.138–150 Menelaus’ truth pledge, Calypso report, and Telemachus’ return retain Book 4 and Book 5 diction while preserving coercion and report level. At 17.143 and 17.145 the Greek is byte-exact with both 4.557/4.559 and 5.14/5.16; 17.144 and 17.146 are punctuation-normalized with 4.558/4.560 and 5.15/5.17. Lines 17.148-149 align with 4.585-586 by punctuation-normalized then byte-exact classes. Changed narrators do not cancel Calypso’s force or supply absent transport.
Theoclymenus declares that Odysseus is already in Ithaca 17.151–165
151τοῖσι δὲ καὶ μετέειπε Θεοκλύμενος θεοειδής·
ὦ γύναι αἰδοίη Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος,
ἦ τοι ὅ γʼ οὐ σάφα οἶδεν, ἐμεῖο δὲ σύνθεο μῦθον·
ἀτρεκέως γάρ σοι μαντεύσομαι οὐδʼ ἐπικεύσω·
155ἴστω νῦν Ζεὺς πρῶτα θεῶν, ξενίη τε τράπεζα
ἱστίη τʼ Ὀδυσῆος ἀμύμονος, ἣν ἀφικάνω,
ὡς ἦ τοι Ὀδυσεὺς ἤδη ἐν πατρίδι γαίῃ,
ἥμενος ἢ ἕρπων, τάδε πευθόμενος κακὰ ἔργα,
ἔστιν, ἀτὰρ μνηστῆρσι κακὸν πάντεσσι φυτεύει·
160τοῖον ἐγὼν οἰωνὸν ἐϋσσέλμου ἐπὶ νηὸς
ἥμενος ἐφρασάμην καὶ Τηλεμάχῳ ἐγεγώνευν.
τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
αἲ γὰρ τοῦτο, ξεῖνε, ἔπος τετελεσμένον εἴη·
τῷ κε τάχα γνοίης φιλότητά τε πολλά τε δῶρα
165ἐξ ἐμεῦ, ὡς ἄν τίς σε συναντόμενος μακαρίζοι.
151Godlike Theoclymenus also spoke among them:
‘Respected wife of Laertes’ son Odysseus,
Telemachus does not know clearly, but take my words to heart.
I will prophesy to you precisely and conceal nothing.
155Let Zeus, first of the gods, bear witness, along with this guest-table
and the hearth of blameless Odysseus which I have reached:
Odysseus is already in his native land,
sitting or moving about, learning of these evil deeds.
He is here, planting ruin for all the suitors.
160I discerned such an omen while seated on the well-decked ship
and proclaimed it to Telemachus.’
Discerning Penelope answered him:
‘If only this word of yours might be fulfilled, stranger.
Then you would soon learn my friendship and receive many gifts
165from me, so that anyone who met you would call you blessed.’
Commentary
Theoclymenus distinguishes his asserted knowledge from Telemachus’ uncertainty and invokes Zeus, the guest-table, and Odysseus’ hearth as witnesses. He declares that Odysseus is already in Ithaca and planning ruin; Penelope answers not with recognition but with a conditional promise of friendship and gifts if the prophecy is fulfilled.
17.151–161 Theoclymenus turns guest reception into the witness structure for a precise claim about Odysseus’ current location and activity. Zeus, guest-table, and hearth are invoked before he says Telemachus lacks clarity and presents himself as the clearer interpreter. His sitting-or-moving alternative claims presence without claiming exact posture, and his reference to the shipboard omen ties the declaration to his earlier interpretation.
17.162–165 Penelope’s conditional reward repeats Telemachus’ Book 15 response to Theoclymenus with a changed recipient and household stake. Lines 17.163-165 are byte-exact in Greek and project English with 15.536-538. In Book 15 Telemachus answers the seer after the hawk omen; here Penelope answers a prophecy about her husband, so exact hospitality language carries different speaker, scene, and desired fulfillment.
The suitors end their games and prepare the palace feast 17.166–183
166ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον,
μνηστῆρες δὲ πάροιθεν Ὀδυσσῆος μεγάροιο
δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες,
ἐν τυκτῷ δαπέδῳ, ὅθι περ πάρος ὕβριν ἔχοντες.
170ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ δείπνηστος ἔην καὶ ἐπήλυθε μῆλα
πάντοθεν ἐξ ἀγρῶν, οἱ δʼ ἤγαγον οἳ τὸ πάρος περ,
καὶ τότε δή σφιν ἔειπε Μέδων· ὃς γάρ ῥα μάλιστα
ἥνδανε κηρύκων, καὶ σφιν παρεγίγνετο δαιτί·
κοῦροι, ἐπεὶ δὴ πάντες ἐτέρφθητε φρένʼ ἀέθλοις,
175ἔρχεσθε πρὸς δώμαθʼ, ἵνʼ ἐντυνώμεθα δαῖτα·
οὐ μὲν γάρ τι χέρειον ἐν ὥρῃ δεῖπνον ἑλέσθαι.
ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἀνστάντες ἔβαν πείθοντό τε μύθῳ.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἵκοντο δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας,
χλαίνας μὲν κατέθεντο κατὰ κλισμούς τε θρόνους τε,
180οἱ δʼ ἱέρευον ὄϊς μεγάλους καὶ πίονας αἶγας,
ἵρευον δὲ σύας σιάλους καὶ βοῦν ἀγελαίην,
δαῖτʼ ἐντυνόμενοι. τοὶ δʼ ἐξ ἀγροῖο πόλινδε
ὠτρύνοντʼ Ὀδυσεύς τʼ ἰέναι καὶ δῖος ὑφορβός.
166So the two spoke such words to one another,
while the suitors before Odysseus’ house
amused themselves by throwing discuses and javelins
on the leveled ground where they had displayed their violence before.
170When it was dinner time and the flocks came in
from every field, driven by the men who always brought them,
Medon spoke to them. Of all the heralds
he pleased them most and attended them at their feast:
‘Young men, now that you have all delighted your hearts in contests,
175come into the house so we can prepare the meal.
There is nothing amiss in taking dinner at the proper hour.’
So he spoke. They rose, went in, and obeyed his words.
When they reached the well-inhabited house,
they laid their cloaks down upon chairs and seats.
180They slaughtered large sheep and fat goats,
slaughtered well-fed pigs and a cow from the herd,
and prepared their feast. Meanwhile, out in the country,
Odysseus and the godlike swineherd made ready to go to the city.
Commentary
The suitors’ discus and javelin play yields to dinner when flocks arrive from the estates. Medon’s timely summons, their obedience, and the slaughter of multiple animals connect recreation, feast organization, and continuing consumption of household resources.
17.166–176 The suitors’ outdoor games reprise the Book 4 scene before Medon redirects them toward the meal. Line 17.167 is byte-exact with 4.625, and 17.168-169 are punctuation-normalized with 4.626-627. Book 4 frames their games before news of Telemachus’ journey, whereas Book 17 places the recurrence after the ambush has failed and before renewed household consumption; Medon’s time-based summons changes the scene’s immediate function.
17.177–183 The feast preparation names slaughter without narrating a complete sacrificial rite. The suitors obey Medon, enter, put down their cloaks, and slaughter sheep, goats, pigs, and a herd cow before preparing the feast. No prayer, divine portion, or full distribution sequence is provided here.
Eumaeus and disguised Odysseus set out for the city 17.184–203
184τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν·
185ξεῖνʼ, ἐπεὶ ἂρ δὴ ἔπειτα πόλινδʼ ἰέναι μενεαίνεις
σήμερον, ὡς ἐπέτελλεν ἄναξ ἐμός—ἦ σʼ ἂν ἐγώ γε
αὐτοῦ βουλοίμην σταθμῶν ῥυτῆρα λιπέσθαι·
ἀλλὰ τὸν αἰδέομαι καὶ δείδια, μή μοι ὀπίσσω
νεικείῃ· χαλεπαὶ δέ τʼ ἀνάκτων εἰσὶν ὁμοκλαί—
190ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν ἴομεν· δὴ γὰρ μέμβλωκε μάλιστα
ἦμαρ, ἀτὰρ τάχα τοι ποτὶ ἕσπερα ῥίγιον ἔσται.
τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
γιγνώσκω, φρονέω· τά γε δὴ νοέοντι κελεύεις.
ἀλλʼ ἴομεν, σὺ δʼ ἔπειτα διαμπερὲς ἡγεμόνευε.
195δὸς δέ μοι, εἴ ποθί τοι ῥόπαλον τετμημένον ἐστίν,
σκηρίπτεσθʼ, ἐπεὶ ἦ φατʼ ἀρισφαλέʼ ἔμμεναι οὐδόν.
ἦ ῥα καὶ ἀμφʼ ὤμοισιν ἀεικέα βάλλετο πήρην,
πυκνὰ ῥωγαλέην· ἐν δὲ στρόφος ἦεν ἀορτήρ·
Εὔμαιος δʼ ἄρα οἱ σκῆπτρον θυμαρὲς ἔδωκε.
200τὼ βήτην, σταθμὸν δὲ κύνες καὶ βώτορες ἄνδρες
ῥύατʼ ὄπισθε μένοντες· ὁ δʼ ἐς πόλιν ἦγεν ἄνακτα
πτωχῷ λευγαλέῳ ἐναλίγκιον ἠδὲ γέροντι,
σκηπτόμενον· τὰ δὲ λυγρὰ περὶ χροῒ εἵματα ἕστο.
184The swineherd, a leader among men, began to speak:
185‘Stranger, since you are determined to go to the city
today, as my master ordered—I would prefer
to leave you here as guardian of the farm.
But I respect and fear him, in case he later
rebukes me; the scoldings of masters are hard.
190Come, let us go now. Most of the day has passed,
and toward evening the cold will soon be bitter for you.’
Resourceful Odysseus answered him:
‘I understand and take thought. You command a man who knows.
Let us go, and you lead the whole way.
195Give me a trimmed staff, if you have one nearby,
to support me, since you say the road is treacherous.’
He spoke and threw the ugly bag around his shoulders,
ragged through and through, with a twisted strap to carry it.
Eumaeus gave him a staff that pleased his heart.
200The two set out. Dogs and herdsmen stayed behind
to guard the farm, while Eumaeus led his master toward the city
in the likeness of a wretched old beggar,
leaning on a staff, with miserable clothes upon his body.
Commentary
Eumaeus would prefer to keep the stranger as farm guardian, yet his respect and fear of Telemachus’ rebuke compel obedience. Odysseus requests a staff and assumes the visible bag, gait, age, and clothing of a beggar while Eumaeus leads his disguised master toward his own city.
17.184–191 Eumaeus’ preference to keep the stranger at the farm is overridden by explicit respect and fear of a master’s rebuke. He values a possible guardian for the station and anticipates evening cold, showing practical care and judgment. Yet his reason for leaving is Telemachus’ order and the hardness of masters’ scolding, so competent agency remains bounded by subordinate obligation.
17.192–203 Repeated understanding language frames Eumaeus’ command, while a morphologically adapted beggar-description cluster makes the master’s disguise visible. Line 17.192 repeats the response formula at 17.16 and 17.353 and in earlier books; 17.193 is byte-exact with 16.136 and recurs at 17.281. The description at 17.201-203 is later adapted at 17.336-338 as movement toward the city becomes entry into the house, changing case and syntax while retaining age, staff, and poor clothing.
