Book Twenty One-The Test of the Bow

We were now ready to start the competition. Penelope retrieved my bow, which was given to me by Iphitos, from the storeroom after many years of not being used. She then announces that she will marry the suitor who can string it and then shoot an arrow through a line of twelve axes. Telemakhos then sets up the axes and then tries his own hand at the task, but fails as he attempts to string it. Then suitors warm and grease the bow to make it easier to manage, but one by one they all fail, even Antinoos. HA!, I knew nobody could string it! Meanwhile, I follow Eumaeus and Philoetius outside. I assure myself of their loyalty and reveal my identity to them by showing then the famous scar on my foot that I received many years ago. I promise to treat them as Telemakhos's brothers if they fight on my side against the suitors. They were overjoyed when they found out that I was Odysseus and they agreed with no doubt that they would keep my secret and help me fight the suitors. Then when we returned to the hall, that awful Eurymachus has the bow. He feels disgraced that he cannot string it, because he knows that this failure proves that he is inferior to me. I can't tell you how much I love this feeling! Then, Antinoos suggests that we hold off this competition until the next day, when they can sacrifice to Apollo, the archer god, before trying again. He thinks that this might help the suitors succeed. Still disguised as the beggar, I ask for the bow. Then all of the suitors start to complain, go figure, fearing that I will succeed. Then that awful Antinoos starts to ridicule me, saying that the wine has gone to my head and that I will bring disaster upon myself. How dare he say such crap! Then, Telemakhos takes control and orders Eumaeus to give me the bow. Needless to say, I easily string it and send the first arrow through all twelve axes. Take that Antinoos! This shows that in life, one must act calmly and not overreact when someone starts to pester you.

Book Twenty-Signs and a Vision

That night, Penelope and myself both have trouble sleeping. As I am sleeping outside on the ground, I worry that Telemakhos and I will never be able to fight off the many, dangerous suitors. Then Athena reassures me that through the gods anything is possible. Torn apart by the loss of me as a husband and her commitment to be remarried, Penelope wakes and preys for Artemis to kill her. This made me feel terrible and I didn't know what would happen if I didn't get rid of the suitors quickly. It was only a matter of time until something drastic would happen. This shows that sometimes in life, one must act quickly in order to solve or eliminate their problems. Of course, this distress wakens me, and I ask Zeus for a good omen. He responds with a clap of thunder and all of the sudden a maid in another room starts yelling at the suitors. The next day, the palace springs to life. Telelmakhos and I meet in succession while the suitors are in the hall feasting. Eumaeus, Melanthius and Philoetius meet and Philotius, a kind and loyal herdsman, says that he has not given up hope of Odysseus's return. Then those pitiful suitors entered, once again plotting Telemakhos's murder. Amphinomus convinces them to call off the killing, however a doomsayer appears in the form of an eagle carrying a dove in its feet. While this happens, my good, loyal friend Athena keeps the suitors occupied all throughout dinner to prevent me from loosing my edge. What a clever idea! Then Ctesippus, a wealthy and arrogant suitor, has the nerve to throw a cow hoof at me! Of course he does this because my son threatened to stab him with his sword. Then the suitors laugh and laugh, but they fail to notice that the walls of the room are covered in blood and that their faces have assumed a strange, ghostly look. Theoclymenus interprets this as portents of doom that cannot be escaped from.

