Odyssey, Book 18: Irus and Penelope
Homer · Greek original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 18 makes the disguised king’s body, speech, and endurance public without making his identity public. A threshold rival is forced into a spectacle that Odysseus wins by calibrated violence; the victor then warns Amphinomus that prosperity and human judgment are unstable, even as Athena fixes that comparatively receptive suitor’s death. Athena separately prompts and transforms Penelope, whose conscious rebuke of Telemachus and successful demand for gifts expose the courtship’s inversion of reciprocity without disclosing recognition of her husband. Evening work brings enslaved women, Melantho, hired labor, agricultural skill, martial identity, and household authority into the same contested hall. Repeated taunts culminate in a second footstool assault, but Telemachus and Amphinomus recover only a temporary orderly close. The book therefore advances restoration through testing and accumulated responsibility, not through recognition or recovered rule.
Narrative arc
- Arnaeus’ threshold challenge becomes a coerced beggar contest, which Odysseus wins while preserving disguise.
- Amphinomus receives a warning about human instability and suitor violence but remains divinely bound to a mortal death.
- Athena prompts and transforms Penelope, whose rebuke and gift strategy expose failed household reciprocity.
- Night labor and Melantho’s abuse lead into Eurymachus’ hired-work taunt and Odysseus’ agricultural and martial counterclaim.
- A thrown footstool injures a servant before Telemachus and Amphinomus restore a temporary libation-and-departure order.
Central themes
- spectacle, coercion, and calibrated violence
- disguise as bodily and verbal control
- prosperity, noos, recklessness, and unstable human circumstance
- Penelope’s bounded agency, grief, appearance, and gift strategy
- hospitality, courtship, gifts, consumption, and repayment
- enslavement, hired labor, household authority, and status abuse
Arnaeus, called Irus, tries to drive Odysseus from the threshold 18.1–24
1ἦλθε δʼ ἐπὶ πτωχὸς πανδήμιος, ὃς κατὰ ἄστυ
πτωχεύεσκʼ Ἰθάκης, μετὰ δʼ ἔπρεπε γαστέρι μάργῃ
ἀζηχὲς φαγέμεν καὶ πιέμεν· οὐδέ οἱ ἦν ἲς
οὐδὲ βίη, εἶδος δὲ μάλα μέγας ἦν ὁράασθαι.
5Ἀρναῖος δʼ ὄνομʼ ἔσκε· τὸ γὰρ θέτο πότνια μήτηρ
ἐκ γενετῆς· Ἶρον δὲ νέοι κίκλησκον ἅπαντες,
οὕνεκʼ ἀπαγγέλλεσκε κιών, ὅτε πού τις ἀνώγοι·
ὅς ῥʼ ἐλθὼν Ὀδυσῆα διώκετο οἷο δόμοιο,
καί μιν νεικείων ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
10εἶκε, γέρον, προθύρου, μὴ δὴ τάχα καὶ ποδὸς ἕλκῃ.
οὐκ ἀΐεις ὅτι δή μοι ἐπιλλίζουσιν ἅπαντες,
ἑλκέμεναι δὲ κέλονται; ἐγὼ δʼ αἰσχύνομαι ἔμπης.
ἀλλʼ ἄνα, μὴ τάχα νῶϊν ἔρις καὶ χερσὶ γένηται.
τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
15δαιμόνιʼ, οὔτε τί σε ῥέζω κακὸν οὔτʼ ἀγορεύω,
οὔτε τινὰ φθονέω δόμεναι καὶ πόλλʼ ἀνελόντα.
οὐδὸς δʼ ἀμφοτέρους ὅδε χείσεται, οὐδέ τί σε χρὴ
ἀλλοτρίων φθονέειν· δοκέεις δέ μοι εἶναι ἀλήτης
ὥς περ ἐγών, ὄλβον δὲ θεοὶ μέλλουσιν ὀπάζειν.
20χερσὶ δὲ μή τι λίην προκαλίζεο, μή με χολώσῃς,
μή σε γέρων περ ἐὼν στῆθος καὶ χείλεα φύρσω
αἵματος· ἡσυχίη δʼ ἂν ἐμοὶ καὶ μᾶλλον ἔτʼ εἴη
αὔριον· οὐ μὲν γάρ τί σʼ ὑποστρέψεσθαι ὀΐω
δεύτερον ἐς μέγαρον Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος.
1Then a beggar known to all the people came up, a man who through the city
of Ithaca always begged and stood out for his ravenous belly,
eating and drinking without pause. Yet he had no strength
or force, though in appearance he was very large.
5Arnaeus was his name, for his honored mother had given it
at his birth; but all the young men called him Irus,
because he carried messages whenever someone told him to.
When he arrived, he tried to drive Odysseus from his own house
and abused him, addressing him with winged words:
10‘Give up the doorway, old man, before you are soon dragged out by the foot.
Do you not hear how they are all signaling to me
and telling me to drag you off? Yet I feel ashamed all the same.
Get up, before our quarrel quickly comes to blows.’
Resourceful Odysseus glared from under his brows and answered:
15‘Strange man, I neither do you harm nor speak against you,
nor do I begrudge anyone giving to you, even if he takes up plenty.
This threshold will hold us both; you have no need
to begrudge another man’s goods. You seem to me a wanderer
just as I am, and prosperity lies for the gods to grant.
20Do not challenge me too hard with your hands and make me angry,
or, old though I am, I may stain your chest and lips
with blood. Then tomorrow would be quieter still for me,
for I do not think you would come back
a second time to the house of Laertes’ son Odysseus.’
Commentary
Arnaeus arrives as a publicly familiar beggar whose messenger service has produced the name Irus. His effort to monopolize Odysseus’ own threshold turns shared poverty into a contest over another man’s space and goods; Odysseus first answers with room for both, then warns that forced exclusion will draw blood.
18.1–7 Arnaeus is the birth name; Irus is a socially imposed name grounded in message-carrying. The narrator separates maternal naming from the younger men’s usage and places pandēmios beside habitual begging throughout Ithaca. The messenger-name marks a public function but does not erase the man’s prior identity or make every inhabitant his patron.
18.8–13 The first conflict is over who may occupy the threshold, not over ownership of the house. Irus attempts to expel Odysseus from Odysseus’ own home while neither recognizes the other’s full identity. Signals from the suitors, professed shame, and the threat of dragging convert an apparently minor spatial claim into a staged test of control.
18.14–24 A recurrent glare-and-answer frame introduces Odysseus’ local argument that one threshold can hold two beggars. Line 18.14 is byte-exact with 8.165, where Odysseus answers athletic insult; here the same frame precedes a defense of shared space, another man’s goods, and divine control of prosperity. The formula carries controlled anger across scenes without making Laodamas’ invitation and Irus’ threat equivalent.
Irus threatens violence and the suitors stage a rewarded contest 18.25–50
25τὸν δὲ χολωσάμενος προσεφώνεεν Ἶρος ἀλήτης·
ὢ πόποι, ὡς ὁ μολοβρὸς ἐπιτροχάδην ἀγορεύει,
γρηῒ καμινοῖ ἶσος· ὃν ἂν κακὰ μητισαίμην
κόπτων ἀμφοτέρῃσι, χαμαὶ δέ κε πάντας ὀδόντας
γναθμῶν ἐξελάσαιμι συὸς ὣς ληϊβοτείρης.
30ζῶσαι νῦν, ἵνα πάντες ἐπιγνώωσι καὶ οἵδε
μαρναμένους· πῶς δʼ ἂν σὺ νεωτέρῳ ἀνδρὶ μάχοιο;
ὣς οἱ μὲν προπάροιθε θυράων ὑψηλάων
οὐδοῦ ἔπι ξεστοῦ πανθυμαδὸν ὀκριόωντο.
τοῖϊν δὲ ξυνέηχʼ ἱερὸν μένος Ἀντινόοιο,
35ἡδὺ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐκγελάσας μετεφώνει μνηστήρεσσιν·
ὦ φίλοι, οὐ μέν πώ τι πάρος τοιοῦτον ἐτύχθη,
οἵην τερπωλὴν θεὸς ἤγαγεν ἐς τόδε δῶμα.
ὁ ξεῖνός τε καὶ Ἶρος ἐρίζετον ἀλλήλοιϊν
χερσὶ μαχέσσασθαι· ἀλλὰ ξυνελάσσομεν ὦκα.
40ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἀνήϊξαν γελόωντες,
ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρα πτωχοὺς κακοείμονας ἠγερέθοντο.
τοῖσιν δʼ Ἀντίνοος μετέφη, Εὐπείθεος υἱός·
κέκλυτέ μευ, μνηστῆρες ἀγήνορες, ὄφρα τι εἴπω.
γαστέρες αἵδʼ αἰγῶν κέατʼ ἐν πυρί, τὰς ἐπὶ δόρπῳ
45κατθέμεθα κνίσης τε καὶ αἵματος ἐμπλήσαντες·
ὁππότερος δέ κε νικήσῃ κρείσσων τε γένηται,
τάων ἥν κʼ ἐθέλῃσιν ἀναστὰς αὐτὸς ἑλέσθω·
αἰεὶ αὖθʼ ἡμῖν μεταδαίσεται, οὐδέ τινʼ ἄλλον
πτωχὸν ἔσω μίσγεσθαι ἐάσομεν αἰτήσοντα.
50ὣς ἔφατʼ Ἀντίνοος, τοῖσιν δʼ ἐπιήνδανε μῦθος.
25Irus the beggar grew angry and answered him:
‘Shame, how glibly this glutton runs on,
like an old woman at her oven. I could devise him trouble,
pounding him with both fists and driving every tooth
from his jaws to the ground, like a crop-devouring sow.
30Gird yourself now, so all these men can see us
fight. But how could you battle a younger man?’
So before the high doors, upon the polished threshold,
the two bristled furiously at each other.
The sacred strength of Antinous heard them.
35He laughed with delight and said among the suitors:
‘Friends, nothing like this has ever happened before—
what entertainment a god has brought into this house!
The stranger and Irus are challenging each other
to fight with their fists. Let us bring them together quickly.’
40So he spoke. They all sprang up laughing
and gathered around the two poorly dressed beggars.
Antinous son of Eupeithes spoke among them:
‘Listen to me, proud suitors, while I tell you something.
These goat stomachs lie here by the fire; for supper
45we filled them with fat and blood and set them down.
Whichever man wins and proves the stronger
may rise and choose whichever one he wants.
He will always feast with us from now on, and we will allow
no other beggar to come inside asking for food.’
50So Antinous spoke, and his proposal pleased them.
Commentary
Irus converts the dispute into fistfight abuse, and Antinous converts that abuse into entertainment. The offered stomach and exclusive future access to the feast make food both prize and instrument of control, while the laughing circle makes two vulnerable men perform for elite consumers.
18.25–33 Rapid abuse gives way to a slower threshold tableau before the crowd intervenes. Irus’ single zōsai command to gird, set amid paired fist-and-tooth threats, a boast, and a taunting question, presses forward, while the syntax at 18.32-33 suspends both men bristling on the polished threshold. That pause turns private insult into visible spectacle without requiring a complete hexameter scansion.