They reach the nymphs’ spring and meet Melanthius 17.204–216
204ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ στείχοντες ὁδὸν κάτα παιπαλόεσσαν
205ἄστεος ἐγγὺς ἔσαν καὶ ἐπὶ κρήνην ἀφίκοντο
τυκτὴν καλλίροον, ὅθεν ὑδρεύοντο πολῖται,
τὴν ποίησʼ Ἴθακος καὶ Νήριτος ἠδὲ Πολύκτωρ·
ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ αἰγείρων ὑδατοτρεφέων ἦν ἄλσος,
πάντοσε κυκλοτερές, κατὰ δὲ ψυχρὸν ῥέεν ὕδωρ
210ὑψόθεν ἐκ πέτρης· βωμὸς δʼ ἐφύπερθε τέτυκτο
νυμφάων, ὅθι πάντες ἐπιρρέζεσκον ὁδῖται·
ἔνθα σφέας ἐκίχανʼ υἱὸς Δολίοιο Μελανθεὺς
αἶγας ἄγων, αἳ πᾶσι μετέπρεπον αἰπολίοισι,
δεῖπνον μνηστήρεσσι· δύω δʼ ἅμʼ ἕποντο νομῆες.
215τοὺς δὲ ἰδὼν νείκεσσεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν,
ἔκπαγλον καὶ ἀεικές· ὄρινε δὲ κῆρ Ὀδυσῆος·
204When they had walked down the rugged road
205and were near the city, they reached the well-built, fair-flowing spring
from which the townspeople drew water.
Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor had made it.
A grove of water-nourished poplars grew around it,
round on every side, and cold water flowed down
210from a rock above. Over it an altar had been built
for the nymphs, where every traveler made offerings.
There Melanthius, son of Dolius, met them,
driving goats that stood out among all the herds
for the suitors’ dinner, with two herdsmen following.
215When he saw the pair, he abused them, naming them directly
in terrible, shameful words that stirred Odysseus’ heart:
Commentary
Near the city the travelers reach a constructed spring, a circular poplar grove, cold water, and an altar where travelers make offerings. Melanthius then enters the scene driving selected goats for the suitors with two herdsmen behind him.
17.204–211 The spring is described as a civic water source and traveler-facing sacred place through internal landmarks alone. Named builders, a circular grove of water-fed poplars, cold flow from rock, and a nymph altar make the location legible in the walk toward town. The repeated traveler action supplies ritual use but not a modern map coordinate or an externally reconstructed sanctuary.
17.212–216 Melanthius enters as a feeder of the palace feast before his speech defines his hostility. The narrator first names father, office, selected goats, destination, and two accompanying herdsmen. Only after sight does direct abuse begin, separating his work in the estate supply chain from the words that stir Odysseus’ heart.
Melanthius abuses and kicks Odysseus; Eumaeus prays for return 17.217–246
217νῦν μὲν δὴ μάλα πάγχυ κακὸς κακὸν ἡγηλάζει,
ὡς αἰεὶ τὸν ὁμοῖον ἄγει θεὸς ὡς τὸν ὁμοῖον.
πῇ δὴ τόνδε μολοβρὸν ἄγεις, ἀμέγαρτε συβῶτα,
220πτωχὸν ἀνιηρόν δαιτῶν ἀπολυμαντῆρα;
ὃς πολλῇς φλιῇσι παραστὰς θλίψεται ὤμους,
αἰτίζων ἀκόλους, οὐκ ἄορας οὐδὲ λέβητας·
τόν κʼ εἴ μοι δοίης σταθμῶν ῥυτῆρα γενέσθαι
σηκοκόρον τʼ ἔμεναι θαλλόν τʼ ἐρίφοισι φορῆναι,
225καί κεν ὀρὸν πίνων μεγάλην ἐπιγουνίδα θεῖτο.
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν δὴ ἔργα κάκʼ ἔμμαθεν, οὐκ ἐθελήσει
ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πτώσσων κατὰ δῆμον
βούλεται αἰτίζων βόσκειν ἣν γαστέρʼ ἄναλτον.
ἀλλʼ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·
230αἴ κʼ ἔλθῃ πρὸς δώματʼ Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο,
πολλά οἱ ἀμφὶ κάρη σφέλα ἀνδρῶν ἐκ παλαμάων
πλευραὶ ἀποτρίψουσι δόμον κάτα βαλλομένοιο.
ὣς φάτο, καὶ παριὼν λὰξ ἔνθορεν ἀφραδίῃσιν
ἰσχίῳ· οὐδέ μιν ἐκτὸς ἀταρπιτοῦ ἐστυφέλιξεν,
235ἀλλʼ ἔμενʼ ἀσφαλέως· ὁ δὲ μερμήριξεν Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἠὲ μεταΐξας ῥοπάλῳ ἐκ θυμὸν ἕλοιτο,
ἦ πρὸς γῆν ἐλάσειε κάρη ἀμφουδὶς ἀείρας.
ἀλλʼ ἐπετόλμησε, φρεσὶ δʼ ἔσχετο· τὸν δὲ συβώτης
νείκεσʼ ἐσάντα ἰδών, μέγα δʼ εὔξατο χεῖρας ἀνασχών·
240νύμφαι κρηναῖαι, κοῦραι Διός, εἴ ποτʼ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ὔμμʼ ἐπὶ μηρίʼ ἔκηε, καλύψας πίονι δημῷ,
ἀρνῶν ἠδʼ ἐρίφων, τόδε μοι κρηήνατʼ ἐέλδωρ,
ὡς ἔλθοι μὲν κεῖνος ἀνήρ, ἀγάγοι δέ ἑ δαίμων·
τῷ κέ τοι ἀγλαΐας γε διασκεδάσειεν ἁπάσας,
245τὰς νῦν ὑβρίζων φορέεις, ἀλαλήμενος αἰεὶ
ἄστυ κάτʼ· αὐτὰρ μῆλα κακοὶ φθείρουσι νομῆες.
217‘Now here is one thorough wretch leading another,
as a god always brings like man to like.
Where are you taking this filthy glutton, you miserable swineherd—
220this troublesome beggar, this spoiler of feasts?
He will stand at many doorposts, rubbing his shoulders sore,
begging for scraps, not swords or cauldrons.
If you gave him to me as guardian of my farm,
to clean the pens and carry green shoots to the kids,
225he could drink whey and put solid muscle on his thighs.
But he has learned wicked ways and will not choose
to go near any work. He would rather skulk through the district
and beg to feed his bottomless belly.
I tell you this, and it will be fulfilled:
230if he goes to the house of godlike Odysseus,
many stools, thrown by men’s hands around his head,
will scrape his ribs as he is driven through the house.’
So he spoke and, as he passed, recklessly kicked Odysseus
on the hip. He did not knock him from the path;
235Odysseus stood firm and deliberated
whether to rush after him and take his life with the club,
or lift him up and dash his head against the ground.
But he endured and held himself in check. The swineherd
faced Melanthius, rebuked him, and prayed aloud with raised hands:
240‘Nymphs of the spring, daughters of Zeus, if Odysseus ever
burned thigh pieces for you, wrapped in rich fat,
from lambs and kids, fulfill this wish for me:
may that man return, brought home by a divine power.
Then he would scatter all the splendor
245you now flaunt in your violence, forever roaming
the city while bad herdsmen destroy the flocks.’
Commentary
Melanthius turns hunger, work, bodily appearance, and beggar status into abuse, then predicts violence inside the palace. He kicks Odysseus, who remains planted and weighs two lethal responses before restraining himself; Eumaeus answers with a conditional prayer for his master’s return.
17.217–225 Melanthius weaponizes hunger and bodily fitness to cast coerced farm labor as an offer the beggar deserves. His insults move from equivalence with Eumaeus to gluttony, doorpost begging, and labor as guardian, pen cleaner, and fodder carrier sustained by whey. The hypothetical gift of a person to another worker exposes coercion beneath the language of employment and physical improvement.
17.226–232 Melanthius converts his accusation of learned idleness into a specific forecast of palace violence. He makes the belly bottomless, declares his prediction certain, and imagines stools striking head and ribs as the beggar is driven through the house. The speech prepares the later footstool assault thematically, but it is not a byte-exact verbal recurrence and does not cause Antinous’ independent act.
17.233–239 The kick produces a compact sequence from impact to stability, paired lethal alternatives, endurance, direct rebuke, and raised-hand prayer. Odysseus is not displaced from the path; syntax then holds club-killing and head-dashing as parallel deliberative branches before the adversative turn to restraint. Eumaeus’ response redirects bodily escalation into speech and prayer.
17.240–246 Eumaeus grounds his prayer in remembered offerings while keeping the requested return explicitly conditional on divine agency. He recalls thigh pieces from lambs and kids wrapped in fat, asks the spring nymphs to fulfill one wish, and imagines a daimōn bringing Odysseus home. The hoped-for stripping of Melanthius’ splendor answers current abuse, while bad herdsmen destroying livestock remain a present estate complaint.
Melanthius threatens Eumaeus and enters the palace feast 17.247–271
247τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε Μελάνθιος, αἰπόλος αἰγῶν·
ὢ πόποι, οἶον ἔειπε κύων ὀλοφώϊα εἰδώς,
τόν ποτʼ ἐγὼν ἐπὶ νηὸς ἐϋσσέλμοιο μελαίνης
250ἄξω τῆλʼ Ἰθάκης, ἵνα μοι βίοτον πολὺν ἄλφοι.
αἲ γὰρ Τηλέμαχον βάλοι ἀργυρότοξος Ἀπόλλων
σήμερον ἐν μεγάροις, ἢ ὑπὸ μνηστῆρσι δαμείη,
ὡς Ὀδυσῆΐ γε τηλοῦ ἀπώλετο νόστιμον ἦμαρ.
ὣς εἰπὼν τοὺς μὲν λίπεν αὐτοῦ ἦκα κιόντας,
255αὐτὰρ ὁ βῆ, μάλα δʼ ὦκα δόμους ἵκανεν ἄνακτος.
αὐτίκα δʼ εἴσω ἴεν, μετὰ δὲ μνηστῆρσι καθῖζεν,
ἀντίον Εὐρυμάχου· τὸν γὰρ φιλέεσκε μάλιστα.
τῷ πάρα μὲν κρειῶν μοῖραν θέσαν οἳ πονέοντο,
σῖτον δʼ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα
260ἔδμεναι. ἀγχίμολον δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ δῖος ὑφορβὸς
στήτην ἐρχομένω, περὶ δέ σφεας ἤλυθʼ ἰωὴ
φόρμιγγος γλαφυρῆς· ἀνὰ γάρ σφισι βάλλετʼ ἀείδειν
Φήμιος· αὐτὰρ ὁ χειρὸς ἑλὼν προσέειπε συβώτην·
Εὔμαιʼ, ἦ μάλα δὴ τάδε δώματα κάλʼ Ὀδυσῆος,
265ῥεῖα δʼ ἀρίγνωτʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν πολλοῖσιν ἰδέσθαι.
ἐξ ἑτέρων ἕτερʼ ἐστίν, ἐπήσκηται δέ οἱ αὐλὴ
τοίχῳ καὶ θριγκοῖσι, θύραι δʼ εὐερκέες εἰσὶ
δικλίδες· οὐκ ἄν τίς μιν ἀνὴρ ὑπεροπλίσσαιτο.
γιγνώσκω δʼ ὅτι πολλοὶ ἐν αὐτῷ δαῖτα τίθενται
270ἄνδρες, ἐπεὶ κνίση μὲν ἀνήνοθεν, ἐν δέ τε φόρμιγξ
ἠπύει, ἣν ἄρα δαιτὶ θεοὶ ποίησαν ἑταίρην.
247Melanthius, keeper of goats, answered him:
‘Shame, what this dog says, skilled in ruinous tricks!
One day I will take him aboard a well-decked black ship
250far from Ithaca and fetch myself a handsome price for him.
If only Apollo of the silver bow would strike Telemachus
in the halls today, or the suitors cut him down,
as surely as Odysseus’ day of return has perished far away.’
So saying, he left them there walking slowly.
255He went on and very quickly reached his master’s house.
He entered at once and sat among the suitors
opposite Eurymachus, whom he loved most.
