Odyssey Book 17-23 Summary

Odysseus must now face the other suitors in order to win Penelope. He must rely on physical strength to get past this task then to face Penelope and convince her it is really Odysseus. After defeating the other suitors Odysseus was cleaned up and made to

When Telemachus sees this, he tells his mother that the bards are here for entertainment not to dishearten anyone. He then sends his mother off to her room so he could address the crude suitors. After these two events the suitors were in awe that Telemachus had the poise to stand in front of them and tell them to leave. The suitors did not think much of his actions and went back to dancing and singing.

The relationship between Telemachus and his mother is that of a mother and son but also head of household and subordinate member of the household. Up until the beginning of the poem, Penelope had been Telemachus’ authority figure. But as Telemachus starts to mature and gain confidence with help from the goddess, Athena, he becomes the authority figure for Penelope, giving her advice and wisdom. One example is when the minstrel sings a song that reminds Penelope of her husband, Odysseus, and she asks for him to stop singing because it brings her pain to think of him. But

Chapter 21- Penelope gets Odysseus’s bow, to check if any suitor was capable of stringing it and shooting it through the line of 12 axes. Meanwhile, Odysseus reveals his identity to Eumaeus and Philoetius. No one can string or shoot Odysseus’s bow so Odysseus, still disguised, shoots the bow effortlessly and flawlessly.

When he does get home he does not recognize where he is. He goes to the palace and regains trust of his fellow servants.He sees the suitors who are awaiting Penelope in marriage.Her last challenge shall be so string a bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes. Odysseus disguised completes the task and has one final question from his longed wife. She tells the servants to get the bed\, however Odysseus knows you cant get the need for he has made it irremovable and Penelope

Each of the suitors attempts to accomplish this feat, but none of the suitors could even string the bow, much less shoot it. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, sees that they cannot achieve it, and he asks to be allowed to attempt the test as well. The suitors disagree, but Telemakhos allows it. Now that Odysseus has a bow, he is able to kill the suitors much more easily. This hints to the fact that Penelope may have had a slight suspicion that the beggar was really Odysseus. She would have known that no one but Odysseus himself would know how to string the bow, and only one man, Philoktetes, is capable of shooting better than Odysseus.

Penelope attempts to maintain her loyalty to Odysseus throughout the Odyssey. She would,”weave at her great and growing web” and,”would unravel all she’d done”(Homer 2.115-117) to keep the suitors busy. Penelope creates a scheme in which the suitors think they will be able to marry her, but in reality it is a way to keep them busy. Another scheme was created by Penelope in which the suitors used,”the great bow of King Odysseus”(Homer 21.85) and the man,”that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes”(Homer 21.87) will be her new husband. Although this challenge sounds fair to the suitors it was tilted to Penelope’s favor. She used a bow that only Odysseus could string and a challenge that only Odysseus has done. Eumaeus shows his loyalty to Odysseus by helping him. Eumaeus,”spotted him and quickly told his king”(Homer 22.170) Eumaeus shows fidelity and his loyalty to Odysseus by supporting him for all these

Meanwhile: Odysseus get help from his son and dresses like a beggar soon to try and pull the bow back himself. The suitors have no idea it's Odysseus dressed as a beggar when he comes in. He is able to pull the bow back and instead of shooting at the axes he shoots the first suitor. Then after arguing with the other, he takes out the rest of the suitors with his son Telemachus. Once all the suitors have died he goes and tries to prove himself to Penelope, but it doesn't go well at first.

Upon returning to Ithaca, Odysseus displays his qualities during the test of the bow. He show his great courage and strength as he kills every suitor. A calmer side of Odysseus was revealed when he intelligently tells Penelope the story of how he made the bed and how it cannot be moved by anyone: “An old trunk of olive grew like a pillar on the building plot, and I laid up our bedroom around that tree, lined up the stone walls, built the walls and roof, gave it a doorway and

Odysseus continues to tell his men that they should not be afraid and to be brave as they continue their journey because they did not die even though it was foreseen that they would. Penelope holds a contests to see if Odysseus had returned and many men try to do the challenge of stringing a bow but fail. Odysseus grabs the bow and strings it and kills all of the men in the palace so he can gain his kingdom back. Odysseus killed all of these men also, so he could prove his powerfulness to Penelope ( Death at the

Penelope had all the men fighting for her love attempt to perform a task that only her husband, Odysseus could complete. “We now declare a contest for that prize. Here is my lord odysseus hunting bow. Bend and string if you can who sends an arrow through iron helve sockets, twelve in line? I will join my life with his, and leave this place, my home.”

This new, positive side of Telemachus presented to the reader is one that helps the reader realize the importance of Odysseus to Telemachus. When the goddess Athena comes to Telemachus under the disguise of Odysseus’s old friend Mentes to let Telemachus know that Odysseus is probably still alive, Telemachus expresses a spark of unprecedented hope and gratitude. For one thing, when first speaking to Athena, he has a very pessimistic outlook on his father and father’s story, telling her to “think of the most unlucky mortal ever born—since you ask me, they say yes, I am his son” (1.254). Athena gives him details about Odysseus and reassures Telemachus that he is not, in fact, dead, and Telemachus reacts with incredible happiness. He tells Athena that she’s “considered me with so much kindness now, like a father to a son” (1.353-354).

Book 19 of the epic poem The Odyssey is written by the great poet Homer. Homer’s specific use of language and epic conventions help develop the plot, specifically Odysseus’ disguise and whether or not it will work on the people in the house. It also helps to establish Eurycleia, the nurse, and the suitors as well as Penelope. In the passage, Odysseus has entered his home for the first time since his return when he left almost twenty years ago. Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus tells his own story through the beggar’s words to his wife, Penelope, but never reveals his true identity. After Penelope is deeply moved by the knowledge that her husband is still alive, she offers the stranger a place to sleep and new clothing. Odysseus kindly declines

Odysseus reveals himself to Eumaios and Philoitios by showing them a scar. Odysseus then asks for a chance to string the bow. Penelope orders Antinos to give Odysseus the bow. Telemachus orders all the women out of the room while Odysseus takes his time stringing the bow.

Ten years after the fall of Troy, the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native land Ithaca. A band of rowdy suitors, believing Odysseus to be dead, has overrun his palace, courting his faithful—though weakening—wife Penelope, and going through his stock for food. With permission from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' greatest immortal ally, appears in disguise and urges Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta. However, the suitors, led by Antinous, plan to ambush him upon return.