Eumaeus the swineherd met Penelope in confidence and informed her of Telemachus’s return. Just then, Telemachus’s ship also reached the harbour. One of the sailors rushed to the palace and happily shouted their safe arrival.
The suitors at the palace decided to pass on this news to
Antinuos, who had been away to waylay Telemachus and murder him. However,
Antinuos returned to Ithaca before they could proceed. He was annoyed that
Telemachus had escaped and determined to murder him before he reached the
palace. One of the suitors advised that a man of royal lineage should not be
killed without consulting an oracle. So, Antinuos put off his wicked plan for a
while.
Meanwhile, Medon the herald overheard Antinuos’s scheme and
reported it to Penelope. Deeply pained, she rushed to the hall where the
suitors were gathered and chided them for their wicked proposal. They denied
her charges and swore they would defend Telemachus giving up their lives.
Penelope knew it was all a lie, but she was helpless and retired to her room
with tearful eyes and a heavy heart.
*
Meanwhile, Odysseus and Telemachus laid a clear plan to
tackle the suitors. And Goddess Athene changed Odysseus into an old beggar
before Eumaeus returned. Telemachus spent that night in the cottage. “Bring the
old man to my palace later, Eumaeus,” he told the swineherd the next morning
and left for the palace.
He met his mother and conveyed to her the news he had
gathered from Nestor and Meneleaus. Penelope was glad to see her son safely
back.
Around noon, Eumaeus and Odysseus wound their way down the
hills towards the city. As they reached the palace gates, Odysseus cast a
longing glance at his mansion. Then he noticed his old dog lying at the
gateway. It had been a fine hunting dog and accompanied him on his hunting
expeditions. It had grown old over the years and could hardly stand up now.
However, the dog recognised its master and crawled towards him. It licked his
hand and sank dead as if it had just been holding back its life to see him.
Odysseus was touched by the dog’s faithfulness, but he quickly turned his face
away to hide the tears from Eumaeus.
Odysseus waited outside while Eumaeus went inside in search
of Telemachus. It was lunchtime and Telemachus asked the servant to sit at one
of the tables. He also sent across some food for Odysseus. Then as planned
before, he asked Odysseus to go around the tables and beg for food from the
suitors.
As the old beggar came to their tables, the suitors looked
at him with curiosity. They did not know where had come from all of a sudden.
Nevertheless, they threw some bits into his bowl. When Antinuos learnt that
Eumaeus had led the old beggar to the palace, he reproached him. “You fill the
land with vagrants and what a nuisance to have them begging at the tables
without letting us eat in peace,” he shouted.
“What a pity, you are worried about giving away,” Telemachus
commented with sarcasm. The old beggar approached Antinous again for alms.
Antinous was enraged and picked up his footstool and hit the beggar on his
shoulder. The blow did not hurt Odysseus a bit and he silently waited for an
opportune moment to strike back. He then limped back to the threshold with a
warning to the suitors, “Gentlemen, you’ll pay for your insolence. The day is
not far when the lord of the house will appear and seek vengeance on you all.”
Telemachus concealed his wrath and simply looked on.
Penelope wished to meet the old beggar in person, for
Eumaeus had told her that he had been Odysseus’s comrade on one of his voyages.
But Odysseus was wary of the suitors and begged the queen to remain calm until
evening, when he would meet her and share with her whatever he knew about
Odysseus.
As Odysseus sat at the palace gates, Iros, the beggar
arrived there. Finding his place being occupied by another beggar, he was
enraged. He was tall and hefty and noticed that Odysseus was old and feeble. He
bullied and challenged Odysseus to a fight. Noticing the skirmish between the
two beggars, the suitors came out of the palace and surrounded them. They egged
on the men to fight each other and promised to give the leftovers from the
day’s feast to the winner.
At first, Odysseus pretended to shy away. When the suitors
declared they would remain neutral onlookers, he agreed to fight. In no time,
he knocked Iros down. The suitors cheered the old beggar. Even Antinuos praised
him and brought him food and wine.
(To be continued )
Painting: Penelope and the Suitors by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917)