Those serving set a portion of meat beside him,
and the respected housekeeper brought bread
260for him to eat. Odysseus and the godlike swineherd drew near
and stopped as they approached. Around them came the sound
of the hollow lyre, for Phemius had begun to sing.
Odysseus took the swineherd by the hand and said:
‘Eumaeus, these must be the beautiful halls of Odysseus.
265They are easy to recognize even among many houses.
Building rises beyond building; the courtyard has been finished
with wall and coping, and the doors are sturdy,
double-leaved. No man could force his way through.
I know that many men are holding a feast inside,
270for the smell of meat rises, and within the lyre
rings out—the companion the gods made for a feast.’
Commentary
Melanthius threatens to remove and sell Eumaeus overseas for profit and wishes death on Telemachus while declaring Odysseus’ return lost. He then enters the master’s house, sits by Eurymachus, and receives food before Odysseus and Eumaeus pause outside at the sound of Phemius’ song.
17.247–253 Melanthius answers rebuke with a threat to sell Eumaeus overseas and a wish for Telemachus’ death. The well-decked ship and handsome price make the swineherd’s body a marketable object in his speech. The parallel appeal to Apollo or the suitors for Telemachus’ death and the assertion that Odysseus’ return is lost align coercive status power with the suitor conspiracy without becoming narrator fact.
17.254–263 Melanthius’ swift entry and seating beside Eurymachus expose affiliation before Odysseus and Eumaeus hear Phemius from outside. He leaves the slower pair, reaches the master’s house, sits opposite the suitor he loves most, and receives meat and bread from feast workers. The next sound crosses the boundary: the lyre begins before Odysseus takes Eumaeus by the hand, joining social placement inside with recognition pressure outside.
17.264–271 Odysseus recognizes his oikos through built form, defense, smell, and song while maintaining the beggar role. Layered buildings, wall, coping, double doors, rising meat-smoke, and lyre make the hall legible through multiple senses. His claim that no man could force entry gives the architecture rhetorical strength, yet the current threat already occupies the interior through hospitality and household failure.
Eumaeus and Odysseus plan their separate palace entry 17.272–290
272τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα·
ῥεῖʼ ἔγνως, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ τά τʼ ἄλλα πέρ ἐσσʼ ἀνοήμων.
ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ φραζώμεθʼ ὅπως ἔσται τάδε ἔργα.
275ἠὲ σὺ πρῶτος ἔσελθε δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας,
δύσεο δὲ μνηστῆρας, ἐγὼ δʼ ὑπολείψομαι αὐτοῦ·
εἰ δʼ ἐθέλεις, ἐπίμεινον, ἐγὼ δʼ εἶμι προπάροιθε·
μηδὲ σὺ δηθύνειν, μή τίς σʼ ἔκτοσθε νοήσας
ἢ βάλῃ ἢ ἐλάσῃ· τὰ δέ σε φράζεσθαι ἄνωγα.
280τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
γιγνώσκω, φρονέω· τά γε δὴ νοέοντι κελεύεις.
ἀλλʼ ἔρχευ προπάροιθεν, ἐγὼ δʼ ὑπολείψομαι αὐτοῦ.
οὐ γάρ τι πληγέων ἀδαήμων οὐδὲ βολάων·
τολμήεις μοι θυμός, ἐπεὶ κακὰ πολλὰ πέπονθα
285κύμασι καὶ πολέμῳ· μετὰ καὶ τόδε τοῖσι γενέσθω·
γαστέρα δʼ οὔ πως ἔστιν ἀποκρύψαι μεμαυῖαν,
οὐλομένην, ἣ πολλὰ κάκʼ ἀνθρώποισι δίδωσι,
τῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ νῆες ἐΰζυγοι ὁπλίζονται
πόντον ἐπʼ ἀτρύγετον, κακὰ δυσμενέεσσι φέρουσαι.
290ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον·
272Then you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:
‘You recognized it easily, since you are no fool in other matters either.
Come, let us consider how this should be done.
275Either you enter the well-inhabited house first
and join the suitors while I remain here,
or, if you prefer, wait here and I will go before you.
But do not linger, or someone may see you outside
and strike you or drive you away. I urge you to think about that.’
280Much-enduring godlike Odysseus answered him:
‘I understand and take thought. You command a man who knows.
Go on ahead, and I will remain here.
I am not inexperienced in blows or missiles.
My spirit endures, since I have suffered many evils
285among waves and war. Let this now be added to them.
Yet there is no way to hide a ravening belly,
an accursed thing that gives men many troubles.
Because of it well-benched ships are fitted out
to carry ruin to enemies over the barren sea.’
290So they spoke with one another.
Commentary
Odysseus recognizes the palace through its layered buildings, defended courtyard, rising smell, and lyre; Eumaeus’ apostrophized reply confirms his discernment. They choose separate entry, and Odysseus accepts possible blows while connecting the belly’s demand both to begging and to ships fitted for hostile war.
17.272–279 Eumaeus’ exact narrator apostrophe carries the marked second-person address into the palace-entry decision. Line 17.272 is byte-exact in Greek and project English with 14.55, 14.165, 14.360, 14.442, 14.507, 16.60, 16.135, and 16.464; it recurs internally at 17.311 and 17.380. Here the formula introduces tactical alternatives and Eumaeus’ warning about blows outside, a new function distinct from farm reports or meal service.
17.280–289 Context gives θυμός endurance and appetite distinct forces within one reply without requiring a fixed faculty system. Odysseus says his thumos is enduring because waves and war have trained him, then calls the belly ravening and impossible to conceal. His causal expansion from hunger to fitted ships and harm to enemies is rhetorically sweeping direct speech, not narrator doctrine about every war.
17.290–300 The Argos approach forms a scene-level dog-threshold recurrence with Books 14 and 16, not a verbal formula. At 14.29-47 unfamiliar dogs attack the disguised stranger; at 16.4-10 familiar dogs welcome Telemachus without barking; at 17.291-300 Argos raises head and ears before he is named, then the narrator gives training, hunting use, abandonment, and infestation. The changed animal, recognized person, response, and function make the comparison thematic rather than lexical.
Argos recognizes Odysseus and dies after twenty years 17.291–327
291ἂν δὲ κύων κεφαλήν τε καὶ οὔατα κείμενος ἔσχεν,
Ἄργος, Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος, ὅν ῥά ποτʼ αὐτὸς
θρέψε μέν, οὐδʼ ἀπόνητο, πάρος δʼ εἰς Ἴλιον ἱρὴν
ᾤχετο. τὸν δὲ πάροιθεν ἀγίνεσκον νέοι ἄνδρες
295αἶγας ἐπʼ ἀγροτέρας ἠδὲ πρόκας ἠδὲ λαγωούς·
δὴ τότε κεῖτʼ ἀπόθεστος ἀποιχομένοιο ἄνακτος,
ἐν πολλῇ κόπρῳ, ἥ οἱ προπάροιθε θυράων
ἡμιόνων τε βοῶν τε ἅλις κέχυτʼ, ὄφρʼ ἂν ἄγοιεν
δμῶες Ὀδυσσῆος τέμενος μέγα κοπρήσοντες·
300ἔνθα κύων κεῖτʼ Ἄργος, ἐνίπλειος κυνοραιστέων.
δὴ τότε γʼ, ὡς ἐνόησεν Ὀδυσσέα ἐγγὺς ἐόντα,
οὐρῇ μέν ῥʼ ὅ γʼ ἔσηνε καὶ οὔατα κάββαλεν ἄμφω,
ἆσσον δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔπειτα δυνήσατο οἷο ἄνακτος
ἐλθέμεν· αὐτὰρ ὁ νόσφιν ἰδὼν ἀπομόρξατο δάκρυ,
305ῥεῖα λαθὼν Εὔμαιον, ἄφαρ δʼ ἐρεείνετο μύθῳ·
Εὔμαιʼ, ἦ μάλα θαῦμα, κύων ὅδε κεῖτʼ ἐνὶ κόπρῳ.
καλὸς μὲν δέμας ἐστίν, ἀτὰρ τόδε γʼ οὐ σάφα οἶδα,
εἰ δὴ καὶ ταχὺς ἔσκε θέειν ἐπὶ εἴδεϊ τῷδε,
ἦ αὔτως οἷοί τε τραπεζῆες κύνες ἀνδρῶν
310γίγνοντʼ· ἀγλαΐης δʼ ἕνεκεν κομέουσιν ἄνακτες.
τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα·
καὶ λίην ἀνδρός γε κύων ὅδε τῆλε θανόντος.
εἰ τοιόσδʼ εἴη ἠμὲν δέμας ἠδὲ καὶ ἔργα,
οἷόν μιν Τροίηνδε κιὼν κατέλειπεν Ὀδυσσεύς,
315αἶψά κε θηήσαιο ἰδὼν ταχυτῆτα καὶ ἀλκήν.
οὐ μὲν γάρ τι φύγεσκε βαθείης βένθεσιν ὕλης
κνώδαλον, ὅττι δίοιτο· καὶ ἴχνεσι γὰρ περιῄδη·
νῦν δʼ ἔχεται κακότητι, ἄναξ δέ οἱ ἄλλοθι πάτρης
ὤλετο, τὸν δὲ γυναῖκες ἀκηδέες οὐ κομέουσι.
320δμῶες δʼ, εὖτʼ ἂν μηκέτʼ ἐπικρατέωσιν ἄνακτες,
οὐκέτʼ ἔπειτʼ ἐθέλουσιν ἐναίσιμα ἐργάζεσθαι·
ἥμισυ γάρ τʼ ἀρετῆς ἀποαίνυται εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς
ἀνέρος, εὖτʼ ἄν μιν κατὰ δούλιον ἦμαρ ἕλῃσιν.
ὣς εἰπὼν εἰσῆλθε δόμους εὖ ναιετάοντας,
325βῆ δʼ ἰθὺς μεγάροιο μετὰ μνηστῆρας ἀγαυούς.
Ἄργον δʼ αὖ κατὰ μοῖρʼ ἔλαβεν μέλανος θανάτοιο,
αὐτίκʼ ἰδόντʼ Ὀδυσῆα ἐεικοστῷ ἐνιαυτῷ.
291A dog lying there lifted his head and ears:
Argos, the dog of steadfast Odysseus, whom Odysseus himself
had once raised but never enjoyed, before he went to sacred Ilium.
In earlier days young men used to take the dog
295after wild goats, deer, and hares.
Now, with his master gone, he lay cast aside
in the deep dung piled before the gates
from mules and cattle, waiting for Odysseus’ enslaved men
to carry it away and manure the great estate.
300There Argos the dog lay, covered with dog ticks.
Then, when he noticed Odysseus close beside him,
he wagged his tail and lowered both ears,
but he no longer had the strength to approach his master.
Odysseus turned aside, wiped away a tear,
305easily hiding it from Eumaeus, and immediately asked:
‘Eumaeus, it is astonishing that this dog lies in the dung.
His build is beautiful, but I do not know clearly
whether he was also swift in running with such looks,
or merely like the table dogs of men,
310which masters keep for display.’
Then you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:
‘This is indeed the dog of a man who died far away.
If he had the body and abilities
Odysseus left him when he went to Troy,
315you would quickly marvel to see his speed and strength.
No animal he pursued ever escaped him in the depths
of the thick woods, and he was surpassingly skilled at tracking.
Now he is held down by misery. His master died far from his homeland,
and careless women do not tend the dog.
320When masters no longer exercise authority over enslaved men,
the men no longer choose to perform fitting work.
Far-seeing Zeus takes away half a man’s excellence
when the day of enslavement seizes him.’
So saying, Eumaeus entered the well-inhabited house
325and went straight through the hall among the proud suitors.
The fate of black death now took Argos,
once he had seen Odysseus in the twentieth year.