18.34–41 Antinous treats divinely sent entertainment as permission to manufacture violence. He attributes the opportunity to a god, laughs, summons the contestants together, and the others form a circle around poorly clothed beggars. Divine vocabulary does not remove human initiative: Antinous proposes the collision and the group supplies its audience.
18.42–50 The prize turns hunger and feast access into tools for making vulnerable men fight. A stuffed goat stomach rewards the stronger man, while exclusive future admission excludes all other beggars. The suitors therefore convert food already prepared for their supper into both inducement and gatekeeping power over those who ask.
Odysseus secures an oath and Athena enlarges his revealed body 18.51–70
51τοῖς δὲ δολοφρονέων μετέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
ὦ φίλοι, οὔ πως ἔστι νεωτέρῳ ἀνδρὶ μάχεσθαι
ἄνδρα γέροντα, δύῃ ἀρημένον· ἀλλά με γαστὴρ
ὀτρύνει κακοεργός, ἵνα πληγῇσι δαμείω.
55ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν μοι πάντες ὀμόσσατε καρτερὸν ὅρκον,
μή τις ἐπʼ Ἴρῳ ἦρα φέρων ἐμὲ χειρὶ βαρείῃ
πλήξῃ ἀτασθάλλων, τούτῳ δέ με ἶφι δαμάσσῃ.
ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἀπώμνυον ὡς ἐκέλευεν.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ὄμοσάν τε τελεύτησάν τε τὸν ὅρκον,
60τοῖς δʼ αὖτις μετέειφʼ ἱερὴ ἲς Τηλεμάχοιο·
ξεῖνʼ, εἴ σʼ ὀτρύνει κραδίη καὶ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ
τοῦτον ἀλέξασθαι, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων μή τινʼ Ἀχαιῶν
δείδιθʼ, ἐπεὶ πλεόνεσσι μαχήσεται ὅς κέ σε θείνῃ·
ξεινοδόκος μὲν ἐγών, ἐπὶ δʼ αἰνεῖτον βασιλῆες,
65Ἀντίνοός τε καὶ Εὐρύμαχος, πεπνυμένω ἄμφω.
ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ζώσατο μὲν ῥάκεσιν περὶ μήδεα, φαῖνε δὲ μηροὺς
καλούς τε μεγάλους τε, φάνεν δέ οἱ εὐρέες ὦμοι
στήθεά τε στιβαροί τε βραχίονες· αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνη
70ἄγχι παρισταμένη μέλεʼ ἤλδανε ποιμένι λαῶν.
51Resourceful Odysseus, planning deception, spoke among them:
‘Friends, there is no way for an old man,
worn down by hardship, to fight a younger one; but this ruinous
belly drives me on, so I may be overcome by blows.
55Come now, all of you swear me a binding oath:
no one, doing Irus a favor, is to strike me
with a heavy hand in recklessness and overpower me for him.’
So he spoke, and they all swore as he directed.
When they had sworn and brought the oath to completion,
60the sacred strength of Telemachus addressed them:
‘Stranger, if your heart and proud spirit urge you
to ward this man off, fear no other Achaean.
Whoever strikes you will have to fight a greater number.
I am your host, and two kings approve,
65Antinous and Eurymachus, both men of understanding.’
So he spoke, and they all approved. Odysseus
girded his rags around his genitals and revealed
his fine, great thighs; his broad shoulders appeared,
his chest and powerful arms. Athena
70stood close beside the shepherd of the people and enlarged his limbs.
Commentary
Odysseus adopts the belly as his public explanation for accepting danger, then forces the suitors to bind themselves against interference. Telemachus names himself host, and Odysseus reveals a body that Athena immediately enlarges: tactical self-exposure and divine alteration cooperate without becoming the same act.
18.51–58 Odysseus’ belly explanation and oath language combine bodily compulsion with tactical legalism. Gastēr is called kakoergos, yet the speaker uses that degrading motive to secure a karteros horkos against a heavy helping blow. Atasthallōn marks reckless interference, not the contest itself as a neutral event.
18.59–70 Oath completion and Telemachus’ strength formula lead into a body deliberately shown and divinely enlarged. Line 18.59 is byte-exact with 12.304 and 15.438, where oaths likewise reach completion in different scenes. Here Telemachus adds a host’s guarantee before Odysseus exposes thighs, shoulders, chest, and arms; Athena then becomes the explicit agent of further growth.
Irus recoils as Antinous forces him forward under a mutilation threat 18.71–89
71μνηστῆρες δʼ ἄρα πάντες ὑπερφιάλως ἀγάσαντο·
ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν ἰδὼν ἐς πλησίον ἄλλον·
ἦ τάχα Ἶρος Ἄϊρος ἐπίσπαστον κακὸν ἕξει,
οἵην ἐκ ῥακέων ὁ γέρων ἐπιγουνίδα φαίνει.
75ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφαν, Ἴρῳ δὲ κακῶς ὠρίνετο θυμός.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς δρηστῆρες ἄγον ζώσαντες ἀνάγκῃ
δειδιότα· σάρκες δὲ περιτρομέοντο μέλεσσιν.
Ἀντίνοος δʼ ἐνένιπεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·
νῦν μὲν μήτʼ εἴης, βουγάϊε, μήτε γένοιο,
80εἰ δὴ τοῦτόν γε τρομέεις καὶ δείδιας αἰνῶς,
ἄνδρα γέροντα, δύῃ ἀρημένον, ἥ μιν ἱκάνει.
ἀλλʼ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω, τὸ δὲ καὶ τετελεσμένον ἔσται·
αἴ κέν σʼ οὗτος νικήσῃ κρείσσων τε γένηται,
πέμψω σʼ ἤπειρόνδε, βαλὼν ἐν νηὶ μελαίνῃ,
85εἰς Ἔχετον βασιλῆα, βροτῶν δηλήμονα πάντων,
ὅς κʼ ἀπὸ ῥῖνα τάμῃσι καὶ οὔατα νηλέϊ χαλκῷ,
μήδεά τʼ ἐξερύσας δώῃ κυσὶν ὠμὰ δάσασθαι.
ὣς φάτο, τῷ δʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τρόμος ἔλλαβε γυῖα.
ἐς μέσσον δʼ ἄναγον· τὼ δʼ ἄμφω χεῖρας ἀνέσχον.
71All the suitors marveled beyond measure.
One man would look at his neighbor and say:
‘Irus will soon be No-Irus, with trouble of his own making—
look at the thigh the old man shows from under his rags!’
75So they spoke, and Irus’ spirit was badly shaken.
Even so, the servants girded him and led him forward by force,
though he was afraid; the flesh trembled around his limbs.
Antinous rebuked him, called him by name, and said:
‘You great ox of a man, you should never have lived or been born
80if you tremble before this man and fear him so terribly—
an old man worn down by the hardship that has come upon him.
I tell you this, and it will be fulfilled:
if this man defeats you and proves the stronger,
I will put you in a black ship and send you to the mainland,
85to King Echetus, the bane of all mortals.
He will cut off your nose and ears with pitiless bronze,
tear out your genitals, and give them raw to the dogs to eat.’
So he spoke, and trembling seized Irus’ limbs still more.
They led him into the middle, and both men raised their hands.
Commentary
The suitors’ Irus/No-Irus joke reads the altered body before Irus is physically compelled into the contest. Antinous answers fear with a threat of transport, mutilation, and exposure to dogs, so the supposedly comic game depends on violence extending beyond the hall.
18.71–77 A recurrent neighbor-to-neighbor reaction line frames the pre-fight Irus pun and returns after the later assault to introduce blame. Line 18.72 is byte-exact with 8.328, 10.37, 13.167, and internally 18.400. At 18.72 onlookers react before the fight to Athena’s enlargement and exploit Īros/Aïros; at 18.400, after Eurymachus’ footstool strikes the cupbearer, the recurrence introduces a reaction blaming the stranger for the feast’s collapse into strife. The servants’ girding and forced advance remain local to 18.73-77.
18.78–89 Antinous answers Irus’ fear with a coercive threat whose body parts and future agents are explicit. He attacks Irus’ right to have been born, promises transport to Echetus, and names the removal of nose, ears, and genitals followed by feeding dogs. The servants’ forced escort and Antinous’ prospective punishment belong to different agents in one coercive chain.
Odysseus restrains his strength, defeats Irus, and drags him outside 18.90–107
90δὴ τότε μερμήριξε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἢ ἐλάσειʼ ὥς μιν ψυχὴ λίποι αὖθι πεσόντα,
ἦέ μιν ἦκʼ ἐλάσειε τανύσσειέν τʼ ἐπὶ γαίῃ.
ὧδε δέ οἱ φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι,
ἦκʼ ἐλάσαι, ἵνα μή μιν ἐπιφρασσαίατʼ Ἀχαιοί.
95δὴ τότʼ ἀνασχομένω ὁ μὲν ἤλασε δεξιὸν ὦμον
Ἶρος, ὁ δʼ αὐχένʼ ἔλασσεν ὑπʼ οὔατος, ὀστέα δʼ εἴσω
ἔθλασεν· αὐτίκα δʼ ἦλθε κατὰ στόμα φοίνιον αἷμα,
κὰδ δʼ ἔπεσʼ ἐν κονίῃσι μακών, σὺν δʼ ἤλασʼ ὀδόντας
λακτίζων ποσὶ γαῖαν· ἀτὰρ μνηστῆρες ἀγαυοὶ
100χεῖρας ἀνασχόμενοι γέλῳ ἔκθανον. αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἕλκε διὲκ προθύροιο λαβὼν ποδός, ὄφρʼ ἵκετʼ αὐλήν,
αἰθούσης τε θύρας· καί μιν ποτὶ ἑρκίον αὐλῆς
εἷσεν ἀνακλίνας· σκῆπτρον δέ οἱ ἔμβαλε χειρί,
καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
105ἐνταυθοῖ νῦν ἧσο σύας τε κύνας τʼ ἀπερύκων,
μηδὲ σύ γε ξείνων καὶ πτωχῶν κοίρανος εἶναι
λυγρὸς ἐών, μή πού τι κακὸν καὶ μεῖζον ἐπαύρῃ.
90Then much-enduring godlike Odysseus deliberated
whether to strike him so that his life left him where he fell,
or hit him lightly and stretch him out upon the ground.
As he considered, this seemed the better course:
to strike lightly, so the Achaeans would not recognize him.
95Then, as both raised their hands, Irus struck the right shoulder,
but Odysseus hit the neck beneath the ear and crushed the bones inward.
At once crimson blood ran down from Irus’ mouth.
He fell groaning in the dust; his teeth clashed
as he kicked the earth. The proud suitors
100raised their hands and nearly died with laughter. Odysseus
seized Irus by the foot and dragged him through the doorway to the courtyard,
as far as the doors of the portico, then propped him against the courtyard wall.
He seated him there and thrust the staff into his hand,
then addressed him with winged words:
105‘Sit here now and keep pigs and dogs away.
Do not set yourself up as lord over strangers and beggars
when you are wretched, or you may meet some greater evil.’
Commentary
Odysseus’ deliberation makes the lighter blow a concealment strategy rather than simple mercy. He disables Irus, drags him to the courtyard, restores the staff as a beggar’s prop, and reverses Irus’ claim to rule strangers and beggars without ending the hierarchy that produced the contest.
