Odysseus walks to town the next morning, joined by Eumaeus, who still thinks he is accompanying an old beggar. Telemachus precedes them, cheering his mother with his presence and the stories of his trip. With the prince is a seer, Theoclymenus, who tells Penelope that Odysseus is on Ithaca now, gathering information. The queen wishes that she could believe him, but she cannot.
During the trip to town, Odysseus and his swineherd cross paths with a bully, the goatherd Melanthius, but avoid a fight. In one famously poignant moment, Odysseus and his dying old dog, Argos, quietly recognize each other. In the banquet hall, Antinous bullies the ragged beggar/Odysseus and even throws a footstool at him. Exercising considerable restraint, both the king and his son manage to postpone revenge.
Analysis
Judgment and prudence are the dominating heroic characteristics developed in this chapter. When Telemachus visits his mother, he very much wants to put her mind at ease; but he dares not reveal that his father has, in fact, returned. He details the encouraging news from Menelaus, King of Sparta, that Odysseus was captive but alive on Calypso's island. He encourages Theoclymenus' report that the king lives and is now on Ithaca. At this point, though, prudence stops him from revealing to anyone β including his mother β that Odysseus is home and preparing to strike. Penelope, who has heard rumors and listened to prophecies for years, would like to believe Theoclymenus, but prudence does not allow her to.
Odysseus must exercise restraint on several occasions. On their way to town, he and Eumaeus are confronted by Melanthius, a bully and braggart who is in Odysseus' employ as a goatherd. The bully verbally assaults the two travelers and even kicks Odysseus as he passes. Odysseus is tempted to split the lout's head on a rock but controls himself. Eumaeus steps in and defends the beggar/Odysseus. This faithful swineherd is the antithesis of Melanthius. Where one is considerate, kind, refined, and loyal, the other is impudent, cruel, crude, and appeasing toward the suitors. Odysseus exercises the judgment of a sage when he refrains from dispatching Melanthius on the spot.