Commentary
Argos’ body preserves an unspoken recognition scene: the neglected dog marks Odysseus with tail and ears but cannot approach, while Odysseus hides a tear from Eumaeus. Eumaeus recalls the dog’s former speed, then generalizes about enslavement and lost excellence; Argos dies only after seeing his master in the twentieth year.
17.301–305 Argos recognizes without speech or divine disclosure, and Odysseus recognizes the recognition while hiding his response from Eumaeus. Tail and lowered ears answer Odysseus’ proximity, but age prevents approach. Odysseus’ turned look, wiped tear, and successful concealment create an asymmetry: dog and master share the moment, while the loyal guide does not know why the question follows.
17.306–310 Odysseus’ table-dog comparison tests whether visible beauty once corresponded to speed and useful action. He praises build but professes uncertainty about running, contrasting hunting capacity with dogs maintained for display. The question is strategic concealment, yet its lexical opposition between appearance and ergon prepares Eumaeus’ account of former performance.
17.311–323 Eumaeus’ account of enslavement and lost excellence remains a subordinate worker’s generalization, not neutral narrator doctrine. After the exact apostrophe he describes Argos’ former speed and tracking, then blames careless women before widening to enslaved men who cease fitting work without masters’ authority. The culminating claim that Zeus removes half a man’s aretē when the enslaving day seizes him acknowledges coercive damage while also carrying Eumaeus’ hierarchical assumptions.
17.324–327 Argos’ death is delayed until after sight of Odysseus and Eumaeus’ departure into the hall. The narrator assigns black death its allotted moment immediately after Eumaeus’ speech and names the twentieth year. Sequence gives the recognition closure without saying Odysseus caused death or a god rewarded the dog.
Eumaeus and Odysseus take their places inside the hall 17.328–359
328τὸν δὲ πολὺ πρῶτος ἴδε Τηλέμαχος θεοειδὴς
ἐρχόμενον κατὰ δῶμα συβώτην, ὦκα δʼ ἔπειτα
330νεῦσʼ ἐπὶ οἷ καλέσας· ὁ δὲ παπτήνας ἕλε δίφρον
κείμενον, ἔνθα τε δαιτρὸς ἐφίζεσκε κρέα πολλὰ
δαιόμενος μνηστῆρσι δόμον κάτα δαινυμένοισι·
τὸν κατέθηκε φέρων πρὸς Τηλεμάχοιο τράπεζαν
ἀντίον, ἔνθα δʼ ἄρʼ αὐτὸς ἐφέζετο· τῷ δʼ ἄρα κῆρυξ
335μοῖραν ἑλὼν ἐτίθει κανέου τʼ ἐκ σῖτον ἀείρας.
ἀγχίμολον δὲ μετʼ αὐτὸν ἐδύσετο δώματʼ Ὀδυσσεύς,
πτωχῷ λευγαλέῳ ἐναλίγκιος ἠδὲ γέροντι,
σκηπτόμενος· τὰ δὲ λυγρὰ περὶ χροΐ εἵματα ἕστο.
ἷζε δʼ ἐπὶ μελίνου οὐδοῦ ἔντοσθε θυράων,
340κλινάμενος σταθμῷ κυπαρισσίνῳ, ὅν ποτε τέκτων
ξέσσεν ἐπισταμένως καὶ ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν.
Τηλέμαχος δʼ ἐπὶ οἷ καλέσας προσέειπε συβώτην,
ἄρτον τʼ οὖλον ἑλὼν περικαλλέος ἐκ κανέοιο
καὶ κρέας, ὥς οἱ χεῖρες ἐχάνδανον ἀμφιβαλόντι·
345δὸς τῷ ξείνῳ ταῦτα φέρων αὐτόν τε κέλευε
αἰτίζειν μάλα πάντας ἐποιχόμενον μνηστῆρας·
αἰδὼς δʼ οὐκ ἀγαθὴ κεχρημένῳ ἀνδρὶ παρεῖναι.
ὣς φάτο, βῆ δὲ συφορβός, ἐπεὶ τὸν μῦθον ἄκουσεν,
ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱστάμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευε·
350Τηλέμαχός τοι, ξεῖνε, διδοῖ τάδε, καί σε κελεύει
αἰτίζειν μάλα πάντας ἐποιχόμενον μνηστῆρας·
αἰδῶ δʼ οὐκ ἀγαθήν φησʼ ἔμμεναι ἀνδρὶ προΐκτῃ.
τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
Ζεῦ ἄνα, Τηλέμαχόν μοι ἐν ἀνδράσιν ὄλβιον εἶναι,
355καί οἱ πάντα γένοιθʼ ὅσσα φρεσὶν ᾗσι μενοινᾷ.
ἦ ῥα καὶ ἀμφοτέρῃσιν ἐδέξατο καὶ κατέθηκεν
αὖθι ποδῶν προπάροιθεν, ἀεικελίης ἐπὶ πήρης,
ἤσθιε δʼ ἧος ἀοιδὸς ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἄειδεν·
εὖθʼ ὁ δεδειπνήκειν, ὁ δʼ ἐπαύετο θεῖος ἀοιδός.
328Godlike Telemachus was far the first to see
the swineherd coming through the house, and quickly
330nodded to call him over. Eumaeus looked around and took a stool
lying where the carver used to sit
as he divided the abundant meat for the suitors feasting through the house.
He carried it and set it beside Telemachus’ table,
opposite him, and sat there. A herald
335took a portion, placed it before him, and lifted bread from a basket.
Soon after him Odysseus entered the house
in the likeness of a wretched old beggar,
leaning on a staff, with miserable clothes upon his body.
He sat on the ashwood threshold just inside the doors,
340leaning against a cypress doorpost that a carpenter
had once planed with skill and trued to the line.
Telemachus called the swineherd over,
took a whole loaf from the fine basket
and as much meat as his cupped hands could hold:
345‘Carry these to the stranger and tell him
to go among all the suitors and beg from each.
For shame is not good company for a needy man.’
So he spoke. The swineherd went when he heard the instruction,
stood near Odysseus, and addressed him with winged words:
350‘Stranger, Telemachus gives you these and tells you
to go among all the suitors and beg from each.
He says shame is no good thing for a man who begs.’
Resourceful Odysseus answered him:
‘Lord Zeus, may Telemachus be fortunate among men,
355and may everything his heart desires come to pass.’
He received the food with both hands and set it down
there before his feet upon his ugly bag.
He ate as long as the singer sang within the halls.
When he had eaten, the godlike singer stopped.
Commentary
Telemachus notices Eumaeus first, seats and feeds him, while Odysseus enters after and chooses the ashwood threshold beside a carefully worked cypress post. Telemachus sends a whole loaf and a two-handed meat portion through Eumaeus, and Odysseus eats while Phemius sings.
17.328–335 Telemachus recognizes Eumaeus first and integrates him into the feast through gesture, a reused work stool, and delegated food service. The stool belongs to the carver’s labor position, not an empty honor seat, yet Eumaeus places it opposite Telemachus. A herald supplies meat and bread, showing the swineherd as both household subordinate and received participant before Odysseus enters.
17.336–341 The beggar-description cluster adapts the cityward disguise at 17.201-203 to entrance and threshold placement. At 17.337 the adjective changes from the earlier accusative construction to a nominative form, and the surrounding verbs shift from Eumaeus leading his master to Odysseus entering after him. Staff, age, and miserable clothing remain recognizable, but the new ashwood threshold and trued cypress post turn traveling appearance into a fixed interior position.
17.342–352 Telemachus’ order and Eumaeus’ relay preserve one exact line while adapting shame to the new reporting syntax. Lines 17.346 and 17.351 are byte-exact in Greek and project English. The shame sentence changes from Telemachus’ nominative assertion at 17.347 to Eumaeus’ accusative-infinitive report at 17.352, a syntactic adaptation that preserves the pressure against bashfulness in need. Speaker and mediator remain audible.
17.353–359 Odysseus turns received food into a prayer for Telemachus, then places it on the beggar’s bag and eats under cover of song. The request to Zeus concerns the son’s standing and desires, not disclosed kinship. Both hands receive the gift, and the singer’s performance measures the duration of eating before stopping, joining prayer, material need, and concealment.
Athena sends Odysseus begging and Melanthius identifies his guide 17.360–379
360μνηστῆρες δʼ ὁμάδησαν ἀνὰ μέγαρʼ. αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνη,
ἄγχι παρισταμένη Λαερτιάδην Ὀδυσῆα
ὤτρυνʼ, ὡς ἂν πύρνα κατὰ μνηστῆρας ἀγείροι,
γνοίη θʼ οἵ τινές εἰσιν ἐναίσιμοι οἵ τʼ ἀθέμιστοι·
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὥς τινʼ ἔμελλʼ ἀπαλεξήσειν κακότητος.
365βῆ δʼ ἴμεν αἰτήσων ἐνδέξια φῶτα ἕκαστον,
πάντοσε χεῖρʼ ὀρέγων, ὡς εἰ πτωχὸς πάλαι εἴη.
οἱ δʼ ἐλεαίροντες δίδοσαν, καὶ ἐθάμβεον αὐτόν,
ἀλλήλους τʼ εἴροντο τίς εἴη καὶ πόθεν ἔλθοι.
τοῖσι δὲ καὶ μετέειπε Μελάνθιος, αἰπόλος αἰγῶν·
370κέκλυτέ μευ, μνηστῆρες ἀγακλειτῆς βασιλείης,
τοῦδε περὶ ξείνου· ἦ γάρ μιν πρόσθεν ὄπωπα.
ἦ τοι μέν οἱ δεῦρο συβώτης ἡγεμόνευεν,
αὐτὸν δʼ οὐ σάφα οἶδα, πόθεν γένος εὔχεται εἶναι.
ὣς ἔφατʼ, Ἀντίνοος δʼ ἔπεσιν νείκεσσε συβώτην·
375ὦ ἀρίγνωτε συβῶτα, τίη δὲ σὺ τόνδε πόλινδε
ἤγαγες; ἦ οὐχ ἅλις ἧμιν ἀλήμονές εἰσι καὶ ἄλλοι,
πτωχοὶ ἀνιηροί, δαιτῶν ἀπολυμαντῆρες;
ἦ ὄνοσαι ὅτι τοι βίοτον κατέδουσιν ἄνακτος
ἐνθάδʼ ἀγειρόμενοι, σὺ δὲ καὶ προτὶ τόνδʼ ἐκάλεσσας;
360The suitors raised a din through the hall. Then Athena
stood near Laertes’ son Odysseus
and urged him to collect loaves from the suitors,
so he might learn which men were just and which were lawless.
Even so, she did not intend to save any man from ruin.
365He went to beg from every man in order from the right,
stretching out his hand on every side as if long practiced in begging.
They gave out of pity and marveled at him,
asking one another who he was and where he came from.
Melanthius, keeper of goats, spoke among them:
370‘Listen to me, suitors of the renowned queen,
about this stranger. I saw him earlier.
The swineherd led him here,
but I do not know clearly what lineage he claims.’
So he spoke, and Antinous abused the swineherd:
375‘Notorious swineherd, why did you bring this man
to the city? Do we not have enough other wanderers—
troublesome beggars and spoilers of feasts?
Do you begrudge that these men gather here
and consume your master’s livelihood, so you invited this one as well?’
Commentary
Athena initiates a begging circuit designed to reveal just and lawless conduct, yet the narrator immediately states that none will be spared. Odysseus performs experienced need; most give, while Melanthius can identify Eumaeus as guide but explicitly cannot establish the stranger’s lineage.
17.360–364 Athena creates a moral test while explicitly refusing to turn favorable conduct into rescue. She stands near and urges collection of loaves so Odysseus may learn the just and lawless. The narrator then denies that she intends to save anyone, separating diagnostic knowledge from outcome and divine prompting from Odysseus’ later violence.