18.90–94 Odysseus calibrates violence to preserve the disguise. The deliberation contrasts a fatal blow with a lighter one and explicitly chooses the latter so the Achaeans will not recognize him. Restraint is therefore tactical control of revelation, not absence of violent capacity.
18.95–100 The fight compresses two blows into a rapid bodily cascade ending in grotesque laughter. Irus’ shoulder strike is answered below the ear; crushed bone, mouth-blood, fall, groan, teeth, and kicking accumulate with little narrative pause before the suitors raise their hands laughing. The audible acceleration heightens asymmetry without implying a full scansion.
18.101–107 Victory lets Odysseus demote Irus from would-be gatekeeper to a seated outcast ordered to keep pigs and dogs away. Dragging by the foot reverses Irus’ opening threat; courtyard placement, staff, and the order to ward off pigs and dogs retain beggar equipment while denying rule over strangers. Odysseus restores neither equality nor safety, but turns the defeated man’s continued place at the threshold into punitive display.
Odysseus returns to the threshold and the suitors reward his victory 18.108–123
108ἦ ῥα καὶ ἀμφʼ ὤμοισιν ἀεικέα βάλλετο πήρην,
πυκνὰ ῥωγαλέην· ἐν δὲ στρόφος ἦεν ἀορτήρ.
110ἂψ δʼ ὅ γʼ ἐπʼ οὐδὸν ἰὼν κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετο· τοὶ δʼ ἴσαν εἴσω
ἡδὺ γελώοντες καὶ δεικανόωντʼ ἐπέεσσι·
Ζεύς τοι δοίη, ξεῖνε, καὶ ἀθάνατοι θεοὶ ἄλλοι,
ὅττι μάλιστʼ ἐθέλεις καί τοι φίλον ἔπλετο θυμῷ,
ὃς τοῦτον τὸν ἄναλτον ἀλητεύειν ἀπέπαυσας
115ἐν δήμῳ· τάχα γάρ μιν ἀνάξομεν ἤπειρόνδε
εἰς Ἔχετον βασιλῆα, βροτῶν δηλήμονα πάντων.
ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφαν, χαῖρεν δὲ κλεηδόνι δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
Ἀντίνοος δʼ ἄρα οἱ μεγάλην παρὰ γαστέρα θῆκεν,
ἐμπλείην κνίσης τε καὶ αἵματος· Ἀμφίνομος δὲ
120ἄρτους ἐκ κανέοιο δύω παρέθηκεν ἀείρας
καὶ δέπαϊ χρυσέῳ δειδίσκετο, φώνησέν τε·
χαῖρε, πάτερ ὦ ξεῖνε, γένοιτό τοι ἔς περ ὀπίσσω
ὄλβος· ἀτὰρ μὲν νῦν γε κακοῖς ἔχεαι πολέεσσι.
108He spoke and slung the ugly bag around his shoulders,
ragged through and through, with its twisted carrying strap.
110Then he went back to the threshold and sat; the others went inside
laughing with delight and greeting him with words:
‘May Zeus and the other immortal gods grant you, stranger,
what you desire most and what has become dear to your heart,
since you stopped this bottomless glutton from roaming
115through the district. Soon we will take him to the mainland,
to King Echetus, the bane of all mortals.’
So they spoke, and godlike Odysseus rejoiced at the omen in their words.
Antinous set beside him the large goat stomach,
filled with fat and blood, while Amphinomus
120lifted two loaves from the basket and placed them beside him.
He greeted Odysseus with a golden cup and said:
‘Greetings, father stranger. May prosperity come to you hereafter,
though now you are held fast by many troubles.’
Commentary
Odysseus resumes bag and threshold, receiving the suitors’ wish as an omen before Antinous and Amphinomus supply different forms of reward. Amphinomus’ bread, wine, and courteous address briefly individualize him inside the group and prepare the warning that follows.
18.108–117 Bag, threshold, blessing, Echetus, and omen diction resume the disguise while converting hostile words into usable signs. Line 18.108 is byte-exact with 17.197; 18.109 is byte-exact with 13.438 and punctuation-normalized with 17.198; 18.112 is punctuation-normalized with 14.53. The Echetus line at 18.116 is also a punctuation-normalized internal reprise of 18.85. Odysseus interprets the sequence as a klēdōn without making the speakers benevolent.
18.118–123 Antinous and Amphinomus reward the same victory through materially and socially different gestures. Antinous supplies the blood-and-fat stomach promised as prize. Amphinomus adds two loaves, a golden cup, respectful address, and hope for later prosperity, establishing the courtesy that makes him receptive to warning without removing him from the suitor group.
Odysseus warns Amphinomus, who foresees danger but remains bound to his fate 18.124–157
124τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
125Ἀμφίνομʼ, ἦ μάλα μοι δοκέεις πεπνυμένος εἶναι·
τοίου γὰρ καὶ πατρός, ἐπεὶ κλέος ἐσθλὸν ἄκουον,
Νῖσον Δουλιχιῆα ἐΰν τʼ ἔμεν ἀφνειόν τε·
τοῦ σʼ ἔκ φασι γενέσθαι, ἐπητῇ δʼ ἀνδρὶ ἔοικας.
τοὔνεκά τοι ἐρέω, σὺ δὲ σύνθεο καί μευ ἄκουσον·
130οὐδὲν ἀκιδνότερον γαῖα τρέφει ἀνθρώποιο,
πάντων ὅσσα τε γαῖαν ἔπι πνείει τε καὶ ἕρπει.
οὐ μὲν γάρ ποτέ φησι κακὸν πείσεσθαι ὀπίσσω,
ὄφρʼ ἀρετὴν παρέχωσι θεοὶ καὶ γούνατʼ ὀρώρῃ·
ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ καὶ λυγρὰ θεοὶ μάκαρες τελέσωσι,
135καὶ τὰ φέρει ἀεκαζόμενος τετληότι θυμῷ·
τοῖος γὰρ νόος ἐστὶν ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων
οἷον ἐπʼ ἦμαρ ἄγησι πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε.
καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ ποτʼ ἔμελλον ἐν ἀνδράσιν ὄλβιος εἶναι,
πολλὰ δʼ ἀτάσθαλʼ ἔρεξα βίῃ καὶ κάρτεϊ εἴκων,
140πατρί τʼ ἐμῷ πίσυνος καὶ ἐμοῖσι κασιγνήτοισι.
τῷ μή τίς ποτε πάμπαν ἀνὴρ ἀθεμίστιος εἴη,
ἀλλʼ ὅ γε σιγῇ δῶρα θεῶν ἔχοι, ὅττι διδοῖεν.
οἷʼ ὁρόω μνηστῆρας ἀτάσθαλα μηχανόωντας,
κτήματα κείροντας καὶ ἀτιμάζοντας ἄκοιτιν
145ἀνδρός, ὃν οὐκέτι φημὶ φίλων καὶ πατρίδος αἴης
δηρὸν ἀπέσσεσθαι· μάλα δὲ σχεδόν. ἀλλά σε δαίμων
οἴκαδʼ ὑπεξαγάγοι, μηδʼ ἀντιάσειας ἐκείνῳ,
ὁππότε νοστήσειε φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν·
οὐ γὰρ ἀναιμωτί γε διακρινέεσθαι ὀΐω
150μνηστῆρας καὶ κεῖνον, ἐπεί κε μέλαθρον ὑπέλθῃ.
ὣς φάτο, καὶ σπείσας ἔπιεν μελιηδέα οἶνον,
ἂψ δʼ ἐν χερσὶν ἔθηκε δέπας κοσμήτορι λαῶν.
αὐτὰρ ὁ βῆ διὰ δῶμα φίλον τετιημένος ἦτορ,
νευστάζων κεφαλῇ· δὴ γὰρ κακὸν ὄσσετο θυμός.
155ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὣς φύγε κῆρα· πέδησε δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἀθήνη
Τηλεμάχου ὑπὸ χερσὶ καὶ ἔγχεϊ ἶφι δαμῆναι.
ἂψ δʼ αὖτις κατʼ ἄρʼ ἕζετʼ ἐπὶ θρόνου ἔνθεν ἀνέστη.
124Resourceful Odysseus answered him:
125‘Amphinomus, you seem to me a man of real understanding.
For you are the son of such a father; I have heard the good report
that Nisus of Dulichium is both worthy and wealthy.
They say you are his son, and you resemble a courteous man.
So I will tell you something; take heed and listen to me.
130The earth nourishes nothing frailer than a human being
among all the creatures that breathe and crawl upon it.
A man never thinks he will suffer evil later
so long as the gods afford him strength and his knees spring beneath him.
But when the blessed gods bring troubles to completion,
135he bears those too, unwilling, with an enduring spirit.
For the mind of human beings upon the earth is such
as the day the father of gods and men brings upon them.
I too once expected to prosper among men,
but I committed many reckless acts, giving way to violence and might,
140trusting in my father and my brothers.
Therefore no man should ever be wholly lawless;
he should quietly accept whatever gifts the gods may give.
I see the suitors devising acts of recklessness,
wasting a man’s property and dishonoring the wife
145of one who, I tell you, will not be away from his friends
and native land much longer. He is very near. May some divine power
lead you away home, and may you not meet him
when he returns to his dear native land.
For I do not think the suitors and that man will part
150without bloodshed once he comes beneath his roof.’
So he spoke, poured a libation, and drank the honey-sweet wine,
then put the cup back in the hands of the people’s leader.
Amphinomus went through the hall with his dear heart distressed,
shaking his head, for his spirit already foresaw the evil.
155Even so, he did not escape his doom; Athena bound him too
to be overpowered by Telemachus’ hands and mighty spear.
Back he went and sat once more on the chair he had left.
Commentary
A conventional answer frame opens an exceptional reflection on human frailty, Zeus-shaped circumstance, endurance, and lawlessness. Odysseus mixes general warning with a disguised confession of violence and an exact prediction of bloodshed; Amphinomus understands danger, yet Athena binds him to death by Telemachus.
18.124–129 The recurrent resourceful-Odysseus response line opens an unusually direct warning to Amphinomus. Line 18.124 is byte-exact with twelve prior lines across Books 7-17 and punctuation-normalized with 14.191 and 14.390. Stable turn-taking language now precedes praise of Nisus, a report about Dulichian wealth, and an instruction to listen, so formulaic authority does not certify the disguised speaker’s every biographical premise.
18.130–137 Aretē, knees, thumos, and noos make human stability bodily, circumstantial, and divinely exposed. Aretē at 18.133 accompanies springing knees and has active strength rather than abstract moral virtue alone. The unwilling sufferer bears completed troubles with a tetlēoti thumōi, while noos varies with the day Zeus brings; the faculty terms remain contextual rather than a fixed psychology.
18.138–142 The disguised speaker’s confession makes prosperity a setting for recklessness rather than proof of merit. He claims former expectation of prosperity, many atasthala acts, surrender to force and might, and reliance on male kin. The resulting injunction against complete lawlessness redirects a tactical fiction toward a real critique without disclosing which biographical details are factual.
