19.26 This stranger will: Eurycleia’s question implies an assumption that carrying the light is the job of a woman, a female slave; there is a momentary surprise that the answer is a man.
19.108 My good woman: With heavy dramatic irony, Odysseus addresses Penelope with a word that means both “woman” and “wife”—both here and throughout the book. The word can be understood by Penelope as simply a form of address (like “Madam”), but the text allows us to read it in the other sense as well.
19.179–80 Minos . . . was king / for nine years: The original could also mean “nine-year-old Minos.” There are various theories about what the line means. Some have theorized, speculatively, that the Cretan kingship may have been held for nine years, after which the king was killed and a new one took his place.
19.183–84 My name / is Aethon: The name “Aethon” can suggest either “shining” or “brown.” It may suggest foxy tricks, since the word is applied to the reddish color of the fox in Pindar (Olympian 11.19).
19.190–91 Amnisus, beside the cave / of Eileithyia: Amnisus is the port of Knossos in Crete. Eileithyia is a goddess associated with childbirth.
19.206–8 the snow that Zephyr / scatters across the mountain peaks; then Eurus / thaws it: Zephyr is the West Wind, Eurus the East. The West Wind is imagined to bring the snow that is melted by the East Wind of springtime.
19.258–59 Evilium— / the town I will not name: Penelope coins a compound word suggesting “Bad Troy” (Kakoïlion; Troy = Ilium).
19.274–75 Helius / and Zeus despised Odysseus: The verb here, odussomai, is the same one associated with the name Odysseus elsewhere in the poem (1.63). It means “to be angry at [somebody]” or “to hate,” and it is a cognate with a noun for “pain” (odune). See also the note to 19.408.
19.356–57 wash your master’s / age-mate: The original also has a temporary ambiguity (suggested here by enjambment), where the reader or listener may wonder if Penelope has already recognized her husband and may be about to say, “Your master’s . . . feet.”
19.408 I dislike them back: Autolycus uses the same verb odussomai as in 19.274, which sounds like the name “Odysseus” and can mean either “I am angry at” or “I am the cause of anger (in others).” See also the note to 1.63.
19.520 the daughter of Pandareus: This is the earliest instance of the myth of the nightingale, most influentially retold by Ovid. In this version, Aedon, daughter of Pandareus, king of Crete, married Zethus, king of Thebes, and tried to kill one of the children of her sister-in-law, Niobe, in a fit of jealousy. By mistake, she killed her own son, Itylus (called Itys in other versions of the myth). She was turned into a nightingale, whose song is supposed to be a constant lament for the dead boy.
BOOK 20 SUMMARY
Odysseus lies at the entrance of the palace and is aware of slave women slipping out to meet the suitors. He is enraged, but Athena calms him, promising to protect him and his interests. Penelope weeps and prays. Odysseus hears his wife weeping as he wakes up. He prays and hears a slave praying for an end to the suitors’ banquets. Telemachus wakes and worries that his mother has failed to treat his father properly; Eurycleia reassures him. Under her supervision, the slaves prepare the house for a special feast day. Melanthius the goatherd appears and insults Odysseus. Another herdsman, Philoetius, arrives and speaks politely to Odysseus. Philoetius and Eumaeus both swear their loyalty to their master. The suitors reconsider the plan to kill Telemachus, following the advice of Amphinomus. Telemachus helps Odysseus to food and warns the suitors not to abuse him. One of them, Ctesippus, hurls an ox-foot at Odysseus. Telemachus speaks out against their behavior. Athena makes the suitors laugh unstoppably; after the prophet Theoclymenus foretells their death, he leaves the house. The suitors tease Telemachus, who does not react; he and Odysseus wait for their moment.
20.19–20 You were / hounded by worse: The original conveys that Odysseus’ heart has suffered “something more doglike” before. The Greek word for “doglike” usually suggests shame or shamelessness.
20.53 distance yourself, Odysseus, from trouble: The word used in the original for “distance yourself” (more literally, “rise up out of”) sounds somewhat like the name Odysseus.
20.65–66 where the waters of the Ocean / pour forth and back again: See note to 3.1.
20.66–67 the breezes / took up the daughters of Pandareus: According to later sources, Pandareus stole a golden dog made by Hephaestus from a temple of Zeus; the gods punished him, his wife, and his daughters. The story told in Book 19, that a daughter of Pandareus killed her son by accident and was turned into a nightingale, has been seen by some scholars as contradicting this passage. But the passage does not say that all the daughters were swept away by the winds. There are no other sources for this story.
20.211 Cephallenia: Cephallenia is apparently the name of Ithaca and all the other towns under the dominion of the Ithacan king. It is not, in this text, identical with the modern Ionian island of Cephalonia.
20.243 an eagle flew high on their left: The left side is unlucky.
20.275 one hundred animals: A hecatomb—a ritual sacrifice of one hundred animals—may be understood as the sacrifice of a large number, not necessarily literally one hundred. But some scholars have traced a connection between the hundred animals and the roughly one hundred suitors (108 is the usual count), who are also soon to be killed. There was an ancient festival to Apollo, the Hecatombia, which may be referred to here; the festival may have been associated, like the return of Odysseus, with the new moon.
BOOK 21 SUMMARY
Penelope takes the storeroom key and fetches Odysseus’ bow; her slaves bring the axes. Telemachus tries the bow first and fails to string it; Odysseus makes him stop trying. Leodes, the suitors’ prophet, tries and fails. Antinous sneers, and asks Melanthius to light a fire and bring some fat, to grease the bow. Even so, they fail to string the bow; only Antinous and Eurymachus have still not tried it when they stop. Meanwhile, Odysseus reveals himself to Eumaeus and Philoetius. Eurymachus fails to string the bow. Antinous uses the excuse of the feast day to Apollo (god of archery) to put off the contest. Odysseus suggests that, while waiting for the real contest the next day, they should let him try the bow. Antinous and Eurymachus speak against allowing it; Penelope speaks up for the beggar; Telemachus scolds her and sends her upstairs. Eumaeus gives Odysseus the bow. Eurycleia locks up the women in their quarters; Philoetius secures the gate of the house. Odysseus effortlessly strings the bow and shoots through all the axes.