17.365–373 Odysseus’ practiced begging performance produces pity and inquiry, while Melanthius offers only a bounded identification. Movement from the right and repeated hand extension make disguise behavioral rather than merely visual. The suitors give and ask origin; Melanthius can report that Eumaeus guided the stranger but explicitly denies clear knowledge of claimed lineage.
17.374–379 Antinous makes Eumaeus responsible for increasing consumption while himself occupying the master’s stores. He labels wanderers feast-spoilers and asks whether Eumaeus resents the suitors’ consumption enough to invite another mouth. The taunt simultaneously admits estate depletion and denies the swineherd authority to extend hospitality, exposing status conflict inside the violated house.
Eumaeus and Telemachus answer Antinous’ attack on hospitality 17.380–408
380τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα·
Ἀντίνοʼ, οὐ μὲν καλὰ καὶ ἐσθλὸς ἐὼν ἀγορεύεις·
τίς γὰρ δὴ ξεῖνον καλεῖ ἄλλοθεν αὐτὸς ἐπελθὼν
ἄλλον γʼ, εἰ μὴ τῶν οἳ δημιοεργοὶ ἔασι,
μάντιν ἢ ἰητῆρα κακῶν ἢ τέκτονα δούρων,
385ἢ καὶ θέσπιν ἀοιδόν, ὅ κεν τέρπῃσιν ἀείδων;
οὗτοι γὰρ κλητοί γε βροτῶν ἐπʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν·
πτωχὸν δʼ οὐκ ἄν τις καλέοι τρύξοντα ἓ αὐτόν.
ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ χαλεπὸς περὶ πάντων εἶς μνηστήρων
δμωσὶν Ὀδυσσῆος, πέρι δʼ αὖτʼ ἐμοί· αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε
390οὐκ ἀλέγω, ἧός μοι ἐχέφρων Πηνελόπεια
ζώει ἐνὶ μεγάροις καὶ Τηλέμαχος θεοειδής.
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
σίγα, μή μοι τοῦτον ἀμείβεο πολλὰ ἔπεσσιν·
Ἀντίνοος δʼ εἴωθε κακῶς ἐρεθιζέμεν αἰεὶ
395μύθοισιν χαλεποῖσιν, ἐποτρύνει δὲ καὶ ἄλλους.
ἦ ῥα καὶ Ἀντίνοον ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
Ἀντίνοʼ, ἦ μευ καλὰ πατὴρ ὣς κήδεαι υἷος,
ὃς τὸν ξεῖνον ἄνωγας ἀπὸ μεγάροιο διέσθαι
μύθῳ ἀναγκαίῳ· μὴ τοῦτο θεὸς τελέσειε.
400δός οἱ ἑλών· οὔ τοι φθονέω· κέλομαι γὰρ ἐγώ γε·
μήτʼ οὖν μητέρʼ ἐμὴν ἅζευ τό γε μήτε τινʼ ἄλλον
δμώων, οἳ κατὰ δώματʼ Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο.
ἀλλʼ οὔ τοι τοιοῦτον ἐνὶ στήθεσσι νόημα·
αὐτὸς γὰρ φαγέμεν πολὺ βούλεαι ἢ δόμεν ἄλλῳ.
405τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Ἀντίνοος ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέειπε·
Τηλέμαχʼ ὑψαγόρη, μένος ἄσχετε, ποῖον ἔειπες.
εἴ οἱ τόσσον ἅπαντες ὀρέξειαν μνηστῆρες,
καί κέν μιν τρεῖς μῆνας ἀπόπροθεν οἶκος ἐρύκοι.
380Then you answered him, Eumaeus the swineherd:
‘Antinous, though you are noble, what you say is not good.
Who goes out himself and invites home
some stranger other than one of the public workers—
a seer, a healer of disease, a carpenter of timbers,
385or even an inspired singer who gives delight with song?
These are the men mortals invite across the boundless earth.
No one would invite a beggar to consume his own stores.
But you are always the harshest of all the suitors
toward Odysseus’ enslaved people, and especially toward me. Yet I
390do not care, so long as discerning Penelope
and godlike Telemachus live within the halls.’
Discerning Telemachus answered him face to face:
‘Be silent. Do not answer this man at length.
Antinous always has the habit of provoking trouble
395with harsh speeches, and he urges the others on as well.’
Then he addressed Antinous with winged words:
‘Antinous, you care beautifully for me, as a father for his son,
when you order the stranger driven from the hall
by a harsh command. May a god never bring that to fulfillment.
400Take something and give it to him. I do not begrudge it; I command it.
Do not hold back out of respect for my mother
or any of the enslaved people in godlike Odysseus’ house.
But no such intention is in your chest;
you would much rather eat the food yourself than give it to another.’
405Antinous answered him:
‘High-speaking Telemachus, unrestrained in force, what have you said?
If every suitor handed him as much as I will,
this house would keep him away for three months.’
Commentary
Eumaeus answers Antinous by distinguishing invited public specialists from an uninvited beggar who consumes the inviter’s own stores, then names Antinous’ special harshness toward enslaved household people. Telemachus stops the exchange and uses paternal sarcasm to expose Antinous’ desire to consume rather than give.
17.380–387 The exact Eumaeus apostrophe introduces a source-bounded distinction between invited public specialists and an uninvited beggar. Line 17.380 belongs to the byte-exact apostrophe series at 14.55, 16.60, 17.272, and 17.311. Eumaeus’ reply then lists seer, healer, carpenter, and inspired singer as dēmiourgoi invited across the earth, contrasting them with a beggar who would consume the inviter’s own stores.
17.388–391 Eumaeus locates Antinous’ special harshness within the treatment of Odysseus’ enslaved people. He names himself as the chief target but says he can endure while Penelope and Telemachus live in the halls. Loyalty, personal courage, and dependence coexist: the surviving mistress and son are his stated protection, not evidence that the household hierarchy has disappeared.
17.392–404 Telemachus stops a subordinate’s prolonged answer, then uses filial sarcasm to expose Antinous’ coercion and appetite. He first characterizes Antinous as a habitual provocateur who incites others. The father-son comparison is deliberately contradicted by the order to drive away the stranger; Telemachus commands giving and rejects deference to Penelope or household workers as an excuse, ending with eat-versus-give intention.
17.405–413 Antinous promises a gift whose visible referent is the footstool, while the other suitors fill the bag with food. His three-month boast becomes threatening through the object displayed from under his table. The narrator contrasts group generosity with Antinous’ withholding and marks Odysseus’ expected return to the threshold after tasting the gifts, delaying the confrontation without hiding its direction.
Odysseus reaches Antinous and begins his beggar’s appeal 17.409–418
409ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, καὶ θρῆνυν ἑλὼν ὑπέφηνε τραπέζης
410κείμενον, ᾧ ῥʼ ἔπεχεν λιπαροὺς πόδας εἰλαπινάζων·
οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι πάντες δίδοσαν, πλῆσαν δʼ ἄρα πήρην
σίτου καὶ κρειῶν· τάχα δὴ καὶ ἔμελλεν Ὀδυσσεὺς
αὖτις ἐπʼ οὐδὸν ἰὼν προικὸς γεύσεσθαι Ἀχαιῶν·
στῆ δὲ παρʼ Ἀντίνοον, καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπε·
415δός, φίλος· οὐ μέν μοι δοκέεις ὁ κάκιστος Ἀχαιῶν
ἔμμεναι, ἀλλʼ ὤριστος, ἐπεὶ βασιλῆϊ ἔοικας.
τῷ σε χρὴ δόμεναι καὶ λώϊον ἠέ περ ἄλλοι
σίτου· ἐγὼ δέ κέ σε κλείω κατʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν.
409So he spoke and displayed a footstool he had taken from under the table,
410where he rested his shining feet while feasting.
All the others gave and filled the bag
with bread and meat. Odysseus was soon to go
back to the threshold after tasting the Achaeans’ gifts.
But he stood beside Antinous and said to him:
415‘Give, friend. You do not seem the worst Achaean to me
but the best, since you look like a king.
You should therefore give a better portion of bread
than the others, and I will spread your fame across the boundless earth.
Commentary
Antinous displays the footstool as the substance of his promised gift while the others fill Odysseus’ bag. Odysseus nevertheless approaches him through an appeal to kinglike appearance, superior generosity, and the fame that a gift might circulate.
17.414–418 Odysseus tests royal appearance against generosity and offers kleos as the return for a better gift. Calling Antinous friend and kinglike makes the request an ethical experiment in the terms of status the suitor values. The promise to spread fame is conditional rhetoric from a disguised beggar, not narrator praise or a claim that visible rank guarantees virtue.
Odysseus tells Antinous an Egyptian captivity tale 17.419–444
419καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ ποτε οἶκον ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἔναιον
420ὄλβιος ἀφνειὸν καὶ πολλάκι δόσκον ἀλήτῃ,
τοίῳ ὁποῖος ἔοι καὶ ὅτευ κεχρημένος ἔλθοι·
ἦσαν δὲ δμῶες μάλα μυρίοι ἄλλα τε πολλὰ
οἷσίν τʼ εὖ ζώουσι καὶ ἀφνειοὶ καλέονται.
ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς ἀλάπαξε Κρονίων—ἤθελε γάρ που—
425ὅς μʼ ἅμα ληϊστῆρσι πολυπλάγκτοισιν ἀνῆκεν
Αἴγυπτόνδʼ ἰέναι, δολιχὴν ὁδόν, ὄφρʼ ἀπολοίμην.
στῆσα δʼ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ποταμῷ νέας ἀμφιελίσσας.
ἔνθʼ ἦ τοι μὲν ἐγὼ κελόμην ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους
αὐτοῦ πὰρ νήεσσι μένειν καὶ νῆας ἔρυσθαι,
430ὀπτῆρας δὲ κατὰ σκοπιὰς ὤτρυνα νέεσθαι.
οἱ δʼ ὕβρει εἴξαντες, ἐπισπόμενοι μένεϊ σφῷ,
αἶψα μάλʼ Αἰγυπτίων ἀνδρῶν περικαλλέας ἀγροὺς
πόρθεον, ἐκ δὲ γυναῖκας ἄγον καὶ νήπια τέκνα,
αὐτούς τʼ ἔκτεινον· τάχα δʼ ἐς πόλιν ἵκετʼ ἀϋτή.
435οἱ δὲ βοῆς ἀΐοντες ἅμʼ ἠοῖ φαινομένηφιν
ἦλθον· πλῆτο δὲ πᾶν πεδίον πεζῶν τε καὶ ἵππων
χαλκοῦ τε στεροπῆς· ἐν δὲ Ζεὺς τερπικέραυνος
φύζαν ἐμοῖς ἑτάροισι κακὴν βάλεν, οὐδέ τις ἔτλη
στῆναι ἐναντίβιον· περὶ γὰρ κακὰ πάντοθεν ἔστη.
440ἔνθʼ ἡμέων πολλοὺς μὲν ἀπέκτανον ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,
τοὺς δʼ ἄναγον ζωούς, σφίσιν ἐργάζεσθαι ἀνάγκῃ.
αὐτὰρ ἔμʼ ἐς Κύπρον ξείνῳ δόσαν ἀντιάσαντι,
Δμήτορι Ἰασίδῃ, ὃς Κύπρου ἶφι ἄνασσεν·
ἔνθεν δὴ νῦν δεῦρο τόδʼ ἵκω πήματα πάσχων.
419For I too once lived in a house among men,
420prosperous and wealthy, and often gave to a wanderer,
whatever his condition and whatever need brought him.
I had countless enslaved people and many other possessions
by which men live well and are called wealthy.
But Zeus son of Cronus stripped it away—he must have willed it—
425and sent me with far-wandering raiders
on the long road to Egypt, so that I might perish.