18.143–150 Odysseus’ warning moves from visible suitor conduct to concealed certainty about his own nearness. He names plotting, estate depletion, and dishonor, then wishes a divine escort for Amphinomus before predicting a bloody meeting beneath the roof. The audience knows why the prediction is exact, but Amphinomus hears it from an apparently dispossessed stranger.
18.151–157 Amphinomus’ foreboding is genuine but insufficient to change his narrated course. Libation and cup return preserve courtesy; distressed movement and head-shaking show that his thumos foresees evil. The narrator then separates insight from escape by assigning Athena’s binding and Telemachus’ future spear as distinct divine and mortal agencies.
Athena prompts Penelope to appear and Penelope refuses cosmetic preparation 18.158–184
158τῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,
κούρῃ Ἰκαρίοιο, περίφρονι Πηνελοπείῃ,
160μνηστήρεσσι φανῆναι, ὅπως πετάσειε μάλιστα
θυμὸν μνηστήρων ἰδὲ τιμήεσσα γένοιτο
μᾶλλον πρὸς πόσιός τε καὶ υἱέος ἢ πάρος ἦεν.
ἀχρεῖον δʼ ἐγέλασσεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·
Εὐρυνόμη, θυμός μοι ἐέλδεται, οὔ τι πάρος γε,
165μνηστήρεσσι φανῆναι, ἀπεχθομένοισί περ ἔμπης·
παιδὶ δέ κεν εἴποιμι ἔπος, τό κε κέρδιον εἴη,
μὴ πάντα μνηστῆρσιν ὑπερφιάλοισιν ὁμιλεῖν,
οἵ τʼ εὖ μὲν βάζουσι, κακῶς δʼ ὄπιθεν φρονέουσι.
τὴν δʼ αὖτʼ Εὐρυνόμη ταμίη πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν·
170ναὶ δὴ ταῦτά γε πάντα, τέκος, κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπες.
ἀλλʼ ἴθι καὶ σῷ παιδὶ ἔπος φάο μηδʼ ἐπίκευθε,
χρῶτʼ ἀπονιψαμένη καὶ ἐπιχρίσασα παρειάς·
μηδʼ οὕτω δακρύοισι πεφυρμένη ἀμφὶ πρόσωπα
ἔρχευ, ἐπεὶ κάκιον πενθήμεναι ἄκριτον αἰεί.
175ἤδη μὲν γάρ τοι παῖς τηλίκος, ὃν σὺ μάλιστα
ἠρῶ ἀθανάτοισι γενειήσαντα ἰδέσθαι.
τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
Εὐρυνόμη, μὴ ταῦτα παραύδα, κηδομένη περ,
χρῶτʼ ἀπονίπτεσθαι καὶ ἐπιχρίεσθαι ἀλοιφῇ·
180ἀγλαΐην γὰρ ἐμοί γε θεοί, τοὶ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν,
ὤλεσαν, ἐξ οὗ κεῖνος ἔβη κοίλῃς ἐνὶ νηυσίν.
ἀλλά μοι Αὐτονόην τε καὶ Ἱπποδάμειαν ἄνωχθι
ἐλθέμεν, ὄφρα κέ μοι παρστήετον ἐν μεγάροισιν·
οἴη δʼ οὐκ εἴσειμι μετʼ ἀνέρας· αἰδέομαι γάρ.
158Then the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, put into the mind
of Icarius’ daughter, discerning Penelope,
160the wish to appear before the suitors, so that she might most deeply stir
their hearts and become still more honored
by her husband and son than she had been before.
She laughed an idle laugh, called Eurynome by name, and said:
‘Eurynome, my heart desires something it never did before:
165to appear before the suitors, hateful to me though they are.
I would also tell my son something that would be better for him:
not to associate in every way with the overbearing suitors,
who speak fair words but devise harm behind his back.’
Eurynome the housekeeper answered her:
170‘Yes, child, everything you have said is fitting.
Go and tell your son; do not hide the matter.
But first wash your skin and smooth ointment over your cheeks.
Do not go with your face smeared all over with tears,
for it is worse to mourn without ceasing forever.
175Your son is already the age at which you especially
prayed to the immortals to see a beard upon him.’
Discerning Penelope answered her:
‘Eurynome, though you care for me, do not urge me
to wash my skin and anoint myself with oil.
180The gods who hold Olympus destroyed my beauty
from the day that man left aboard the hollow ships.
Instead, summon Autonoe and Hippodameia for me
so they may come and stand beside me in the hall.
I will not go among the men alone; I feel shame.’
Commentary
Athena initiates the wish that Penelope appear and frames its effects on suitor desire and household honor. Penelope supplies a different conscious purpose—warning Telemachus—and refuses Eurynome’s proposed washing and anointing, choosing attendants and public modesty instead.
18.158–168 Athena and Penelope supply overlapping but nonidentical motives for appearing before the suitors. Athena plants the wish and frames its effects on desire and increased honor with husband and son. Penelope voices hatred of the suitors and a warning for Telemachus; the idle laugh marks a transition but does not tell her that a goddess has initiated it.
18.169–184 Eurynome’s care and Penelope’s refusal stage mourning, maturity, appearance, and aidos as a household negotiation. Eurynome validates the warning, urges washing and ointment, and invokes Telemachus’ beard as an answered prayer. Penelope attributes lost beauty to the gods after Odysseus’ departure, refuses cosmetic action, and insists on two attendants because she will not enter among men alone.
Athena sends sleep, transforms Penelope’s appearance, and she descends 18.185–207
185ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, γρηῢς δὲ διὲκ μεγάροιο βεβήκει
ἀγγελέουσα γυναιξὶ καὶ ὀτρυνέουσα νέεσθαι.
ἔνθʼ αὖτʼ ἄλλʼ ἐνόησε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
κούρῃ Ἰκαρίοιο κατὰ γλυκὺν ὕπνον ἔχευεν,
εὗδε δʼ ἀνακλινθεῖσα, λύθεν δέ οἱ ἅψεα πάντα
190αὐτοῦ ἐνὶ κλιντῆρι· τέως δʼ ἄρα δῖα θεάων
ἄμβροτα δῶρα δίδου, ἵνα μιν θησαίατʼ Ἀχαιοί.
κάλλεϊ μέν οἱ πρῶτα προσώπατα καλὰ κάθηρεν
ἀμβροσίῳ, οἵῳ περ ἐϋστέφανος Κυθέρεια
χρίεται, εὖτʼ ἂν ἴῃ Χαρίτων χορὸν ἱμερόεντα·
195καί μιν μακροτέρην καὶ πάσσονα θῆκεν ἰδέσθαι,
λευκοτέρην δʼ ἄρα μιν θῆκε πριστοῦ ἐλέφαντος.
ἡ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς ἔρξασʼ ἀπεβήσετο δῖα θεάων,
ἦλθον δʼ ἀμφίπολοι λευκώλενοι ἐκ μεγάροιο
φθόγγῳ ἐπερχόμεναι· τὴν δὲ γλυκὺς ὕπνος ἀνῆκε,
200καί ῥʼ ἀπομόρξατο χερσὶ παρειὰς φώνησέν τε·
ἦ με μάλʼ αἰνοπαθῆ μαλακὸν περὶ κῶμʼ ἐκάλυψεν.
αἴθε μοι ὣς μαλακὸν θάνατον πόροι Ἄρτεμις ἁγνὴ
αὐτίκα νῦν, ἵνα μηκέτʼ ὀδυρομένη κατὰ θυμὸν
αἰῶνα φθινύθω, πόσιος ποθέουσα φίλοιο
205παντοίην ἀρετήν, ἐπεὶ ἔξοχος ἦεν Ἀχαιῶν.
ὣς φαμένη κατέβαινʼ ὑπερώϊα σιγαλόεντα,
οὐκ οἴη· ἅμα τῇ γε καὶ ἀμφίπολοι δύʼ ἕποντο.
185At that, the old woman left and crossed the hall
to summon the women and hurry them back.
Then bright-eyed Athena devised something else:
she poured sweet sleep over Icarius’ daughter.
Penelope slept reclining, and all her joints relaxed
190there upon the couch. Meanwhile the divine goddess
gave her immortal gifts, so that the Achaeans would marvel at her.
First she cleansed her lovely face with the immortal cosmetic
with which fair-crowned Cytherea anoints herself
when she joins the Graces’ alluring dance.
195She made Penelope appear taller and fuller,
and made her whiter than newly sawn ivory.
Having done this, the divine goddess departed.
The white-armed attendants came from the hall,
their voices approaching. Sweet sleep released Penelope.
200She wiped her cheeks with her hands and said:
‘A soft sleep has covered me, though I suffer terribly.
If only holy Artemis would grant me a death as gentle
this very moment, so I would no longer, grieving in my heart,
let my life dwindle as I long for my dear husband’s
205every excellence, for he stood above the Achaeans.’
So saying, she came down from the shining upper rooms,
not alone; two attendants followed with her.
Commentary
While Eurynome goes through the hall to summon and urge the attendants to come, Athena imposes sleep and alters Penelope’s face, stature, fullness, and complexion through a comparison with Aphrodite’s preparation for the Graces. Penelope wakes unaware, interprets the softness only as sleep, asks Artemis for death, and descends with two women.
18.185–191 Athena acts on Penelope’s body while Penelope is asleep and attendants are absent. The old woman’s errand creates a brief interval in which Athena devises anew, pours sleep, relaxes every joint, and begins immortal gifts. The sequence makes the goddess’s agency explicit and Penelope’s awareness unavailable.
18.192–197 Aphrodite and the Graces provide a divine comparison for Athena’s enhancement, not a cultic reconstruction. Athena’s cosmetic is likened to what Cytherea uses before an alluring dance of the Graces, then Penelope is made taller, fuller, and whiter. The comparison locates beauty among divine practices while Athena remains the grammatical agent in the present scene.
18.198–207 Penelope wakes into a death wish that turns bodily softness against prolonged inner wasting. Approaching voices release sleep; she touches her own face, calls the sleep gentle, and asks Artemis for a correspondingly gentle death. The wish joins grief in thumos, dwindling life, longing, and Odysseus’ many-sided aretē before public descent.
Penelope’s appearance overwhelms the suitors before she rebukes Telemachus 18.208–225
208ἡ δʼ ὅτε δὴ μνηστῆρας ἀφίκετο δῖα γυναικῶν,
στῆ ῥα παρὰ σταθμὸν τέγεος πύκα ποιητοῖο,
210ἄντα παρειάων σχομένη λιπαρὰ κρήδεμνα·
ἀμφίπολος δʼ ἄρα οἱ κεδνὴ ἑκάτερθε παρέστη.
τῶν δʼ αὐτοῦ λύτο γούνατʼ, ἔρῳ δʼ ἄρα θυμὸν ἔθελχθεν,
πάντες δʼ ἠρήσαντο παραὶ λεχέεσσι κλιθῆναι.
