Odysseus comes disguised as a wanderer to his palace
The next day, as soon as the edge of the sky turned the bright purple of dawn, Telemachus set out for the city. Leaving, he ordered Evmeyo to lead the wanderer to the city so that he could collect alms there. Arriving home, Telemachus was the first to meet his old nurse Eurycleia. She was overjoyed when she saw Telemachus entering, and weepingly embraced him. Odyssey all the slaves went out to meet their son. Upon learning of her son's return, she went out to meet him and Penelope. She hugged her son and began to question him about what he had learned during his journey. But Telemachus did not tell her anything - he hurried to go to the town square to bring Feoklimen to his house.
When Telemachus came to the town square, the suitors surrounded him in a crowd, each of them hastened to wish him something good, but in the depths of their hearts they plotted the death of Telemachus. Soon Theoclymenos also came to the square with Peraios, who sheltered him for a while while he was away from the city of Telemachus.
Now Telemachus invited Theoclymenes to his house and left with him. At home, having bathed in beautiful marble baths, Telemachus and Theoclymenus sat down to a meal. Penelope came out to them and sat down near their table with her work. Telemachus told his mother about his journey to Pylos and Sparta. Penelope was saddened by the fact that Telemachus did not know anything about her father. But Theoclymenes began to reassure her; he assured that Odysseus was already in Ithaca, that he was probably hiding somewhere in order to more accurately prepare the death of the suitors. Theoclymenus said that if Odysseus had not returned to Ithaca, the gods would not have sent signs when Telemachus returned. During Penelope's conversation with Telemachus and Theoclymenus, the suitors amused themselves in the courtyard by throwing discs and spears. Soon shepherds of goats and sheep were brought in for the grooms' feast. The suitors entered the house of Odysseus in a crowd and began preparing for the feast. The herald Medont summoned them to the banquet hall.
Meanwhile, Odysseus and Eumeus slowly walked towards the city. Leaning on a stick, Odysseus walked under the guise of a weak beggar. They were already not far from the city, when a shepherd Melanty met them at the source from which the inhabitants of the city took water. Seeing Eumeus with a wanderer, the impudent Melantius began to mock them and shouted:
- Here is one villain leading another! Where are you, stupid Eumeus, taking this beggar? Look, the suitors will break his ribs, if he only dares to show himself in the house of Odysseus.
Screaming this, Melantius kicked Odysseus hard, but Odysseus did not even move from this blow. He resisted forcibly so as not to kill the insolent man by hitting his head on the ground. Eumeus began to threaten Melantius that he would have a bad time when Odysseus returned. But Melantius rudely replied that he was in vain hoping for the return of Odysseus, that Telemachus would soon be killed by suitors, and Eumeus himself was sold to some strangers. With these threats, Melantius left.
Eumeus and Odysseus slowly continued on their way. Finally, they approached the palace of Odysseus. From there came the sounds of cithara and singing. The groomsmen's feast was in full swing. Eumeus and Odysseus, talking loudly to each other, entered the courtyard. There, on a pile of dung near the gate, lay Odysseus' old dog, Argus. As soon as she heard the voice of her master, her ears pricked up. The faithful Argus sensed his master, wagged his tail and wanted to get up to rush towards him, but was no longer able to move. Abandoned by everyone, old, he died. I recognized my faithful Argus and Odysseus. A tear rolled down from his eyes; he quickly brushed away the tear with his hand so that Eumeus would not notice it. Argus stirred and died. For twenty years he waited for his master and immediately recognized him, even under the guise of a beggar.
Eumeus entered the banquet hall first and sat down near Telemachus. Following Eumeus, Odysseus also entered. He did not go to the guests, but sat down at the very entrance, leaning against the door. Immediately Telemachus took bread and meat, ordered to take Odysseus and tell him to boldly go to the guests to ask for alms. Odysseus got up and began to bypass all the guests. Everyone served him, only one refused - Antina. But Odysseus began to persistently ask him for alms. The cruel, rude Antinous got angry and drove Odysseus away from him. Odysseus departed from him, saying:
- Yes, I see that your mind is not as good as your face, since you regret giving me even a crust of bread, and even someone else's!
Antinus flared with anger, grabbed a bench, threw it with all his might at Odysseus and hit him in the back. But Odysseus did not even stagger from a strong blow, he stood like an unshakable rock; he just shook his head menacingly, sat down again at the very door and said:
- It doesn't matter if someone endures beatings while protecting their property.If only the goddesses of vengeance Erinii protect the poor, then instead of marriage, Antinous death awaits here.
Antinous was even more angry when he heard the words of Odysseus, but the suitors began to reproach him for insulting the wanderer who came to the house, since it happened more than once that under the guise of wanderers the immortal gods came to people. It was bitter to see Telemachus, how Antinous insulted his father, but, remembering the condition, he restrained his anger.
Penelope also found out how Antinous insulted the unfortunate wanderer. She hated the impudent Antinous even more. Calling Eumeus to her, she asked him about the wanderer, and when she found out that Odysseus was once the guest of the wanderer's father, she exclaimed:
- Oh, I believe that Odysseus and Telemachus will take cruel revenge on their suitors when Odysseus returns!
As soon as Penelope said this, Telemachus sneezed loudly. Penelope rejoiced at this sign, now she was sure that sooner or later the suitors would die at the hands of her husband.
She ordered Eumea to bring a wanderer to her to ask him about Odysseus. But Odysseus refused to immediately go to Penelope, he asked to wait until the evening, not wanting to annoy even more suitors. Penelope agreed to wait.
