5 Minute Summary, Odyssey Bk. 16

Five Minute Summary

The Odyssey of Homer, "Book XVI"

Quick and Dirty

• Telemachos visits Eumaios -- Odysseus reveals himself to Telemachos -- Odysseus and Telemachus plot to kill the suitors -- Penelope and the suitors learn that Telemachos has returned

Summary

• Odysseus and Eumaios are just waking and preparing breakfast when Telemachus arrives at Eumaios' shelter
• Eumaios is overjoyed to see him and through the physical/verbal exchange between Eumaios and Telemachus, Odysseus--still disguised as a beggar by Athena--sees that his son is good and proper. This becomes more certain as Telemachus treats 'Odysseus the Stranger' with the due respect and courtesy afforded to guests/unknowns.
• Eumaios introduces Odysseus to Telemachus as a wanderer from Crete who has suffered hardships and then turns him over to the care of Telemachus.
• Telemachus is wounded by this because he knows that given his present situation, he cannot care for and protect 'Odysseus the Stranger' in his own palace. Telemachus then decides to clothe 'Odysseus the Stranger' but keep him under the care of Eumaios.
• Telemachus tells 'Odysseus the Stranger' about the current state of his household.
• Telemachus sends Eumaios to Penelope to deliver the message that he has returned to Ithaca unharmed.
• After Eumaios has left the shelter, Athena tells Odysseus that it is time to reveal himself to his son.
• Odysseus is transformed back into his godlike self and then confronts Telemachus
• Telemachus is skeptical that it is truly him (parallel to Odysseus' skepticism), though he eventually accepts it as the truth.
• Telemachus and Odysseus are overjoyed and sob...
• Odysseus tells Telemachus that they are to plot and execute the destruction of the suitors
• Odysseus asks if the two of them are match enough for the suitors and inquires as to their number
• Telemachus tells his father that he's crazy, that there are too many suitors for just the two of them; he asks his father if they could have help
• Odysseus asks Telemachus if Zeus and Athena would help much... Telemachus considers that their odds may be well. 
• Odysseus makes Telemachus swear to tell no one of his identity and return to the palace and make preparations.
• Telemachus will return to the palace and remove the weapons from the armory, except for a pair of shields, swords, and spears for them to use once Odysseus has given the signal.
• Eumaios relays the message to Penelope and while he's there makes note of both the return of Telemachus' ship and the ship of the murderous suitors. He then returns to the shelter.
• When Eumaios arrives back at the shelter, Athena transforms Odysseus back into a beggar.
• When the suitors learn that Telemachus has returned to Ithaca they are outraged.
• Amphinomos, one of the suitors, declares that it is wrong of them to kill Telemachus unless the gods will it. The suitors agree.
• Upset at the suitors attempt on her son, Penelope confronts Antinoos and chastizes him for trying to kill the son of the man who had saved his own father.
• Antinoos tells Penelope that she's mistaken, that he does not wish tot kill Telemachus... unless the gods will it... though he is lying, as he truly is plotting his murder.

Bibliography

Homer. "Book XVI." The Odyssey of Homer. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. 240-52. Print.