I moored my curved ships within Egypt’s river.
There I ordered my trusty companions
to remain beside the ships and guard them,
430and sent scouts toward the lookout points.
But they gave way to overbearing violence and followed their own aggression.
At once they began ravaging the Egyptians’ beautiful fields,
carrying off the women and infant children
and killing the men. The outcry quickly reached the city.
435Hearing the cry, the people came at the break of dawn.
The whole plain filled with infantry and horses
and the flash of bronze. Zeus who delights in thunder
threw my companions into a wretched rout, and no one dared
stand face-to-face, for ruin hemmed us in on every side.
440There they killed many of us with the sharp bronze;
others they led away alive, forced to labor for them.
But they gave me to a stranger they met who was going to Cyprus,
Dmetor son of Iasus, who ruled Cyprus in might.
From there I have now reached this place in suffering.’
Commentary
The disguised Odysseus constructs a former wealthy household and an Egyptian expedition in which he commands restraint but his companions choose violent raiding, abduction, and killing. Defeat then produces deaths, captivity, compelled labor, transfer to Dmetor, and a suffering arrival; all remain elements of tactical first-person fiction.
17.419–426 The Egyptian tale begins by constructing a wealthy former host before assigning loss and expedition to Zeus within the fiction. The speaker claims a prosperous house, many enslaved people, and habitual generosity to wanderers, then says Zeus stripped it away and sent him with raiders toward death. This self-presentation is designed for Antinous’ values and remains distinct from the narrator-known identity of the speaker.
17.427–441 The Egyptian raid reuses Book 14’s fiction in a mixed exact, punctuation-normalized, and adapted block without gaining historical authority. Lines 17.427-429, 17.431-438, and 17.440-441 are byte-exact with 14.258-260, 14.262-269, and 14.271-272; 17.430 is punctuation-normalized with 14.261, while 17.439 adapts 14.270 syntactically. The repeated speaker again separates his command from companions’ aggressive choice, then narrates abduction, killing, rout, and compelled labor.
17.442–444 The fiction closes by transferring the captive speaker to Dmetor and converting Cyprus into the last station before Ithaca. The Egyptians give him to a stranger encountered en route, Dmetor is named through father and rule, and the final suffering formula returns the tale to present need. Transfer and rule are claims inside the embedded story rather than a narrator map of Odysseus’ actual route.
Antinous refuses the appeal and strikes Odysseus 17.445–465
445τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Ἀντίνοος ἀπαμείβετο φώνησέν τε·
τίς δαίμων τόδε πῆμα προσήγαγε, δαιτὸς ἀνίην;
στῆθʼ οὕτως ἐς μέσσον, ἐμῆς ἀπάνευθε τραπέζης,
μὴ τάχα πικρὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Κύπρον ἵκηαι·
ὥς τις θαρσαλέος καὶ ἀναιδής ἐσσι προΐκτης.
450ἑξείης πάντεσσι παρίστασαι· οἱ δὲ διδοῦσι
μαψιδίως, ἐπεὶ οὔ τις ἐπίσχεσις οὐδʼ ἐλεητὺς
ἀλλοτρίων χαρίσασθαι, ἐπεὶ πάρα πολλὰ ἑκάστῳ.
τὸν δʼ ἀναχωρήσας προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
ὢ πόποι, οὐκ ἄρα σοί γʼ ἐπὶ εἴδεϊ καὶ φρένες ἦσαν·
455οὐ σύ γʼ ἂν ἐξ οἴκου σῷ ἐπιστάτῃ οὐδʼ ἅλα δοίης,
ὃς νῦν ἀλλοτρίοισι παρήμενος οὔ τί μοι ἔτλης
σίτου ἀποπροελὼν δόμεναι· τὰ δὲ πολλὰ πάρεστιν.
ὣς ἔφατʼ, Ἀντίνοος δʼ ἐχολώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,
καί μιν ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
460νῦν δή σʼ οὐκέτι καλὰ διὲκ μεγάροιό γʼ ὀΐω
ἂψ ἀναχωρήσειν, ὅτε δὴ καὶ ὀνείδεα βάζεις.
ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, καὶ θρῆνυν ἑλὼν βάλε δεξιὸν ὦμον,
πρυμνότατον κατὰ νῶτον· ὁ δʼ ἐστάθη ἠΰτε πέτρη
ἔμπεδον, οὐδʼ ἄρα μιν σφῆλεν βέλος Ἀντινόοιο,
465ἀλλʼ ἀκέων κίνησε κάρη, κακὰ βυσσοδομεύων.
445Antinous answered him:
‘What divine power brought this pest here to spoil our feast?
Stand off there in the middle, away from my table,
or you will soon reach bitter Egypt and Cyprus!
What a bold and shameless beggar you are.
450You stand beside every man in turn, and they give
without thought, since there is no restraint or compunction
in granting another man’s goods when each has plenty beside him.’
Odysseus drew back and answered him:
‘Shame! Your mind does not match your appearance.
455You would not give even salt from your own house to a suppliant of yours,
when now, seated here among another man’s goods, you cannot bring yourself
to take out a piece of bread and give it to me, though plenty lies before you.’
So he spoke. Antinous grew still angrier at heart,
glared from under his brows, and addressed him with winged words:
460‘Now I do not think you will make a dignified retreat
back through the hall, since you even speak insults.’
So he spoke, took the footstool, and struck Odysseus on the right shoulder
at the base of the back. Odysseus stood like a rock,
firmly planted; Antinous’ missile did not make him stagger.
465He silently shook his head, plotting ruin deep within.
Commentary
Antinous accuses the others of giving away another man’s goods while refusing even bread from those same stores. Odysseus draws back, names the mismatch between appearance and mind, and sharpens the guest claim through salt, household ownership, and supplication before Antinous converts verbal insult into a bodily blow.
17.445–452 Antinous calls the beggar a feast-pest while accusing others of careless generosity with property that belongs to neither giver nor critic. He orders distance from his table and weaponizes the Egyptian and Cypriot story as a threat of renewed displacement. His complaint that everyone gives another man’s goods accurately names the ownership problem but exempts his own consumption, making the speech internally compromised.
17.453–457 Odysseus’ salt-and-suppliant reply distinguishes household ownership from temporary access to another man’s abundance. Appearance and phrenes are set against one another before the minimal gift of salt tests generosity from one’s own oikos. The present scene reverses that hypothetical: Antinous sits beside goods that are not his and still refuses bread to a person Odysseus explicitly calls his suppliant.
17.458–465 Anger, glare, threat, throw, impact, rocklike stability, and silent plotting drive the assault in a tightening sequence. Antinous’ speech narrows from dignified retreat to insult, then the footstool hits the right shoulder low against the back. Odysseus’ simile fixes him like a rock before the missile’s failure and the closing head movement contain retaliation inside silence.
Odysseus curses Antinous as the suitors and Telemachus react 17.466–491
466ἂψ δʼ ὅ γʼ ἐπʼ οὐδὸν ἰὼν κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετο, κὰδ δʼ ἄρα πήρην
θῆκεν ἐϋπλείην, μετὰ δὲ μνηστῆρσιν ἔειπε·
κέκλυτέ μευ, μνηστῆρες ἀγακλειτῆς βασιλείης,
ὄφρʼ εἴπω τά με θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι κελεύει.
470οὐ μὰν οὔτʼ ἄχος ἐστὶ μετὰ φρεσὶν οὔτε τι πένθος,
ὁππότʼ ἀνὴρ περὶ οἷσι μαχειόμενος κτεάτεσσι
βλήεται, ἢ περὶ βουσὶν ἢ ἀργεννῇς ὀΐεσσιν·
αὐτὰρ ἔμʼ Ἀντίνοος βάλε γαστέρος εἵνεκα λυγρῆς,
οὐλομένης, ἣ πολλὰ κάκʼ ἀνθρώποισι δίδωσιν.
475ἀλλʼ εἴ που πτωχῶν γε θεοὶ καὶ Ἐρινύες εἰσίν,
Ἀντίνοον πρὸ γάμοιο τέλος θανάτοιο κιχείη.
τὸν δʼ αὖτʼ Ἀντίνοος προσέφη, Εὐπείθεος υἱός·
ἔσθιʼ ἕκηλος, ξεῖνε, καθήμενος, ἢ ἄπιθʼ ἄλλῃ,
μή σε νέοι διὰ δώματʼ ἐρύσσωσʼ, οἷʼ ἀγορεύεις,
480ἢ ποδὸς ἢ καὶ χειρός, ἀποδρύψωσι δὲ πάντα.
ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ὑπερφιάλως νεμέσησαν·
ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε νέων ὑπερηνορεόντων·
Ἀντίνοʼ, οὐ μὲν κάλʼ ἔβαλες δύστηνον ἀλήτην,
οὐλόμενʼ, εἰ δή πού τις ἐπουράνιος θεός ἐστιν.
485καί τε θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσι,
παντοῖοι τελέθοντες, ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας,
ἀνθρώπων ὕβριν τε καὶ εὐνομίην ἐφορῶντες.
ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφαν μνηστῆρες, ὁ δʼ οὐκ ἐμπάζετο μύθων.
Τηλέμαχος δʼ ἐν μὲν κραδίῃ μέγα πένθος ἄεξε
490βλημένου, οὐδʼ ἄρα δάκρυ χαμαὶ βάλεν ἐκ βλεφάροιϊν,
ἀλλʼ ἀκέων κίνησε κάρη, κακὰ βυσσοδομεύων.
466He went back to the threshold and sat, setting down
his well-filled bag, then addressed the suitors:
‘Listen to me, suitors of the renowned queen,
while I say what the heart in my chest commands.
470There is no grief in a man’s mind and no sorrow
when he is struck while fighting for his own possessions,
whether cattle or white sheep.
But Antinous struck me because of my wretched belly,
the accursed thing that gives men so much trouble.
475If there are gods and Furies for beggars,
may the end of death meet Antinous before his wedding.’
Antinous son of Eupeithes answered him:
‘Sit and eat in peace, stranger, or go somewhere else,
or the young men may drag you through the house for what you say,
480by the foot or hand, and strip all the skin from you.’
So he spoke, but they all fiercely resented it.
One of the overbearing young men would say:
‘Antinous, it was not right to strike the suffering wanderer,
you accursed man—what if he should happen to be some god from heaven?
485The gods do take on the likeness of foreign strangers
and, assuming every shape, range through cities,
watching the violence and lawful conduct of human beings.’
So the suitors spoke, but Antinous paid their words no heed.
Telemachus let great grief grow within his heart
490because his father was struck, yet shed no tear from his eyelids.
He silently shook his head, plotting ruin deep within.
Commentary
Odysseus returns to the threshold, distinguishes wounds taken for one’s own property from a belly-driven assault, and curses Antinous to die before marriage. Antinous threatens dragging and mutilation; other suitors condemn the strike through the possibility of a disguised god, while Telemachus hides grief and mirrors his father’s silent head movement.
17.466–476 Odysseus separates property-defense wounds from the shame of being struck for a belly and turns that distinction into a curse. Thumos and phrenes frame what he is compelled to say, while the belly repeats the accursed source of trouble from 17.286-289. Gods and Furies for beggars are invoked conditionally, and death before marriage is a desired outcome rather than an announced narrator sentence.
17.477–480 Antinous answers the curse by threatening collective dragging and skinning rather than withdrawing the assault. The alternative is coercively simple: eat silently or leave. He assigns the future violence to the young men and specifies foot or hand as points of seizure, extending his own blow into a group threat without narrating its completion.
17.481–488 Unidentified suitors condemn the blow through a conditional divine-stranger possibility while Antinous ignores them. Their resentment is collective, but the speech is assigned only to an indefinite young man. Gods may assume many foreign forms and inspect violence and good order; the warning gives theological risk to hospitality conduct without recognizing the actual stranger as divine.