The Feast of the Suitors became more and more noisy. The night has come. Eumeus had already gone home long ago. The grooms still did not disperse. Suddenly, a beggar appeared at the door, a glutton and drunkard known throughout Ithaca. His name was Irom. Seeing the wanderer at the door, Ir began to chase him, but Odysseus did not leave. Then Ir began to threaten him that he would beat him if he did not immediately leave. A quarrel began. Antinous heard her and, wanting to entertain himself and his suitors, he decided to force Ira to fight with the wanderer. He promised to give the winner a fried goat's stomach as a reward, and in addition, to allow him to come every day for alms. The suitors surrounded Ira and Odysseus and incited them to measure their strength. Odysseus agreed to fight Ir, but first took an oath from the suitors that they would not help Ir. The grooms took an oath. Then Odysseus took off his robe and girded himself with it. The grooms looked with surprise at the mighty body of Odysseus, at his muscular arms, broad chest and shoulders. Ir was terribly frightened, but he could no longer fight Odysseus, as the slaves grabbed him, girded him and set him against Odysseus. From fear, Ir could hardly stand on his feet. Looking at him, Odysseus thought: should he be killed with a blow of his fist or only knocked down? Odysseus decided that with a mighty blow he could arouse the suspicion of suitors; therefore, when Ir hit him on the shoulder, he in turn hit him on the head just above the ear. Ir fell to the floor and screamed in pain. Odysseus grabbed him by the leg and dragged him out of the banquet hall into the courtyard, there he seated him against the wall near the gate, threw his torn bag over his shoulders and gave him a stick in his hands. So Odysseus taught Ira because he boldly decided to drive him, a wanderer, from his own home. The suitors were very happy that Odysseus had saved them from the annoying Ira. They merrily congratulated him on his victory, and one of them, Amphinos, offered Odysseus a goblet of wine and wished the gods to send him wealth and happiness again. Amfinom was the best of the suitors, he often kept the others from rampage and always protected Telemachus. Odysseus knew this and, wanting to save Amphinome, advised him to leave the crowd of suitors and return to his father, since Odysseus would soon return and death would then threaten all the suitors. But Amfin did not heed the advice of Odysseus, he himself went towards his death.
At this time, the goddess Athena-Pallas prompted Penelope to go out to the suitors in order to further inflame their desire to marry her, and so that Odysseus, and Telemachus appreciated her loyalty and love for them even more. Penelope immediately called Euryna and ordered two slaves to be summoned, who were to escort her to the banquet hall to the suitors. When Eurynome came out, the goddess Athena plunged Penelope into a short sleep and endowed her with such beauty in a dream that she shone like the goddess of love Aphrodite. The slaves who entered woke Penelope. Penelope got up and went to the suitors, They looked with delight at the wife of Odysseus who entered. Penelope called Telemachus to her and reproached him for allowing him to offend the unfortunate wanderer in his house. Obediently listened to the reproach of Mother Telemachus. One of the suitors, Eurymachus, turned to Penelope and began to praise her beauty. Penelope listened to him and answered that she no longer had her former beauty, she had lost it since Odysseus left her; only then would her beauty return to her again if Odysseus returned. She reproached the suitors for forcing her to enter into a hated marriage with one of them and ruining the house of Odysseus with their feasts. It was not so in the old days, then the grooms tried to persuade the bride with gifts and did not squander someone else's property. But the suitors did not heed the reproaches of Penelope; calmly listening to her, the suitors of their servants sent for rich gifts and gave them to Penelope, thinking to persuade her to brlike gifts. Penelope silently accepted the gifts and retired with her slaves to her chambers.
As soon as Penelope left, the grooms ordered the slaves to bring three large lamps and light a fire on them to illuminate the banquet hall brighter. Fulfilled the order of the slave. Odysseus told the slaves to go about their work, and he would look after the lamps. But one of the slaves, Melanto, began to mock him and scold him. Odysseus threatened the impudent Melanto that he would complain about her to Penelope. The slave girls were frightened by this threat and hurriedly left. Odysseus began to watch the fire on the lamps. Eurymachus, to cheer the suitors, laughing at Odysseus said:
- I see that some god sent this wanderer to us, so that it would be brighter for us to feast. The light comes not from lamps, but from his bald head, on which there is not a single hair.
The grooms laughed, and Eurymachus began to mock Odysseus even more. Odysseus calmly answered him:
- Eurymachus! Great is your arrogance, but you imagine that you are strong only because you are surrounded by weak people. Return now to your misfortune Odysseus and then this wide door would immediately seem narrow to you, so hastily you would rush to run.
Evrymachus was terribly angry, he grabbed a bench and threw it at Odysseus with a swing. But Odysseus deftly dodged the blow. The bench fell into the hand of a slave carrying wine, and with a groan he fell to the floor, dropping the goblet. The suitors raised a fuss. They were indignant that constant quarrels began at their feast from the moment the wanderer appeared. But Telemachus said that this was not the reason for the quarrels: the reason was that everyone was drunk and it was time to end the feast. No matter how annoying the suitors were to hear such words of Telemachus, they were nevertheless forced to end the feast. They filled the goblets with wine again, drank and went home.
When all the suitors dispersed, Odysseus told Telemachus that now it was necessary to take out all the weapons from the banquet hall. Telemachus called Eurycleia and ordered her to lock up all the servants in their room, so that they would not see how they would take out weapons that must be removed so that they would not deteriorate from smoke. Eurycleia fulfilled the order of Telemachus. Telemachus and Odysseus began to take out their weapons, and the goddess Athena invisibly shone on them, lighting her lamp. Telemachus was surprised to see how the light from an invisible lamp spread everywhere, and asked Odysseus where this light came from. But Odysseus forbade his son to ask; he was afraid that he would anger the goddess Telemachus with his questions. Having removed all the weapons, Odysseus went to the chambers of Penelope. She was impatiently waiting for the wanderer to ask him about Odysseus. Telemachus went to his chambers and calmly fell asleep.