ἡ δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχον προσεφώνεεν, ὃν φίλον υἱόν·
215Τηλέμαχʼ, οὐκέτι τοι φρένες ἔμπεδοι οὐδὲ νόημα·
παῖς ἔτʼ ἐὼν καὶ μᾶλλον ἐνὶ φρεσὶ κέρδεʼ ἐνώμας·
νῦν δʼ, ὅτε δὴ μέγας ἐσσὶ καὶ ἥβης μέτρον ἱκάνεις,
καί κέν τις φαίη γόνον ἔμμεναι ὀλβίου ἀνδρός,
ἐς μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος ὁρώμενος, ἀλλότριος φώς,
220οὐκέτι τοι φρένες εἰσὶν ἐναίσιμοι οὐδὲ νόημα.
οἷον δὴ τόδε ἔργον ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἐτύχθη,
ὃς τὸν ξεῖνον ἔασας ἀεικισθήμεναι οὕτως.
πῶς νῦν, εἴ τι ξεῖνος ἐν ἡμετέροισι δόμοισιν
ἥμενος ὧδε πάθοι ῥυστακτύος ἐξ ἀλεγεινῆς;
225σοί κʼ αἶσχος λώβη τε μετʼ ἀνθρώποισι πέλοιτο.
208When she, radiant among women, reached the suitors,
she stood beside a post of the strongly built roof,
210holding her shining veil before her cheeks.
A faithful attendant stood on either side of her.
The suitors’ knees gave way, and desire bewitched their hearts;
each man prayed to lie beside her in bed.
She addressed Telemachus, her dear son:
215‘Telemachus, your mind and judgment are no longer steady.
When you were still a child, you turned over shrewder plans in your mind.
Now that you are grown and have reached the measure of youth,
a stranger who looked at your stature and beauty might say
you were the son of a prosperous man,
220yet your mind and judgment are no longer just.
Look at the kind of deed that happened here in the halls:
you let the stranger be so badly abused.
What now, if a stranger sitting in our house
should suffer such cruel dragging?
225Shame and disgrace among men would fall upon you.’
Commentary
A Book 1 entrance pattern stages Penelope beneath veil and beside attendants, but the audience response now becomes erotic collapse rather than silent attention. Penelope redirects the public scene toward Telemachus’ failure to protect the stranger and names the reputational cost of abuse inside their house.
18.208–213 Penelope’s Book 1 entrance tableau recurs almost line for line before a different audience response. Lines 18.208-211 are byte-exact or punctuation-normalized with 1.332-335, with further matches at 8.458 and 16.415-416; 18.213 is byte-exact with 1.366. Book 1 leads from veiled entrance to speech about song, while Book 18 inserts loosened knees and erotic desire before Penelope addresses Telemachus.
18.214–225 Penelope makes treatment of the stranger a test of Telemachus’ household standing. She contrasts earlier shrewdness with present maturity, names the abuse allowed in the halls, and projects shame and disgrace among people onto the son. Guest protection is thus both immediate bodily obligation and public measure of authority.
Telemachus answers his mother and distinguishes the beggars’ fight from suitor will 18.226–243
226τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
μῆτερ ἐμή, τὸ μὲν οὔ σε νεμεσσῶμαι κεχολῶσθαι·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ θυμῷ νοέω καὶ οἶδα ἕκαστα,
ἐσθλά τε καὶ τὰ χέρεια· πάρος δʼ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα.
230ἀλλά τοι οὐ δύναμαι πεπνυμένα πάντα νοῆσαι·
ἐκ γάρ με πλήσσουσι παρήμενοι ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος
οἵδε κακὰ φρονέοντες, ἐμοὶ δʼ οὐκ εἰσὶν ἀρωγοί.
οὐ μέν τοι ξείνου γε καὶ Ἴρου μῶλος ἐτύχθη
μνηστήρων ἰότητι, βίῃ δʼ ὅ γε φέρτερος ἦεν.
235αἲ γάρ, Ζεῦ τε πάτερ καὶ Ἀθηναίη καὶ Ἄπολλον,
οὕτω νῦν μνηστῆρες ἐν ἡμετέροισι δόμοισι
νεύοιεν κεφαλὰς δεδμημένοι, οἱ μὲν ἐν αὐλῇ,
οἱ δʼ ἔντοσθε δόμοιο, λελῦτο δὲ γυῖα ἑκάστου,
ὡς νῦν Ἶρος κεῖνος ἐπʼ αὐλείῃσι θύρῃσιν
240ἧσται νευστάζων κεφαλῇ, μεθύοντι ἐοικώς,
οὐδʼ ὀρθὸς στῆναι δύναται ποσὶν οὐδὲ νέεσθαι
οἴκαδʼ, ὅπη οἱ νόστος, ἐπεὶ φίλα γυῖα λέλυνται.
ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον·
226Discerning Telemachus answered her face to face:
‘Mother, I do not blame you for being angry about this.
I perceive and know each thing within my heart,
both the good and the worse; before now I was still a child.
230Yet I cannot devise every prudent course.
For these men confound me, sitting one on every side,
planning harm, and I have no one to help.
But the fight between the stranger and Irus did not happen
by the suitors’ will; the stranger proved stronger in force.
235If only—father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo—
the suitors here in our halls might now bow their heads,
overpowered, some in the courtyard, others inside the house,
with every man’s limbs undone, just as Irus now
sits there beside the courtyard doors, nodding his head
240like a drunken man. He cannot stand upright on his feet
or make his way home, wherever homecoming lies for him,
because his own limbs have been loosened.’
So the two spoke such words to one another.
Commentary
Telemachus claims inward knowledge of good and bad while admitting practical isolation. His denial that the fight arose by suitor will conflicts with the narrated staging and remains speaker-owned; his counterwish imagines the suitors disabled like Irus and gives his developing authority a violent horizon.
18.226–234 Telemachus distinguishes knowledge from capacity, then makes a speaker-bound claim about the fight’s cause. Noeō and oida assert perception of good and worse, but ou dynamai marks inability to devise every prudent course amid hostile men. His claim that the moulos did not occur by suitor iotēs conflicts with Antinous’ narrated staging and remains attributed rather than harmonized.
18.235–243 A recurrent three-god invocation expands into an internal image of the suitors disabled like Irus. Line 18.235 is byte-exact with 4.341, 7.311, and 17.132, where Zeus, Athena, and Apollo support different prospective household outcomes. Line 18.243 belongs to a highly recurrent dialogue close, byte-exact with 7.334, 8.333, and 17.290 and punctuation-normalized non-byte with 4.620, 14.409, 15.493, 16.321, and 17.166. Here the formula encloses a violent wish rather than agreement.
Eurymachus praises Penelope and she frames beauty through loss and renown 18.244–256
244Εὐρύμαχος δʼ ἐπέεσσι προσηύδα Πηνελόπειαν·
245κούρη Ἰκαρίοιο, περίφρον Πηνελόπεια,
εἰ πάντες σε ἴδοιεν ἀνʼ Ἴασον Ἄργος Ἀχαιοί,
πλέονές κε μνηστῆρες ἐν ὑμετέροισι δόμοισιν
ἠῶθεν δαινύατʼ, ἐπεὶ περίεσσι γυναικῶν
εἶδός τε μέγεθός τε ἰδὲ φρένας ἔνδον ἐΐσας.
250τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα περίφρων Πηνελόπεια·
Εὐρύμαχʼ, ἦ τοι ἐμὴν ἀρετὴν εἶδός τε δέμας τε
ὤλεσαν ἀθάνατοι, ὅτε Ἴλιον εἰσανέβαινον
Ἀργεῖοι, μετὰ τοῖσι δʼ ἐμὸς πόσις ᾖεν Ὀδυσσεύς.
εἰ κεῖνός γʼ ἐλθὼν τὸν ἐμὸν βίον ἀμφιπολεύοι,
255μεῖζόν κε κλέος εἴη ἐμὸν καὶ κάλλιον οὕτως.
νῦν δʼ ἄχομαι· τόσα γάρ μοι ἐπέσσευεν κακὰ δαίμων.
244Eurymachus addressed Penelope:
245‘Daughter of Icarius, discerning Penelope,
if all the Achaeans throughout Iasian Argos could see you,
more suitors would feast in your house
from dawn onward, for you surpass all women
in form and stature and in the balanced mind within you.’
250Discerning Penelope answered him:
‘Eurymachus, the immortals destroyed my excellence,
my form and figure, when the Argives embarked for Ilium
and my husband Odysseus went among them.
If he returned and watched over my life,
255my renown would be greater and more beautiful in that way.
Now I grieve, for a divine power has driven so many troubles upon me.
Commentary
Eurymachus praises body and balanced mind in language that multiplies imagined suitors. Penelope answers by locating lost excellence, form, and figure in Odysseus’ departure and making her renown depend on his restored care, while attributing present troubles to an unnamed divine power.
18.244–249 The discerning-Penelope address formula carries praise whose imagined effect is still more suitors. Line 18.245 is byte-exact with 16.435 and repeats internally at 18.285. Eurymachus joins familiar designation and patronymic address to form, stature, and balanced phrenes, but the compliment measures its force by multiplying men who would consume the household from dawn.
18.250–256 Penelope separates aretē, visible form, bodily figure, life under care, and kleos. The coordinated terms resist collapse into beauty alone: divine loss affects aretē, eidos, and demas; Odysseus’ return would oversee her bios; kleos would become greater and more beautiful. An unnamed daimōn is blamed for present troubles without being identified.
Penelope quotes Odysseus, indicts suitor custom, and draws their gifts 18.257–283
257ἦ μὲν δὴ ὅτε τʼ ᾖε λιπὼν κάτα πατρίδα γαῖαν,
δεξιτερὴν ἐπὶ καρπῷ ἑλὼν ἐμὲ χεῖρα προσηύδα·
ὦ γύναι, οὐ γὰρ ὀΐω ἐϋκνήμιδας Ἀχαιοὺς
260ἐκ Τροίης εὖ πάντας ἀπήμονας ἀπονέεσθαι·
καὶ γὰρ Τρῶάς φασι μαχητὰς ἔμμεναι ἄνδρας,
ἠμὲν ἀκοντιστὰς ἠδὲ ῥυτῆρας ὀϊστῶν
ἵππων τʼ ὠκυπόδων ἐπιβήτορας, οἵ κε τάχιστα
ἔκριναν μέγα νεῖκος ὁμοιΐου πολέμοιο.
265τῷ οὐκ οἶδʼ ἤ κέν μʼ ἀνέσει θεός, ἦ κεν ἁλώω
αὐτοῦ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ· σοὶ δʼ ἐνθάδε πάντα μελόντων.
μεμνῆσθαι πατρὸς καὶ μητέρος ἐν μεγάροισιν
ὡς νῦν, ἢ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐμεῦ ἀπονόσφιν ἐόντος·
αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν δὴ παῖδα γενειήσαντα ἴδηαι,
270γήμασθʼ ᾧ κʼ ἐθέλῃσθα, τεὸν κατὰ δῶμα λιποῦσα.
κεῖνος τὼς ἀγόρευε· τὰ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται.
νὺξ δʼ ἔσται ὅτε δὴ στυγερὸς γάμος ἀντιβολήσει
οὐλομένης ἐμέθεν, τῆς τε Ζεὺς ὄλβον ἀπηύρα.