Book Nineteen-Recognitions and a Dream

When the suitors retire for the night, Telemakhos and I remove and hide the arms just like we planned. Athena helps us by giving us light so that we could see as we work. My loyal, but curious maid, Eurycleia questions why we are doing this and we tell her that we are storing the arms to keep them from being damaged. After we quickly hide the arms, Telemakhos retires and Penelope joins me, seeking answers about me. Please note that I am still disguised as a beggar and that Penelope has no idea who I am. She knows that I as a beggar have claimed to have met Odysseus, and she tests me honestly by asking me to describe her husband Odysseus. Then, at her wish, I describe myself, capturing each detail so perfectly that Penelope begins to cry. Then, I tell the story of how I met Odysseus and eventually came to Ithaca. In many aspects, this story relates to those that I told to Athena and Eumaeus while out on my journey, even though it is identical to neither. Next, I tell Penelope that Odysseus has had a long battle. but is alive and freely traveling around Also, I predict that Odysseus will be back within a month, which pleases Penelope. Then, as we retire, Penelope offers me a bed to sleep in, but I decline by saying that I am used to the floor. Then, she asks if I would like my feet washed by a maid. I tell her that I will only have an old maid wash my feet who has felt pain and misery, just like I have. As Eurycleia is washing my feet in the bucket of water, she notices a scar on my feet that I received as a child from a boar I was trying to kill. Unfortunately, she immediately recognizes my scar as the one that Odysseus received when I went Boar hunting with my grandfather many years ago. She is overjoyed and beside herself, but I quieted her while my loyal friend Athena kept Penelope distracted so that my secret wouldn't be revealed. The loyal, kind Eurycleia pulled herself together and promised to keep my secret. before she retires, Penelope describes to me a dream that she has had where an Eagle swoops down upon her twenty pet Geese and kills them all. Then, the Eagle sits on the roof and says in a human voice that it is her husband who has just put her lovers to death. What a strange and horrid dream, I thought. Then, Penelope claims that she has no idea what that dream was about. I explain it to her with the best of my knowledge. Then, I hear shocking news. Penelope told me that she is going to choose a new husband anyway. She told me that she will marry the first man who can shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axes set in a line. This made me feel awful and I knew that if I didn't act fast, the suitors would take over my palace and take by beautiful wife away from me.

Book Eighteen-Patience Instead of Pride

I understand that man is the frailest of all creatures. Yet, he can be resilient and endure by his wits. I have used my quick thinking to get out of ominous situations. It helped me escape from the cave of the Cyclops. While my body may not have the toughness of other creatures, my mind is the strength that helps me articulate and manipulate my way to achieve any purpose.
I no longer underestimate the power of the gods. It is the gods who bring us bliss or miseries. There was a time when I thought that I could count on myself alone without their help. Now I know that no man should taunt them. I am now looking forward to being at peace with the gifts that the gods may give me. For they have given me many.
I thought I needed to venture out to be happy, and now all that seems important is home. By leaving I left my wife at risk to be dishonored and my house to be put in shambles. I lived dangerously when I was younger just as these suitors in front of me. Early in my travels I wanted selfish praise, and I foolishly angered Poseidon by revealing my identity to the Cyclops.
The weakness of my narcissism spurred on my adventures, but put me in great danger. Now I must use patience and endure the treatment I am given disguised as a beggar. I must use my patience and not act because of my pride, and then I will be able to strike at the intruders who are destroying my home. Only then can I achieve my yearning to succeed in reuniting with my home and family.

Book Seventeen-The beggar At the Manor

After reuniting with my son Telemakhos, he left Eumaeus's hut and heads to our palace, where he receives a very happy, tearful welcome home from his mother, Penelope and from the nurse Eurycleia. Then , in the palace he meets two men named Piraeus and Theoclymenus. He tells Piraeus not to bring his gifts from Menelaus to the palace because he fears that those awful suitors will steal them if they kill him. Then, Telemakhos sits down to eat with Penelope and tells her what little news he received from me. He also dosn't reveal that he has seen me in Eumaeus's hut. Then Theoclymenus says that he thinks that I am in Ithaca at the moment. Meanwhile, Eumaeus and I set out toward the town in the steps of Telemakhos. On the way, we encounter a man named Melanthius who is a base subordinate of the suitors. He evokes rage on my friend Eumaeus and ends up kicking me while I am dressed as a beggar. What a ghastly, disgusting fool! After this event, I go to my palace and once again, I am treated like dirt. I beg for food and the suitors give it to me with great reluctance, but one heartless suitor named Antinoos goes out of his way to insult me. This cruel treatment never seems to end! So, I give this man a run for his money and answer insult with insult. However, this donn't go to well for he hits me with a stool which even disgusts the other suitors. Report of this cruelty reaches Penelope, who asks to have the beggar, or myself brought to her so that she can question him about me. However, I don't want the suitors to see me heading toward the queen’s room. Eumaeus then announces that he must return to his hut and hogs, leaving me alone with Telemachus and the suitors.