17.489–491 Telemachus’ concealed response repeats his father’s silent head movement exactly while changing the observer and emotional pressure. Line 17.491 is byte-exact in Greek and project English with 17.465. Odysseus moves after absorbing the blow and plotting; Telemachus suppresses a tear as grief grows because his father was struck. Internal recurrence makes secrecy shared without making their emotions or tactical positions identical.
Penelope hears of the blow and summons the stranger 17.492–511
492τοῦ δʼ ὡς οὖν ἤκουσε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια
βλημένου ἐν μεγάρῳ, μετʼ ἄρα δμῳῇσιν ἔειπεν·
αἴθʼ οὕτως αὐτόν σε βάλοι κλυτότοξος Ἀπόλλων.
495τὴν δʼ αὖτʼ Εὐρυνόμη ταμίη πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·
εἰ γὰρ ἐπʼ ἀρῇσιν τέλος ἡμετέρῃσι γένοιτο·
οὐκ ἄν τις τούτων γε ἐΰθρονον Ἠῶ ἵκοιτο.
τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
μαῖʼ, ἐχθροὶ μὲν πάντες, ἐπεὶ κακὰ μηχανόωνται·
500Ἀντίνοος δὲ μάλιστα μελαίνῃ κηρὶ ἔοικε.
ξεῖνός τις δύστηνος ἀλητεύει κατὰ δῶμα
ἀνέρας αἰτίζων· ἀχρημοσύνη γὰρ ἀνώγει·
ἔνθʼ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐνέπλησάν τʼ ἔδοσάν τε,
οὗτος δὲ θρήνυι πρυμνὸν βάλε δεξιὸν ὦμον.
505ἡ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς ἀγόρευε μετὰ δμῳῇσι γυναιξίν,
ἡμένη ἐν θαλάμῳ· ὁ δʼ ἐδείπνεε δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
ἡ δʼ ἐπὶ οἷ καλέσασα προσηύδα δῖον ὑφορβόν·
ἔρχεο, δῖʼ Εὔμαιε, κιὼν τὸν ξεῖνον ἄνωχθι
ἐλθέμεν, ὄφρα τί μιν προσπτύξομαι ἠδʼ ἐρέωμαι
510εἴ που Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος ἠὲ πέπυσται
ἢ ἴδεν ὀφθαλμοῖσι· πολυπλάγκτῳ γὰρ ἔοικε.
492When discerning Penelope heard
that the stranger had been struck in the hall, she said among her enslaved women:
‘May Apollo, famed for his bow, strike Antinous just the same.’
495Eurynome the housekeeper answered her:
‘If only fulfillment followed our prayers,
not one of those men would reach Dawn on her splendid throne.’
Discerning Penelope answered her:
‘Mother, they are all enemies because they plot evil,
500but Antinous above all is like black doom.
A suffering stranger goes about the house
begging from the men, for need compels him.
All the others filled his bag and gave,
but Antinous struck his right shoulder at the base with a footstool.’
505So she spoke among the enslaved women
as she sat in her chamber, while godlike Odysseus ate.
She called the godlike swineherd to her and said:
‘Go, godlike Eumaeus, and tell the stranger
to come, so that I may address him and ask
510whether he has heard any news of steadfast Odysseus
or seen him with his own eyes, for he looks like a man who has wandered far.’
Commentary
Penelope learns the assault through household report rather than sight. Her curse and Eurynome’s amplified prayer are followed by a more detailed contrast between general suitor hostility and Antinous’ special violence; Penelope then summons the stranger for verbal address and inquiry about Odysseus.
17.492–500 Penelope’s knowledge of the assault arrives through hearing, then expands through Eurynome’s prayer and her own ranking of enemies. The narrator does not place Penelope in the hall; she speaks among enslaved women after hearing that the stranger was struck. Her wish for Apollo to strike Antinous and Eurynome’s dawn prayer precede Penelope’s claim that all plot evil but Antinous resembles black doom most.
17.501–511 Penelope’s report preserves compulsion by need and the blow’s bodily locator before she requests verbal contact, not an embrace. She contrasts the other givers with Antinous, then calls Eumaeus and says she wishes to prosptuxomai and question the wanderer. In this syntax the intended act is address joined to inquiry; no approach, clasp, or kiss is narrated, unlike the explicit bodily greetings earlier in the book.
Eumaeus praises the stranger’s tale and repeats his return claim 17.512–527
512τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα
εἰ γάρ τοι, βασίλεια, σιωπήσειαν Ἀχαιοί·
οἷʼ ὅ γε μυθεῖται, θέλγοιτό κέ τοι φίλον ἦτορ.
515τρεῖς γὰρ δή μιν νύκτας ἔχον, τρία δʼ ἤματʼ ἔρυξα
ἐν κλισίῃ· πρῶτον γὰρ ἔμʼ ἵκετο νηὸς ἀποδράς·
ἀλλʼ οὔ πω κακότητα διήνυσεν ἣν ἀγορεύων.
ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἀοιδὸν ἀνὴρ ποτιδέρκεται, ὅς τε θεῶν ἒξ
ἀείδει δεδαὼς ἔπεʼ ἱμερόεντα βροτοῖσι,
520τοῦ δʼ ἄμοτον μεμάασιν ἀκουέμεν, ὁππότʼ ἀείδῃ·
ὣς ἐμὲ κεῖνος ἔθελγε παρήμενος ἐν μεγάροισι.
φησὶ δʼ Ὀδυσσῆος ξεῖνος πατρώϊος εἶναι,
Κρήτῃ ναιετάων, ὅθι Μίνωος γένος ἐστίν.
ἔνθεν δὴ νῦν δεῦρο τόδʼ ἵκετο πήματα πάσχων,
525προπροκυλινδόμενος· στεῦται δʼ Ὀδυσῆος ἀκοῦσαι,
ἀγχοῦ, Θεσπρωτῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐν πίονι δήμῳ,
ζωοῦ· πολλὰ δʼ ἄγει κειμήλια ὅνδε δόμονδε.
512Then you answered her, Eumaeus the swineherd:
‘If only the Achaeans would keep silent, my queen!
The things he tells would enchant your dear heart.
515I kept him for three nights and held him in the hut for three days,
for he came to me first after escaping from a ship,
but he still had not finished recounting all his suffering.
As a man gazes at a singer who, taught by the gods,
sings words that stir longing in mortals,
520and they yearn without ceasing to hear whenever he sings,
so he enchanted me as he sat in the hut.
He says he is an ancestral guest-friend of Odysseus,
living in Crete, where the line of Minos is.
From there he has now come to this place in suffering,
525driven onward from one hardship to the next. He claims to have heard of Odysseus
nearby in the rich land of the Thesprotians,
alive and bringing many treasures to this house.’
Commentary
The narrator again apostrophizes Eumaeus, whose praise compares the stranger’s storytelling to divinely taught song. His three-night and three-day claim presses against local narrative time, and his summary of Cretan guest-friendship and a nearby Thesprotian return remains a report of the stranger’s fiction.
17.512–517 The Eumaeus reply formula is punctuation-normalized internally, while the three-night and three-day claim remains unharmonized. Lines 17.512 and 17.579 have the same Greek wording apart from terminal punctuation; neither is byte-exact with the masculine-address apostrophe series. Eumaeus then states a duration that presses against the apparent local chronology and attributes first arrival to escape from a ship.
17.518–527 Eumaeus compares listening to the stranger with the irresistible attention given a divinely taught singer. The simile concerns audience desire and enchanting speech, not proof of truth. Eumaeus immediately relays Cretan guest-friendship, Minos’ line, accumulated suffering, a Thesprotian report, life, and treasure as claims made by the storyteller he admires.
Penelope condemns the feast and reads Telemachus’ sneeze 17.528–550
528τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
ἔρχεο, δεῦρο κάλεσσον, ἵνʼ ἀντίον αὐτὸς ἐνίσπῃ.
530οὗτοι δʼ ἠὲ θύρῃσι καθήμενοι ἑψιαάσθων.
ἢ αὐτοῦ κατὰ δώματʼ, ἐπεί σφισι θυμὸς ἐΰφρων.
αὐτῶν μὲν γὰρ κτήματʼ ἀκήρατα κεῖτʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ,
σῖτος καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ· τὰ μὲν οἰκῆες ἔδουσιν,
οἱ δʼ εἰς ἡμέτερον πωλεύμενοι ἤματα πάντα,
535βοῦς ἱερεύοντες καὶ ὄϊς καὶ πίονας αἶγας,
εἰλαπινάζουσιν πίνουσί τε αἴθοπα οἶνον,
μαψιδίως· τὰ δὲ πολλὰ κατάνεται. οὐ γὰρ ἔπʼ ἀνήρ,
οἷος Ὀδυσσεὺς ἔσκεν, ἀρὴν ἀπὸ οἴκου ἀμῦναι.
εἰ δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἔλθοι καὶ ἵκοιτʼ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,
540αἶψά κε σὺν ᾧ παιδὶ βίας ἀποτίσεται ἀνδρῶν.
ὣς φάτο, Τηλέμαχος δὲ μέγʼ ἔπταρεν, ἀμφὶ δὲ δῶμα
σμερδαλέον κονάβησε· γέλασσε δὲ Πηνελόπεια,
αἶψα δʼ ἄρʼ Εὔμαιον ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
ἔρχεό μοι, τὸν ξεῖνον ἐναντίον ὧδε κάλεσσον.
545οὐχ ὁράᾳς ὅ μοι υἱὸς ἐπέπταρε πᾶσιν ἔπεσσι;
τῷ κε καὶ οὐκ ἀτελὴς θάνατος μνηστῆρσι γένοιτο
πᾶσι μάλʼ, οὐδέ κέ τις θάνατον καὶ κῆρας ἀλύξει.
ἄλλο δέ τοι ἐρέω, σὺ δʼ ἐνὶ φρεσὶ βάλλεο σῇσιν·
αἴ κʼ αὐτὸν γνώω νημερτέα πάντʼ ἐνέποντα,
550ἕσσω μιν χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε, εἵματα καλά.
528Discerning Penelope answered him:
‘Go and call him here so he can tell me face to face.
530Let these men amuse themselves sitting by the doors
or here within the house, since their hearts are so cheerful.
Their own possessions lie untouched at home—
bread and sweet wine, consumed by their enslaved household workers—
while they range through our house every day,
535sacrificing cattle, sheep, and fat goats,
feasting and drinking fiery wine
without restraint, so that our great wealth is being spent away. There is no man
such as Odysseus was to ward ruin from the house.
If Odysseus returned and reached his native land,
540he and his son would quickly repay the men’s violence.’
So she spoke. Telemachus sneezed loudly, and the house
rang terribly around him. Penelope laughed
and quickly addressed Eumaeus with winged words:
‘Go now and call the stranger here before me.
545Do you not see that my son sneezed upon everything I said?
So death for all the suitors will not go unfulfilled,
and not one will escape death and doom.
I will tell you something else—set it in your mind.
If I find that he tells me every truth,
550I will dress him in a cloak and tunic, fine clothes.’
Commentary
Penelope contrasts untouched suitor property with the daily expenditure of her own household’s animals, bread, and wine. She imagines Odysseus and Telemachus repaying violence, then interprets her son’s resonant sneeze as confirmation and offers clothing if the stranger proves truthful.
17.528–538 Penelope locates suitor abundance in the asymmetry between untouched private stores and continual consumption of her household. She names bread and wine remaining at their houses for enslaved workers while cattle, sheep, goats, and fiery wine are spent in hers. The argument joins property, household labor, and absence of protective authority without claiming that workers at the suitors’ homes consume luxuriously or freely.