ἀλλὰ τόδʼ αἰνὸν ἄχος κραδίην καὶ θυμὸν ἱκάνει·
275μνηστήρων οὐχ ἥδε δίκη τὸ πάροιθε τέτυκτο·
οἵ τʼ ἀγαθήν τε γυναῖκα καὶ ἀφνειοῖο θύγατρα
μνηστεύειν ἐθέλωσι καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐρίσωσιν,
αὐτοὶ τοί γʼ ἀπάγουσι βόας καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,
κούρης δαῖτα φίλοισι, καὶ ἀγλαὰ δῶρα διδοῦσιν·
280ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀλλότριον βίοτον νήποινον ἔδουσιν.
ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
οὕνεκα τῶν μὲν δῶρα παρέλκετο, θέλγε δὲ θυμὸν
μειλιχίοις ἐπέεσσι, νόος δέ οἱ ἄλλα μενοίνα.
257When he departed and left his native land,
he took my right hand at the wrist and said:
“Wife, I do not think the well-greaved Achaeans
260will all come safely home from Troy.
They say the Trojans are fighting men,
both throwers of spears and drawers of bows,
and men who mount swift-footed horses, who most quickly
decide the great strife of war that treats all alike.
265So I do not know whether a god will release me
or I will be taken there in Troy. Let everything here be your care.
Remember my father and mother in the halls
as you do now, or even more while I am away.
But when you see our son with a beard upon him,
270marry whomever you wish and leave your own house.”
That is what he said, and now it is all coming to pass.
The night will come when a hateful marriage confronts
me in my ruin, me whom Zeus has stripped of happiness.
But this terrible grief reaches my heart and spirit:
275the suitors’ custom was never such as this before.
When men seek the hand of a worthy woman, a wealthy man’s daughter,
and vie with one another for her,
bring cattle and strong sheep themselves
for a feast among the girl’s people, and give splendid gifts.
280They do not consume another man’s livelihood without repayment.’
So she spoke, and much-enduring godlike Odysseus rejoiced
because she was drawing gifts from them and beguiling their hearts
with soothing words, while her mind intended something else.
Commentary
Penelope’s quoted farewell joins martial uncertainty, care for Laertes and Anticleia, Telemachus’ maturity, and permission to remarry. She then contrasts proper competitive courtship—provision for the woman’s people and gifts—with unrecompensed consumption; the narrator discloses that gift extraction and another intention accompany her soothing words.
18.257–270 Penelope’s quoted farewell makes delayed remarriage depend on Telemachus’ visible maturity. The wrist-clasp anchors reported speech that moves from Trojan danger to uncertain survival, care for Odysseus’ parents, and the son’s beard. Permission to marry and leave the house is conditional inside remembered words, not an immediate narrator command.
18.271–280 Penelope contrasts competitive courtship with occupation financed by the absent man’s estate. Her customary model brings cattle and sheep for the woman’s people and splendid gifts for her; the suitors instead remain in the house and eat another’s livelihood nēpoinon. The contrast makes marriage competition inseparable from property transfer and public household standing.
18.281–283 The narrator discloses successful gift extraction while keeping Penelope’s further intention undefined. Odysseus rejoices because she draws gifts and charms their thumos with soothing speech, yet her noos desires other things. The audience receives tactical asymmetry without receiving a full account of her knowledge of the disguised man.
Antinous accepts the gift demand and the suitors send their ornaments 18.284–301
284τὴν δʼ αὖτʼ Ἀντίνοος προσέφη, Εὐπείθεος υἱός,
285κούρη Ἰκαρίοιο, περίφρον Πηνελόπεια,
δῶρα μὲν ὅς κʼ ἐθέλῃσιν Ἀχαιῶν ἐνθάδʼ ἐνεῖκαι,
δέξασθʼ. οὐ γὰρ καλὸν ἀνήνασθαι δόσιν ἐστίν·
ἡμεῖς δʼ οὔτʼ ἐπὶ ἔργα πάρος γʼ ἴμεν οὔτε πῃ ἄλλῃ,
πρίν γέ σε τῷ γήμασθαι Ἀχαιῶν ὅς τις ἄριστος.
290ὣς ἔφατʼ Ἀντίνοος, τοῖσιν δʼ ἐπιήνδανε μῦθος·
δῶρα δʼ ἄρʼ οἰσέμεναι πρόεσαν κήρυκα ἕκαστος.
Ἀντινόῳ μὲν ἔνεικε μέγαν περικαλλέα πέπλον,
ποικίλον· ἐν δʼ ἀρʼ ἔσαν περόναι δυοκαίδεκα πᾶσαι
χρύσειαι, κληῗσιν ἐϋγνάμπτοις ἀραρυῖαι.
295ὅρμον δʼ Εὐρυμάχῳ πολυδαίδαλον αὐτίκʼ ἔνεικε.
χρύσεον, ἠλέκτροισιν ἐερμένον ἠέλιον ὥς.
ἕρματα δʼ Εὐρυδάμαντι δύω θεράποντες ἔνεικαν,
τρίγληνα μορόεντα· χάρις δʼ ἀπελάμπετο πολλή.
ἐκ δʼ ἄρα Πεισάνδροιο Πολυκτορίδαο ἄνακτος
300ἴσθμιον ἤνεικεν θεράπων, περικαλλὲς ἄγαλμα.
ἄλλο δʼ ἄρʼ ἄλλος δῶρον Ἀχαιῶν καλὸν ἔνεικεν.
284Antinous son of Eupeithes answered her:
285‘Daughter of Icarius, discerning Penelope,
whatever gifts an Achaean wishes to bring you here,
accept them; it is not right to refuse a gift.
But we will not go to our work or anywhere else
until you marry whichever Achaean is best.’
290So Antinous spoke, and his proposal pleased them.
Each man sent a herald to bring his gift.
For Antinous, his herald brought a large and beautiful robe,
richly patterned, with twelve brooches upon it,
all of gold and fitted with finely curved clasps.
295For Eurymachus they quickly brought an elaborate necklace,
gold strung with amber, radiant as the sun.
For Eurydamas, two attendants brought earrings,
three clustered drops, from which abundant grace shone.
From Lord Peisander, son of Polyctor,
300an attendant brought a neck ornament, a very beautiful treasure.
Each of the other Achaeans brought another splendid gift.
Commentary
Antinous accepts gifts while reaffirming that the suitors will not leave before marriage, coupling apparent reciprocity with continuing occupation. The catalogue assigns robe, gold clasps, amber necklace, clustered earrings, neck ornament, and further gifts to distinct givers and attendants.
18.284–291 Repeated address, approval, work-refusal, and messenger formulas organize the suitors’ apparent compliance. Line 18.285 repeats 18.245 and 16.435 byte-exactly; 18.288 is byte-exact with 2.127; 18.290 is punctuation-normalized with internal 18.50; and 18.291 is byte-exact with 8.399. Familiar diction moves from accepting gifts to reaffirming continued occupation and sending heralds.
18.292–301 The ornament catalogue differentiates fastenings, amber, clustered earrings, and a neck object. Antinous’ robe has twelve gold peronai with curved klēides; Eurymachus’ gold necklace is strung with ēlektra; Eurydamas’ triglēna moroenta earrings emit charis; Peisander sends an isthmion. The compressed compounds name distinct items, not generic jewelry.
Penelope withdraws as evening, song, braziers, and torch duty fill the hall 18.302–320
302ἡ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἀνέβαινʼ ὑπερώϊα δῖα γυναικῶν,
τῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ἅμʼ ἀμφίπολοι ἔφερον περικαλλέα δῶρα
οἱ δʼ εἰς ὀρχηστύν τε καὶ ἱμερόεσσαν ἀοιδὴν
305τρεψάμενοι τέρποντο, μένον δʼ ἐπὶ ἕσπερον ἐλθεῖν.
τοῖσι δὲ τερπομένοισι μέλας ἐπὶ ἕσπερος ἦλθεν.
αὐτίκα λαμπτῆρας τρεῖς ἵστασαν ἐν μεγάροισιν,
ὄφρα φαείνοιεν· περὶ δὲ ξύλα κάγκανα θῆκαν,
αὖα πάλαι, περίκηλα, νέον κεκεασμένα χαλκῷ,
310καὶ δαΐδας μετέμισγον· ἀμοιβηδὶς δʼ ἀνέφαινον
δμῳαὶ Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος. αὐτὰρ ὁ τῇσιν
αὐτὸς διογενῆς μετέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
δμῳαὶ Ὀδυσσῆος, δὴν οἰχομένοιο ἄνακτος,
ἔρχεσθε πρὸς δώμαθʼ, ἵνʼ αἰδοίη βασίλεια·
315τῇ δὲ παρʼ ἠλάκατα στροφαλίζετε, τέρπετε δʼ αὐτὴν
ἥμεναι ἐν μεγάρῳ, ἢ εἴρια πείκετε χερσίν·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ τούτοισι φάος πάντεσσι παρέξω.
ἤν περ γάρ κʼ ἐθέλωσιν ἐΰθρονον Ἠῶ μίμνειν,
οὔ τί με νικήσουσι· πολυτλήμων δὲ μάλʼ εἰμί.
320ὣς ἔφαθʼ, αἱ δʼ ἐγέλασσαν, ἐς ἀλλήλας δὲ ἴδοντο.
302Then the radiant woman went back to the upper rooms,
while her attendants carried the beautiful gifts with her.
The suitors turned to dance and alluring song
305and took their pleasure as they waited for evening to come.
Dark evening came upon them as they made merry.
At once they set three braziers in the hall
to give light and piled dry wood around them,
seasoned long before, bone-dry, and newly split with bronze.
310They mixed in torches, and the enslaved women
of steadfast Odysseus tended the flames in turn. Then
resourceful, Zeus-born Odysseus himself addressed them:
‘Enslaved women of Odysseus, whose master has long been away,
go to the rooms where the revered queen is.
315Spin beside her and entertain her
as you sit in the chamber, or card wool with your hands.
I will provide light for all these men.
Even if they choose to wait for Dawn on her splendid throne,
they will not outlast me; I am a man of great endurance.’
320So he spoke. The women laughed and looked at one another.
Commentary
Penelope and attendants carry the gifts upstairs while suitor dance and song continue until dark. Three braziers convert evening into assigned labor: enslaved women tend the flames until Odysseus orders them back to textile work and offers his own endurance as service to the hall.
18.302–306 Penelope’s withdrawal reuses the Book 1 dance-and-song transition before dark evening arrives. Lines 18.304-305 are byte-exact with 1.421-422. In Book 1 the formula follows Telemachus’ first public command and Athena-led planning; here it follows successful gift collection, and the added dark evening leads directly to braziers and labor.
18.307–312 The lighting sequence accumulates dry wood, splitting, torches, and alternating labor before Odysseus’ formal address. The syntax carries the preparation across several lines and delays the speaking subject until the braziers are fully supplied. Material accumulation makes light audible as work rather than atmosphere, while the shift to Odysseus’ epithets marks a new command.
18.313–320 Odysseus redirects enslaved women from flame work to textile work while offering his own endurance as replacement labor. He names their master’s long absence, orders them toward the queen, specifies spinning and carding, and claims he can outlast the suitors at the lights. The command protects his surveillance plan but remains an exercise of authority over coerced household work.