Book Sixteen-Father and Son

I was sitting in Eumaeus's hut, when suddenly, my long lost son Telemakhos showed up. Eumaeus told him my story and asked Telemakhos if I, who was disquised as a stranger could stay at his palace. Tellemakhos is afraid of what the suitors might do to them, so he says no. Then, Eumaeus goes to the palace and tells Penelope that Telemakhos has returned. Then, the two of us were left in Eumaeus's hut alone. Telemakhos had no idea who I was since I was still disguised as the stranger. Then, Athena came and turned me from a raggedy old man into myself. I couldn't belive the look on my sons face when he saw that the stranger was me. He was very suprised and confused, but I told him how Athena had changed me back. We were beside ourselves. We gave each other gigantic hugs and started crying. We cried for many minutes without end. Then, I recounted my adventures out at sea and my experiences with the Phaecians. Next we began to plot our revenge on the suitors. We then decided that I will go to the palace, dressed as a beggar. While I'm distracting the suitors, Telemakhos will hide all of the armament so that they won't find it. Then, we will get some of the weapons and use them to fight off the suitors. Meanwhile, at the palace, a messenger comes and tells everyone that Telemakhos has returned. This information was supposed to be shared with Penelope only, so the suitors wouldn't get outraged. But obviously, this angered the suitors, because Telemakhos's return meant that their plan hadn't worked. Then, the suitors thought of another plan which was to kill Telemakhos right away. Everyone agreed to this except Amphinomos, who said that he wanted to wait and see what the gods wanted to do. This became their plan. My wife Penelope finds out that the suitors have been plotting her sons death, and rushed to them. She begins to yell at Antinoos, telling him to stop plotting all this, and that he should be thankful, because Odysseus had been so kind to his father, when he needed help. Then, Eurymakhos calms her down, by telling her that he is grateful for Odysseus' kindness, and that he thinks dearly of Telemakhos. My foolish wife believes him, even though it is a lie, as he was the one who plotted and planned the death of Telemakhos. Sometimes in life, one must need to know when to stop believing in ideas or concerns.

Book Twelve-Sea Pearls and Defeat

Finally, I departed from the awful and depressing underworld and traveled to Aeaea to give Elpenor a proper burial. I am embarrassed to say this, but I spent one last night making love to Kirke. She described the obsticles that I would have to face on my journey home and she tod me how to deal with them. When facing the sirens, she tells me to put beeswax in the ears of my crew and to tie me up to the mast of my ship and to keep pulling me tighter to the mast as I beg to them to release me. Once we had past the islands of the sirens, we had to navigate the straits between Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla, the six headed monster, ends up eating one of my men for each head and ends up eating six in all. Even with this horrible tragidy, we still stayed strong and made it past Charybdis, which is a gigantic whirlpool that threatens to swallow whole ships. Next, we come to Thrinacia, the island of the sun. Personally, I thought it would be a good idea to avoid this island, but Eurylochus told me that he and the rest of the crew needed rest and shelter, so I decided to honor their request. I had them promise not to touch any of the cattle or sheep. The crew promised and didn't touch or kill the sheep and lived on the very little food we had left. Then, a terrible storm hit and we were stranded on this island for a month. We were finally running very low on food, and that stupid fool Eurylochus talked to my crew and told them to slaughter some of the animals and use them as a sacrifice. This irritated me because Kirke told us not to do this because it would anger the gods. He said that dying of starvation was pathetic, so the crew agreed to help him. Also, they chose to do this while I was asleep. Figures that they make bad decisions without me. When Helios found out that my men killed the animals he was not too pleased, and asked Zeus to punish us. Zeus, of course, agrees and stirs up a huge storm while we are sailing away. The storm killed all of my crew and destroyed my ship. Leaving only myself, I ended up back on Ogygia or Kalypso's island. I ended my story hear because the Phaeacians already heard about that production. In life, this shows that if one refuses to follow strong orders, there will be severe consequences.