Athena then took off his disguise and, with the help of his son Telemachus, a cattleherd, and Eumaeus, the swineherd, Odysseus killed all. Odysseus then took the bow, strung it, lined up twelve axe-handles, and shot an arrow through all twelve. The suitors each tried to string the bow, but in vain. (It is believed that Odysseus’ bow was a composite bow, requiring great skill and leverage to string, rather than mere brute strength.) Penelope then announced what Odysseus had said. This was to Odysseus’ advantage, as only he could string his own bow. Penelope went to the suitors and said whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axe-handles, would marry her. Penelope, still unknowing of this beggar’s identity, started to cry in hearing of her husband. ![]() Still in his disguise, Odysseus went to Penelope and told her that he had met Odysseus and told a tale of how Odysseus was a brave solider and bragged about himself. When Odysseus arrived to his house, disguised as a beggar, he sat in the hall and observed the suitors, and was repeatedly humiliated by them. Every day she wove a length of shroud, and every night she unwove the same length of shroud, until one day a maid of hers betrayed this secret to the suitors and they demanded that she finally choose one of them to be her new husband. She pretended to weave a burial shroud for Odysseus’ father, Laërtes, and claimed she would choose one suitor when she finished. Odysseus learned that Penelope had remained faithful to him. His son Telemachus didn’t see through the disguise, but Odysseus revealed his identity to him. The first human to recognize him was his old wet nurse, Euryclea, who knew him well enough to see through the rags, recognizing him by an old scar on his leg received when hunting boar with Iphitus. Aged and decrepit, he did his best to wag his tail, but Odysseus did not want to be found out, and had to maintain his cover, so the weary dog died in peace. Odysseus’ faithful dog Argos was the first to recognize him in his rags he had waited twenty years to see his master. Upon landing, he was disguised as an old man or a beggar by Athena, and was welcomed by his old swineherd, Eumaeus, who did not recognize him but still treated him well. Meanwhile, Odysseus’ mother, Anticlea, had died of grief and his father, Laërtes, was nearly so. Temporizing, she fended them off for years, using stalling tactics that were wearing thin. ![]() ![]() He could come home at any time - or never. Penelope was despondent by her husband’s long absence and especially the mystery about his fate. Meanwhile, these suitors hung around the palace, ate her food, drank her wine, and consorted with several of her maidservants. She was beset with numerous men who thought that a (fairly) young widow and queen of a small but tidy kingdom was a great prize: they pestered her to declare Odysseus dead and choose a new husband from among them. Her husband had been gone for twenty years, and she did not know for sure whether he was alive or dead. In Ithaca, Penelope was having difficulties.
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