Melantho abuses Odysseus, who threatens disclosure and continues planning 18.321–345
321τὸν δʼ αἰσχρῶς ἐνένιπε Μελανθὼ καλλιπάρῃος,
τὴν Δολίος μὲν ἔτικτε, κόμισσε δὲ Πηνελόπεια,
παῖδα δὲ ὣς ἀτίταλλε, δίδου δʼ ἄρʼ ἀθύρματα θυμῷ·
ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὣς ἔχε πένθος ἐνὶ φρεσὶ Πηνελοπείης,
325ἀλλʼ ἥ γʼ Εὐρυμάχῳ μισγέσκετο καὶ φιλέεσκεν.
ἥ ῥʼ Ὀδυσῆʼ ἐνένιπεν ὀνειδείοις ἐπέεσσιν·
ξεῖνε τάλαν, σύ γέ τις φρένας ἐκπεπαταγμένος ἐσσί,
οὐδʼ ἐθέλεις εὕδειν χαλκήϊον ἐς δόμον ἐλθών,
ἠέ που ἐς λέσχην, ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδε πόλλʼ ἀγορεύεις,
330θαρσαλέως πολλοῖσι μετʼ ἀνδράσιν, οὐδέ τι θυμῷ
ταρβεῖς· ἦ ῥά σε οἶνος ἔχει φρένας, ἤ νύ τοι αἰεὶ
τοιοῦτος νόος ἐστίν· ὃ καὶ μεταμώνια βάζεις.
ἦ ἀλύεις, ὅτι Ἶρον ἐνίκησας τὸν ἀλήτην;
μή τίς τοι τάχα Ἴρου ἀμείνων ἄλλος ἀναστῇ,
335ὅς τίς σʼ ἀμφὶ κάρη κεκοπὼς χερσὶ στιβαρῇσι
δώματος ἐκπέμψῃσι, φορύξας αἵματι πολλῷ.
τὴν δʼ ἄρʼ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
ἦ τάχα Τηλεμάχῳ ἐρέω, κύον, οἷʼ ἀγορεύεις,
κεῖσʼ ἐλθών, ἵνα σʼ αὖθι διὰ μελεϊστὶ τάμῃσιν.
340ὣς εἰπὼν ἐπέεσσι διεπτοίησε γυναῖκας.
βὰν δʼ ἴμεναι διὰ δῶμα, λύθεν δʼ ὑπὸ γυῖα ἑκάστης
ταρβοσύνῃ· φὰν γάρ μιν ἀληθέα μυθήσασθαι.
αὐτὰρ ὁ πὰρ λαμπτῆρσι φαείνων αἰθομένοισιν
ἑστήκειν ἐς πάντας ὁρώμενος· ἄλλα δέ οἱ κῆρ
345ὥρμαινε φρεσὶν ᾗσιν, ἅ ῥʼ οὐκ ἀτέλεστα γένοντο.
321Melantho of the lovely cheeks shamefully rebuked him.
Dolius was her father, but Penelope had reared her,
cherished her like a child, and given her toys to delight her heart.
Even so, Melantho felt no sorrow in her mind for Penelope
325but slept with Eurymachus and loved him.
She rebuked Odysseus with words of reproach:
‘Wretched stranger, you must be completely stunned out of your mind.
You refuse to go sleep in a smithy
or perhaps a public meeting place, but talk on and on here,
330boldly among so many men, with no fear in your heart.
Has wine taken hold of your wits, or is your mind
always like this, making you babble empty words?
Have you gone mad because you defeated Irus the beggar?
Someone better than Irus may soon stand up against you,
335strike you around the head with powerful hands,
and send you from the house smeared with blood.’
Resourceful Odysseus glared from under his brows and answered:
‘Dog, I will soon go tell Telemachus what you are saying,
so he can cut you limb from limb on the spot.’
340With these words he frightened the women away.
They went through the hall, and each woman’s limbs gave way
with fear, for they thought he had spoken the truth.
Odysseus stood beside the blazing braziers, giving light
and looking at every man, while his heart
345was stirring other plans within him, plans that did not go unfulfilled.
Commentary
The narrator places Melantho’s enslavement, Dolius’ paternity, Penelope’s rearing, lack of sympathy, and relation with Eurymachus beside—but not inside—her status-based mockery. Odysseus replies with a dismemberment threat, frightens the women away, and resumes surveillance and plans that the narrator promises will be fulfilled.
18.321–325 Melantho’s upbringing and intimacy do not erase her enslavement or make affection toward Penelope automatic. The narrator names Dolius as father, Penelope’s childlike rearing and gifts, Melantho’s lack of grief, and repeated sexual relation with Eurymachus. These facts create household fracture without turning status, care, desire, and loyalty into a single moral category.
18.326–336 Melantho’s taunt supplies a block Eurymachus will later repeat nearly verbatim. The first version moves from mental derangement through smithy or public lodging, bold speech, wine, habitual noos, empty words, and Irus. Lines 18.330-333 will recur byte-exact at 18.390-393; the later male speaker omits the lodging alternatives and turns the shared taunt toward immediate violence.
18.337–345 Odysseus answers verbal abuse with a threat of dismemberment delivered through Telemachus’ authority. The disguised speaker calls Melantho a dog, promises to report her, and imagines Telemachus cutting her apart. The women believe him and leave; the narrator then separates this threat from Odysseus’ other inward plans and their later fulfillment.
Athena prolongs the mockery and Eurymachus offers taunting hired labor 18.346–364
346μνηστῆρας δʼ οὐ πάμπαν ἀγήνορας εἴα Ἀθήνη
λώβης ἴσχεσθαι θυμαλγέος, ὄφρʼ ἔτι μᾶλλον
δύη ἄχος κραδίην Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος.
τοῖσιν δʼ Εὐρύμαχος, Πολύβου πάϊς, ἦρχʼ ἀγορεύειν,
350κερτομέων Ὀδυσῆα· γέλω δʼ ἑτάροισιν ἔτευχε.
κέκλυτέ μευ, μνηστῆρες ἀγακλειτῆς βασιλείης,
ὄφρʼ εἴπω τά με θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι κελεύει.
οὐκ ἀθεεὶ ὅδʼ ἀνὴρ Ὀδυσήϊον ἐς δόμον ἵκει·
ἔμπης μοι δοκέει δαίδων σέλας ἔμμεναι αὐτοῦ
355κὰκ κεφαλῆς, ἐπεὶ οὔ οἱ ἔνι τρίχες οὐδʼ ἠβαιαί.
ἦ ῥʼ, ἅμα τε προσέειπεν Ὀδυσσῆα πτολίπορθον·
ξεῖνʼ, ἦ ἄρ κʼ ἐθέλοις θητευέμεν, εἴ σʼ ἀνελοίμην,
ἀγροῦ ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῆς—μισθὸς δέ τοι ἄρκιος ἔσται—
αἱμασιάς τε λέγων καὶ δένδρεα μακρὰ φυτεύων;
360ἔνθα κʼ ἐγὼ σῖτον μὲν ἐπηετανὸν παρέχοιμι,
εἵματα δʼ ἀμφιέσαιμι ποσίν θʼ ὑποδήματα δοίην.
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν δὴ ἔργα κάκʼ ἔμμαθες, οὐκ ἐθελήσεις
ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πτώσσειν κατὰ δῆμον
βούλεαι, ὄφρʼ ἄν ἔχῃς βόσκειν σὴν γαστέρʼ ἄναλτον.
346Athena did not let the overbearing suitors wholly
refrain from heart-wounding mockery, so that still deeper
grief might enter the heart of Laertes’ son Odysseus.
Eurymachus son of Polybus began to speak among them,
350mocking Odysseus and making his companions laugh:
‘Listen to me, suitors of the renowned queen,
while I say what the heart in my chest commands.
This man has not come to Odysseus’ house without a god’s help.
I think the light of the torches shines from his own
355head, since he has not a single hair upon it.’
He spoke, then addressed Odysseus, sacker of cities:
‘Stranger, would you be willing to work for hire if I took you on
at the far edge of my farm? Your wage would be sufficient.
You could build stone walls and plant tall trees.
360There I would provide you food through the year,
clothe you, and give you sandals for your feet.
But you have learned wicked ways and will not choose
to go near any work. You would rather beg through the district
so you can keep feeding your bottomless belly.’
Commentary
Athena deliberately permits more heart-wounding abuse, giving divine agency to the test’s continuation rather than to Eurymachus’ words. His joke about divine light on a bald head turns into an offer of paid dependent farm labor with food, clothing, and sandals, then into a contemptuous claim that appetite explains begging.
18.346–355 Athena prolongs mockery to deepen Odysseus’ pain, while Eurymachus remains author of the joke. The goddess prevents the suitors from stopping and supplies a purpose clause about heart-wounding grief. Eurymachus then independently mocks the bald head as torchlight, so divine permission, human speech, group laughter, and Odysseus’ suffering retain separate agents.
18.356–364 Eurymachus offers hired dependency and then uses presumed refusal to moralize hunger. Thēteuein, misthos, yearly food, clothing, and sandals define an offered labor relation, with wall-building and tree planting as tasks. His contempt converts the imagined choice to beg into evidence of bad character and treats the belly as sufficient explanation.
Odysseus answers with contests in reaping, plowing, and war 18.365–386
365τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
Εὐρύμαχʼ, εἰ γὰρ νῶϊν ἔρις ἔργοιο γένοιτο
ὥρῃ ἐν εἰαρινῇ, ὅτε τʼ ἤματα μακρὰ πέλονται,
ἐν ποίῃ, δρέπανον μὲν ἐγὼν εὐκαμπὲς ἔχοιμι,
καὶ δὲ σὺ τοῖον ἔχοις, ἵνα πειρησαίμεθα ἔργου
370νήστιες ἄχρι μάλα κνέφαος, ποίη δὲ παρείη.
εἰ δʼ αὖ καὶ βόες εἶεν ἐλαυνέμεν, οἵ περ ἄριστοι,
αἴθωνες, μεγάλοι, ἄμφω κεκορηότε ποίης,
ἥλικες, ἰσοφόροι, τῶν τε σθένος οὐκ ἀλαπαδνόν,
τετράγυον δʼ εἴη, εἴκοι δʼ ὑπὸ βῶλος ἀρότρῳ·
375τῷ κέ μʼ ἴδοις, εἰ ὦλκα διηνεκέα προταμοίμην.
εἰ δʼ αὖ καὶ πόλεμόν ποθεν ὁρμήσειε Κρονίων
σήμερον, αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ σάκος εἴη καὶ δύο δοῦρε
καὶ κυνέη πάγχαλκος, ἐπὶ κροτάφοις ἀραρυῖα,
τῷ κέ μʼ ἴδοις πρώτοισιν ἐνὶ προμάχοισι μιγέντα,
380οὐδʼ ἄν μοι τὴν γαστέρʼ ὀνειδίζων ἀγορεύοις.
ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ὑβρίξεις, καί τοι νόος ἐστὶν ἀπηνής·
καί πού τις δοκέεις μέγας ἔμμεναι ἠδὲ κραταιός,
οὕνεκα πὰρ παύροισι καὶ οὐκ ἀγαθοῖσιν ὁμιλεῖς.