17.539–550 Penelope links a conditional return to joint repayment, then interprets Telemachus’ sneeze as confirmation and makes clothing contingent on truth. The return remains an if-clause before the sneeze sounds through the house. Penelope laughs and explicitly applies the bodily event to all her preceding words, predicting no suitor will escape; her interpretation, not the event alone, supplies omen force. The cloak and tunic depend on later testing of the stranger.
Eumaeus carries the summons and Odysseus delays the interview 17.551–573
551ὣς φάτο, βῆ δὲ συφορβός, ἐπεὶ τὸν μῦθον ἄκουσεν·
ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱστάμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
ξεῖνε πάτερ, καλέει σε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια,
μήτηρ Τηλεμάχοιο· μεταλλῆσαί τί ἑ θυμὸς
555ἀμφὶ πόσει κέλεται, καὶ κήδεά περ πεπαθυίῃ.
εἰ δέ κέ σε γνώῃ νημερτέα πάντʼ ἐνέποντα,
ἕσσει σε χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε, τῶν σὺ μάλιστα
χρηΐζεις· σῖτον δὲ καὶ αἰτίζων κατὰ δῆμον
γαστέρα βοσκήσεις· δώσει δέ τοι ὅς κʼ ἐθέλῃσι.
560τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
Εὔμαιʼ, αἶψά κʼ ἐγὼ νημερτέα πάντʼ ἐνέποιμι
κούρῃ Ἰκαρίοιο, περίφρονι Πηνελοπείῃ·
οἶδα γὰρ εὖ περὶ κείνου, ὁμὴν δʼ ἀνεδέγμεθʼ ὀϊζύν.
ἀλλὰ μνηστήρων χαλεπῶν ὑποδείδιʼ ὅμιλον,
565τῶν ὕβρις τε βίη τε σιδήρεον οὐρανὸν ἵκει.
καὶ γὰρ νῦν, ὅτε μʼ οὗτος ἀνὴρ κατὰ δῶμα κιόντα
οὔ τι κακὸν ῥέξαντα βαλὼν ὀδύνῃσιν ἔδωκεν,
οὔτε τι Τηλέμαχος τό γʼ ἐπήρκεσεν οὔτε τις ἄλλος.
τῷ νῦν Πηνελόπειαν ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἄνωχθι
570μεῖναι, ἐπειγομένην περ, ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα·
καὶ τότε μʼ εἰρέσθω πόσιος πέρι νόστιμον ἦμαρ,
ἀσσοτέρω καθίσασα παραὶ πυρί· εἵματα γάρ τοι
λύγρʼ ἔχω· οἶσθα καὶ αὐτός, ἐπεί σε πρῶθʼ ἱκέτευσα.
551So she spoke. The swineherd went when he heard her words,
stood near the stranger, and addressed him with winged words:
‘Father stranger, discerning Penelope is calling you,
the mother of Telemachus. Her heart urges her
555to question you about her husband, despite all she has suffered.
If she finds that you tell every truth,
she will dress you in a cloak and tunic, the things
you need most. You can beg for bread through the district
and feed your belly; whoever wishes will give to you.’
560Much-enduring godlike Odysseus answered him:
‘Eumaeus, I would readily tell every truth
to the daughter of Icarius, discerning Penelope.
I know Odysseus well, for we have borne the same misery.
But I fear the crowd of harsh suitors,
565whose outrage and violence reach the iron sky.
Even now, when this man struck me as I walked through the house,
though I had done no wrong, and gave me pain,
neither Telemachus nor anyone else warded it off.
Tell Penelope to wait in the halls,
570eager though she is, until the sun goes down.
Then let her ask me about her husband’s day of return,
sitting nearer to me beside the fire, for the clothes
I wear are miserable. You know it yourself, since you were the first I approached as a suppliant.’
Commentary
Eumaeus relays the summons and material offer, but Odysseus delays until sunset. He cites suitor violence, poor clothing, and Telemachus’ nonintervention within his disguised speech, requesting a closer fireside interview; the delay protects secrecy without granting Penelope new knowledge.
17.551–559 Eumaeus’ relay repeats the earlier food-bearing movement and adapts Penelope’s summons to the stranger’s material needs. Line 17.551 is punctuation-normalized with 17.348, and 17.552 is byte-exact with 4.25. The message preserves Penelope’s question and truth condition, while Eumaeus adds that cloak and tunic are most needed and returns bread to the voluntary city-gift formula.
17.560–568 A recurrent Odyssean reply formula introduces a tactical truth claim before the disguised speaker cites public danger and Telemachus’ nonintervention. Line 17.560 is byte-exact with 14.148, 16.90, 16.225, 16.258, and 16.266; 17.565 is byte-exact with 15.329. Here the formula leads to claimed shared suffering, fear of suitor violence, and a selective account of the blow in which Telemachus’ concealed response cannot be disclosed.
17.569–573 Odysseus uses sunset, proximity to the fire, and poor clothing to control the conditions of the interview with Penelope. He asks her to wait despite eagerness and to sit nearer when questioning him about nostos. The request is both plausible for the beggar body and useful for privacy; his final appeal to Eumaeus’ firsthand knowledge of the clothing supports the surface reason.
Penelope accepts the stranger’s caution and a private evening meeting 17.574–590
574ὣς φάτο, βῆ δὲ συφορβός, ἐπεὶ τὸν μῦθον ἄκουσε.
575τὸν δʼ ὑπὲρ οὐδοῦ βάντα προσηύδα Πηνελόπεια·
οὐ σύ γʼ ἄγεις, Εὔμαιε· τί τοῦτʼ ἐνόησεν ἀλήτης;
ἦ τινά που δείσας ἐξαίσιον ἦε καὶ ἄλλως
αἰδεῖται κατὰ δῶμα; κακὸς δʼ αἰδοῖος ἀλήτης.
τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα·
580μυθεῖται κατὰ μοῖραν, ἅ πέρ κʼ οἴοιτο καὶ ἄλλος,
ὕβριν ἀλυσκάζων ἀνδρῶν ὑπερηνορεόντων.
ἀλλά σε μεῖναι ἄνωγεν ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα.
καὶ δὲ σοὶ ὧδʼ αὐτῇ πολὺ κάλλιον, ὦ βασίλεια,
οἴην πρὸς ξεῖνον φάσθαι ἔπος ἠδʼ ἐπακοῦσαι.
585τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
οὐκ ἄφρων ὁ ξεῖνος· ὀΐεται, ὥς περ ἂν εἴη·
οὐ γάρ πού τινες ὧδε καταθνητῶν ἀνθρώπων
ἀνέρες ὑβρίζοντες ἀτάσθαλα μηχανόωνται.
ἡ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς ἀγόρευεν, ὁ δʼ ᾤχετο δῖος ὑφορβὸς
590μνηστήρων ἐς ὅμιλον, ἐπεὶ διεπέφραδε πάντα.
574So he spoke. The swineherd went when he heard his words.
575As he crossed the threshold, Penelope addressed him:
‘You are not bringing him, Eumaeus. What is the wanderer thinking?
Is he afraid of some outrageous man, or is he otherwise
ashamed within the house? A bashful wanderer fares badly.’
Then you answered her, Eumaeus the swineherd:
580‘He speaks as is fitting, just as another man would think,
when avoiding the violence of overbearing men.
He asks you to wait until the sun goes down.
It is much better for you yourself, my queen,
to speak to the stranger and hear him alone.’
585Discerning Penelope answered him:
‘The stranger is no fool; he sees what is likely.
Nowhere among mortal men, I think,
do men commit such violence and scheme such reckless acts.’
So she spoke, and the godlike swineherd went
590into the crowd of suitors when he had explained everything.
Commentary
Penelope asks whether fear or shame keeps the stranger away. Eumaeus presents avoidance as fitting prudence and recommends an encounter alone; Penelope judges the stranger intelligent and the suitors exceptionally violent without recognizing the man behind the caution.
17.574–584 The threshold exchange adapts the Eumaeus apostrophe and turns the stranger’s delay into a recommendation for private speech. Line 17.579 is punctuation-normalized with 17.512 through terminal punctuation alone. Penelope proposes fear or shame; Eumaeus calls avoidance fitting under violence and says an encounter alone is better for her, carrying the disguised man’s prudence into household advice.
17.585–590 Penelope recognizes intelligence in the stranger’s caution without recognizing the stranger. She says he is not without sense and judges his estimate of the suitors plausible because their violence and recklessness exceed ordinary mortal conduct. The narrator then sends Eumaeus back into the crowd after his report, leaving the interview deferred.
Eumaeus quietly warns Telemachus and returns to the pigs 17.591–606
591αἶψα δὲ Τηλέμαχον ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα,
ἄγχι σχὼν κεφαλήν, ἵνα μὴ πευθοίαθʼ οἱ ἄλλοι·
ὦ φίλʼ, ἐγὼ μὲν ἄπειμι, σύας καὶ κεῖνα φυλάξων,
σὸν καὶ ἐμὸν βίοτον· σοὶ δʼ ἐνθάδε πάντα μελόντων.
595αὐτὸν μέν σε πρῶτα σάω, καὶ φράζεο θυμῷ
μή τι πάθῃς· πολλοὶ δὲ κακὰ φρονέουσιν Ἀχαιῶν,
τοὺς Ζεὺς ἐξολέσειε πρὶν ἡμῖν πῆμα γενέσθαι.
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
ἔσσεται οὕτως, ἄττα· σὺ δʼ ἔρχεο δειελιήσας·
600ἠῶθεν δʼ ἰέναι καὶ ἄγειν ἱερήϊα καλά·
αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ τάδε πάντα καὶ ἀθανάτοισι μελήσει.
ὣς φάθʼ, ὁ δʼ αὖτις ἄρʼ ἕζετʼ ἐϋξέστου ἐπὶ δίφρου,
πλησάμενος δʼ ἄρα θυμὸν ἐδητύος ἠδὲ ποτῆτος
βῆ ῥʼ ἴμεναι μεθʼ ὕας, λίπε δʼ ἕρκεά τε μέγαρόν τε,
605πλεῖον δαιτυμόνων· οἱ δʼ ὀρχηστυῖ καὶ ἀοιδῇ
τέρποντʼ· ἤδη γὰρ καὶ ἐπήλυθε δείελον ἦμαρ.
591At once he addressed Telemachus with winged words,
holding his head close so the others would not hear:
‘Friend, I am leaving to guard the pigs and everything there,
the livelihood that is yours and mine. Let everything here concern you.
595Save yourself first of all and take thought in your heart
that you suffer no harm. Many Achaeans are planning evil;
may Zeus destroy them before they become a disaster for us.’
Discerning Telemachus answered him face to face:
‘It shall be so, father. Go when evening comes.
600Return at dawn and bring fine animals for sacrifice.
Everything here will concern me and the immortals.’
So he spoke. Eumaeus sat again on the polished stool.
When he had filled his heart with food and drink,
he went back toward the pigs, leaving the enclosure and hall
605full of feasters. They took delight in dance and song,
for the evening had already come upon them.
Commentary
Eumaeus brings his head close to Telemachus so the suitors cannot hear, calls the farm livelihood both the son’s and his own, and warns him to survive. Telemachus answers with affectionate elder address, orders sacrificial animals for dawn, and shares responsibility with the immortals; Eumaeus eats before returning to the pigs as dance and song continue.
17.591–606 The book closes with secrecy, affectionate elder address, delegated responsibility, appetite, farm return, and the suitors’ continued entertainment. Line 17.592 is byte-exact with 4.70, and 17.598 is byte-exact with the Telemachus response formula at 16.30 and 16.68. The phrase ἄττα at 17.599 reprises 17.6 and 16.31 without making the full lines exact. Line 17.604 is punctuation-normalized with 16.341, but here Eumaeus eats before returning while Telemachus invokes both himself and the immortals. Dance and song close the day without resolving danger.