The Odyssey Book 17 Summary

Telemachos wakes and says that he must go to town so Penelope can see with her own eyes that he is in fact alive. He leaves orders that Eumaios is to bring "the beggar" to town during the day so that he can beg for food.
Back in the great hall, Penelope is ecstatic to see her son alive. She asks him for news of Odysseus, but Telemachos tells her to be patient.
Penelope complies.
Telemachos then orders her to go bathe, change her clothes, and pray that Zeus will help them with their revenge against the suitors. He leaves with the excuse that he must take care of a passenger who unexpectedly sailed with him yesterday.
Telemachos quickly spots Odysseus’s loyal friends – Mentor (the real one this time), Antiphos, and Halitherses – and goes off to consult with them.
Periaios brings Theoklymenos to Telemachos and asks the prince to send some maids so that they can get Menelaos’s gifts into the house. Telemachos prudently tells him to wait and keep the treasure for now until they can be sure the suitors won’t touch it.
Peiraios obeys and leaves with his guest.
The men enjoy a meal while Penelope weaves. She asks her son again for news of Odysseus, this time taking a firmer stance.
Telemachos tells her the truth about his visit with Menelaos, but omits the fact that Odysseus is home. He only gives her faint hope by telling her what Proteus revealed to Menelaos – that Odysseus was last seen alive on the island of Kalypso.
Theoklymenos interrupts and tells Penelope about the sign he interpreted for Telemachos the day before – the sign which prophecies that Odysseus is in fact already back in Ithaka and plotting revenge.
To Telemachos’s relief, Penelope doesn’t believe the prophet’s words. Phew. That was a close one.
Medon, the town crier, calls the suitors (who are playing sports and engaging in other manly pursuits) to come in for dinner.
While they’re busy filing in, Odysseus – still in the guise of a beggar – leaves the forest with Eumaios and heads to town, even using a walking stick to play up his disguise.
Eventually, the pair runs into Melanthios the annoying goatherd. He mocks the beggar, tells him to go home, and even kicks at him.
Odysseus doesn’t respond, though he burns with rage inside. All he does is pray aloud to the gods that Melanthios gets what he deserves. Given what we’ve seen so far, we’re about 98% sure this will in fact happen.
We find out that Melanthios willingly serves Eurymachos and adores him.
When they reach the hall, Eumaios asks the beggar to stay at the entrance and allow him to enter first. Odysseus agrees.
As the disguised Odysseus speaks, an old dog sitting on a dung heap nearby pricks his ears up and tries to wag his tail.
Odysseus recognizes him as Argos, the hound that he trained as a puppy but never had the chance to take hunting before he left for Troy. Now poor Argos is old and mistreated by everyone, which is kind of sad.
Odysseus sheds a tear for the poor condition of his favorite dog and inquires about the animal.
Eumaios says that Odysseus owned this dog; the animal was swift, strong, and courageous in his prime, but now he’s just abused by everyone.
As the men enter the hall, Argos breathes his last breath and dies happy, having recognized and seen his master after twenty years.
Eumaios grabs a spare bench and seats himself across from Telemachos while the disguised Odysseus enters the hall.
Telemachos, who has to pretend he doesn’t know this guy, gives the beggar a generous hunk of bread and meat and tells him not to be shy in asking for food.
Odysseus goes down the line, begging food from each man. With this strategy, he learns who among the suitors goes on the good list and who on the naughty list.
This would be a great way to decide who lives and who perishes, if Athene didn’t command that everyone has to die, which she does.
Everyone gives Odysseus something until Melanthios recognizes him as the same old beggar from before; he again insults the man.
After hearing this, Antinoös turns on Eumaios and scolds him for bringing a beggar to the hall.
OK, so we’ve got two names for our naughty list…
Telemachos stops Eumaios from his angry reply, but only so he can insult Antinoös himself. He commands the suitor to give the beggar some bread.
Antinoös threatens to instead throw a footstool at the man. But beggar Odysseus ignores him.
After he has begged and received from everyone else, Odysseus calls on Antinoös to give something. He begins by telling him a false sob story of how he was a rich man once and had the misfortune to sail to Egypt.
Antinoös interrupts with a refusal to feed him.
Beggar Odysseus insults him: he says it’s a shame that Antinoös looks so much more lordly than he is.
Zing!
Enraged, Antinoös throws a footstool at the beggar (in his defense, he did give fair warning) and clips him on the shoulder. Odysseus doesn’t even wince, but inwardly rages to return the favor.
Everyone is embarrassed by Antinoös’s uncouth behavior; some loudly reprimand him for striking a poor beggar.
Upstairs, Penelope hears all the noise and can tell that Antinoös is causing trouble again. She sends her maid to fetch the beggar to her for questioning – she wants to ask him for any news on Odysseus.
Eumaios takes the message to beggar Odysseus, who says that he will meet with the Queen later tonight; he wants to avoid any suspicion from the suitors.
Penelope, at first desperate to hear this news, eventually calms down and realizes that this is a clever beggar.
Eumaios leaves to tend to the herds as the banquet continues.

Book 18

Book 16