εἰ δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἔλθοι καὶ ἵκοιτʼ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,
385αἶψά κέ τοι τὰ θύρετρα, καὶ εὐρέα περ μάλʼ ἐόντα,
φεύγοντι στείνοιτο διὲκ προθύροιο θύραζε.
365Resourceful Odysseus answered him:
‘Eurymachus, if only the two of us could have a contest in work
in the spring season, when the days grow long,
out in a meadow—I with a well-curved sickle
and you with one like it, so we could test ourselves at labor,
370fasting until deep dusk, with grass enough before us.
Or if there were oxen to drive, the finest kind,
tawny, large, both filled with grass,
matched in age and pull, their strength not easily spent,
and a field measuring four plowlands whose clods yielded beneath the plow,
375then you would see whether I could cut a furrow straight through.
Or if the son of Cronus stirred up a war from somewhere
today, and I had a shield and two spears
and an all-bronze helmet fitted around my temples,
you would see me join the foremost fighters,
380and you would no longer speak insults about my belly.
But your violence is extreme, and your mind is harsh.
You perhaps think yourself a great and powerful man
because you mix with only a few men, and they are worthless.
If Odysseus returned and reached his native land,
385the doors, though very wide, would quickly become too narrow
for you as you fled through the doorway and outside.’
Commentary
Odysseus answers social contempt through measurable competence: long-day reaping without food, matched oxen on a four-plowland field, and full equipment among the foremost fighters. He then diagnoses Eurymachus’ harsh mind and predicts that Odysseus’ return would make the wide doorway constrict around flight.
18.365–375 The same resourceful-Odysseus answer line that opened the Amphinomus warning now opens a contest of labor. Line 18.365 is byte-exact with 18.124 and the same twelve prior exact comparanda, plus two punctuation-normalized Book 14 frames. Internal repetition aligns ethical warning and competitive self-proof while the reaping, fasting, matched oxen, four-plowland field, and straight furrow are local.
18.376–386 The disguised veteran answers contempt by moving seamlessly from farm labor to front-line equipment. Shield, two spears, and bronze helmet expose a martial self beneath beggar appearance, while the rebuke locates Eurymachus’ confidence among few worthless companions. The return prediction turns the house’s wide doors into an image of panic and constricted escape.
Eurymachus throws a footstool, misses Odysseus, and disrupts the feast 18.387–404
387ὣς ἔφατʼ, Εὐρύμαχος δʼ ἐχολώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,
καί μιν ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
ἆ δείλʼ, ἦ τάχα τοι τελέω κακόν, οἷʼ ἀγορεύεις
390θαρσαλέως πολλοῖσι μετʼ ἀνδράσιν, οὐδέ τι θυμῷ
ταρβεῖς· ἦ ῥά σε οἶνος ἔχει φρένας, ἤ νύ τοι αἰεὶ
τοιοῦτος νόος ἐστίν· ὃ καὶ μεταμώνια βάζεις.
ἦ ἀλύεις, ὅτι Ἶρον ἐνίκησας τὸν ἀλήτην;
ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας σφέλας ἔλλαβεν· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
395Ἀμφινόμου πρὸς γοῦνα καθέζετο Δουλιχιῆος,
Εὐρύμαχον δείσας· ὁ δʼ ἄρʼ οἰνοχόον βάλε χεῖρα
δεξιτερήν· πρόχοος δὲ χαμαὶ βόμβησε πεσοῦσα,
αὐτὰρ ὅ γʼ οἰμώξας πέσεν ὕπτιος ἐν κονίῃσι.
μνηστῆρες δʼ ὁμάδησαν ἀνὰ μέγαρα σκιόεντα,
400ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν ἰδὼν ἐς πλησίον ἄλλον·
αἴθʼ ὤφελλʼ ὁ ξεῖνος ἀλώμενος ἄλλοθʼ ὀλέσθαι
πρὶν ἐλθεῖν· τῷ οὔ τι τόσον κέλαδον μετέθηκε.
νῦν δὲ περὶ πτωχῶν ἐριδαίνομεν, οὐδέ τι δαιτὸς
ἐσθλῆς ἔσσεται ἦδος, ἐπεὶ τὰ χερείονα νικᾷ.
387So he spoke. Eurymachus grew still angrier at heart,
glared from under his brows, and addressed him with winged words:
‘Wretch, I will soon bring evil upon you for speaking
390so boldly among so many men, with no fear in your heart.
Has wine taken hold of your wits, or is your mind
always like this, making you babble empty words?
Have you gone mad because you defeated Irus the beggar?’
So saying, he seized a footstool. Odysseus
395sat down beside the knee of Amphinomus of Dulichium,
afraid of Eurymachus; but Eurymachus struck the wine-pourer
on the right hand, and the pitcher fell ringing on the ground.
The man groaned and fell backward in the dust.
The suitors raised an uproar through the shadowed hall.
400One man would look at his neighbor and say:
‘If only this wandering stranger had died somewhere else
before he came here! Then he would not have caused such a din.
Now we are quarreling over beggars, and there will be no pleasure
in the good feast, since the worse thing is winning.’
Commentary
Eurymachus repeats Melantho’s wine-and-madness taunt, then turns speech into a thrown footstool. Odysseus evades beside Amphinomus, but the object strikes the wine-pourer’s right hand; the suitors’ complaint displaces responsibility onto the stranger whose presence supposedly spoils their feast.
18.387–393 Eurymachus adopts Melantho’s taunt verbatim at its core before escalating to a thrown object. Line 18.388 is byte-exact with 17.459, another glare-and-winged-words attack frame. Lines 18.390-393 are byte-exact with 18.330-333, transferring boldness, wine, fixed noos, empty words, and Irus from an enslaved woman’s rebuke to a leading suitor’s threat.
18.394–404 The thrown footstool misses its target but injures a worker, after which the group blames the stranger. Odysseus moves to Amphinomus’ knee in fear; Eurymachus remains grammatical agent of the blow to the wine-pourer’s right hand. Pitcher, groan, backward fall, uproar, and anonymous complaint preserve the causal chain even as the suitors narratively displace it.
Telemachus rebukes the suitors and Amphinomus urges an orderly close 18.405–422
405τοῖσι δὲ καὶ μετέειφʼ ἱερὴ ἲς Τηλεμάχοιο
δαιμόνιοι, μαίνεσθε καὶ οὐκέτι κεύθετε θυμῷ
βρωτὺν οὐδὲ ποτῆτα· θεῶν νύ τις ὔμμʼ ὀροθύνει.
ἀλλʼ εὖ δαισάμενοι κατακείετε οἴκαδʼ ἰόντες,
ὁππότε θυμὸς ἄνωγε· διώκω δʼ οὔ τινʼ ἐγώ γε.
410ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ὀδὰξ ἐν χείλεσι φύντες
Τηλέμαχον θαύμαζον, ὃ θαρσαλέως ἀγόρευε.
τοῖσιν δʼ Ἀμφίνομος ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπε
Νίσου φαίδιμος υἱός, Ἀρητιάδαο ἄνακτος·
ὦ φίλοι, οὐκ ἂν δή τις ἐπὶ ῥηθέντι δικαίῳ
415ἀντιβίοις ἐπέεσσι καθαπτόμενος χαλεπαίνοι·
μήτε τι τὸν ξεῖνον στυφελίζετε μήτε τινʼ ἄλλον
δμώων, οἳ κατὰ δώματʼ Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο.
ἀλλʼ ἄγετʼ, οἰνοχόος μὲν ἐπαρξάσθω δεπάεσσιν,
ὄφρα σπείσαντες κατακείομεν οἴκαδʼ ἰόντες·
420τὸν ξεῖνον δὲ ἐῶμεν ἐνὶ μεγάροις Ὀδυσῆος
Τηλεμάχῳ μελέμεν· τοῦ γὰρ φίλον ἵκετο δῶμα.
ὣς φάτο, τοῖσι δὲ πᾶσιν ἑαδότα μῦθον ἔειπε.
405The sacred strength of Telemachus spoke among them:
‘Strange men, you are mad and can no longer keep
food or drink contained within you. Some god must be rousing you.
But after feasting well, go home and lie down
whenever your spirit commands. I am driving no one out.’
410So he spoke. They all bit their lips
and marveled at Telemachus for speaking boldly.
Amphinomus then addressed the assembly,
the splendid son of Nisus and grandson of King Aretias:
‘Friends, no one should grow angry and attack with opposing words
415when a just statement has been made.
Do not roughly handle the stranger, or any other
of the enslaved people in godlike Odysseus’ house.
Come, let the wine-pourer begin by filling our cups,
so we can pour libations and go home to lie down.
420Let us leave the stranger here in Odysseus’ halls
for Telemachus to care for, since he came to his dear house.’
So he spoke, and his words pleased them all.
Commentary
Telemachus interprets the suitors’ lost restraint as divine agitation but stops short of expelling them. Amphinomus accepts the justice of the rebuke, prohibits rough handling of the stranger and household’s enslaved people, and restores a controlled sequence of wine, libation, departure, and delegated guest care.
18.405–411 Telemachus’ sacred-strength speech and the suitors’ bitten-lip response reuse public-authority formulas at a breaking point. Line 18.405 is punctuation-normalized with 2.409, where Telemachus commands loading for his first voyage; 18.410 is byte-exact with 1.381, where suitors react to his early hall speech. Familiar authority and reaction frames now surround madness, divine agitation, departure permission, and refusal to expel anyone.
18.412–422 Amphinomus converts Telemachus’ rebuke into a temporary rule for the occupied household. He calls the statement just, rejects hostile counter-speech, forbids rough handling of both stranger and enslaved household people, and delegates the guest to Telemachus as host. His assembly-style intervention restores procedure without challenging the courtship occupation itself.
Mulius serves the libation and the suitors depart for home 18.423–428
423τοῖσιν δὲ κρητῆρα κεράσσατο Μούλιος ἥρως,
κῆρυξ Δουλιχιεύς· θεράπων δʼ ἦν Ἀμφινόμοιο·
425νώμησεν δʼ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπισταδόν· οἱ δὲ θεοῖσι
σπείσαντες μακάρεσσι πίον μελιηδέα οἶνον.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ σπεῖσάν τʼ ἔπιόν θʼ ὅσον ἤθελε θυμός,
βάν ῥʼ ἴμεναι κείοντες ἑὰ πρὸς δώμαθʼ ἕκαστος.
423The hero Mulius mixed the wine in the bowl for them,
a Dulichian herald and attendant of Amphinomus.
425He went to each man in turn. They poured libations
to the blessed gods and drank the honey-sweet wine.
When they had poured and drunk as much as their hearts desired,
they went away to their own houses to lie down.
Commentary
Mulius is identified by origin, herald role, and service to Amphinomus as he mixes and distributes the wine. Libation, drinking to desire, and departure restore a conventional feast close after the hall’s disorder, but only for the night.
18.423–428 Mulius’ service restores libation and orderly dispersal after the feast’s violence. The narrator identifies him as Dulichian herald and Amphinomus’ attendant before he mixes and distributes wine. Pouring to the blessed gods precedes drinking to desire and departure, so ritual sequence closes the night without repairing the household’s larger breach.