Book 15 Five Minute Summary

At the beginning of Book 15 there are several events that take place which start with Athena’s visit to Telemachus. Athena goes to see Telemachus, who is living with Menelaus, and tells him to go back home to Ithaca to look after his property. Athena also warns him about the suitors' plans to ambush him on his way home and that he must return before they succeed in marrying his mother Penelope. Telemachus wants to leave at once, but his companion Peisistratus the son of Nestor advises him to wait until the next day, so as not to be discourteous to their host. In the morning, Telemachus speaks to Menelaus about his departure and he allows him to go once he has been presented with glorious gifts and given his midday meal. Just before Telemachus and Peisistratus leave, an eagle carries a goose off from the farmyard, and Helen interprets this as an omen of Odysseus' long-awaited return. When they reach Pylos, Telemachus apologizes to Peisistratus for not having time to visit his father Nestor and asks him to help him prepare for his departure. At the docks, they meet Theoclymenus, a soothsayer, who asks Telemachus to help him by giving him place on his ship. Telemachus agrees, and Theoclymenus sails with Telemachus and his men. At this point, the  changes scenes back to the swineherd's hut at Ithaca. Odysseus tells Eumaeus the swineherd that he wishes to go to the city to beg and perhaps visit Odysseus' house to obtain work as a servant. Eumaeus advises against this, saying that the suitors are violent and inhospitable. After further conversation, in which Eumaeus talks of Odysseus' parents and of his own origins, they retire for the night. Meanwhile, Telemachus' company reaches the Ithacan shore. The young man, obeying Athena's instructions, asks the men to go to the city while he himself plans to go to the herdsmen. As for Theoclymenus, Telemachus asks him to go to the suitor Eurymachus' house. Then a hawk with a dove in its talons flies by on Telemachus' right hand. Theoclymenus interprets this as an auspicious omen, and Telemachus now instructs his friend Piraeus, who is part of his crew, to take Theoclymenus home and look after him. As the ship sails toward the city, Telemachus walks to the swineherd's Eumaeus hut.