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| Eurycleia washes Odysseus' feet |
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| Eurycleia washes Odysseus' feet |
- Homer reminds us twice: "That left the great Odysseus waiting in the hall/ as Athena helped him plot the slaughter of the suitors" (1-2 and 54-55). Homer leaves us in no doubt as to what all is leading up to.
- "I'll stay here behind/ to test the women, test your mother too" (47-48). Odysseus sends Telemachus to bed, leaving the great hall empty finally.
- What Odysseus says he will do leaves one asking, Is he being cruel to Penelope? Why does he need to test her? Why does he cause her so much pain and sorrow in this section?
- Notice how Odysseus begins his beautiful passage of praise of Penelope:
- "Your fame, believe me, has reached the vaulting skies."
- Fame/glory ( kl°ow ) (kleos) is one of the key words in both epics, as we have seen. It is one of the ultimate values for which Odysseus and Achilles strive in all they do.
- Interestingly, Homer compares her kleos to that of a king. He does not praise her for the expected virtues of a woman but for her ability to bring about a peaceable kingdom.
- Penelope points out that her kleos--glory and fame--will be even greater "if he could return to tend my life." (141)
- Notice that Odysseus himself is a man "of sorrows"
- Odysseus has many times referred to the root meaning of his name as "man of sorrows," "man of suffering."
- Here (line 130 ff) once again, he refers to his state of sorrow and suffering.
- His story--false though it is--that he, the beggar, had been Odysseus's host on Crete--melts her "in tears, streaming down her lovely cheeks,/ weeping for him, her husband, sitting there beside her." (240-1)
- Take some time to reflect on this beautiful, puzzling scene in which Odysseus in disguise and Penelope sit in quiet and talk (55-405). What are the key passages and meanings you discern? [Discuss Ody Bk19 Q01]
- Odysseus goes back to his youth when he got the scar for which he is named.
- ÙdÊssomai —odusomai—means to be angry with (461)
- ÙdÊnh —odune—means pain
- His name came from his grandfather, who named him Odysseus, when a wild boar gored him in the foot and caused the scar by which the nurse recognizes him.