Odyssey+18

Summary:

 * Irus and Odysseus fight because Irus has to throw Odysseus off of his own porch (not that Irus knows that).
 * Antinous and the other Suitors decide to make it a 'match' and go out to watch them fight.
 * They make a deal that whoever wins will be allowed to join the Suitors at dinner and they will keep other tramps out of his company.
 * Antinous makes the other Suitors swear an oath to not side with Irus because he wants the fight to be fair.
 * Odysseus then reveals his godly thighs and impressive muscles and they are all surprised to see the supposedly weak and old man with such a physique.
 * Antinous purposely riles Irus up in order to make him angrier for the fight.
 * Odysseus defeats Irus and then forces him to stand outside portico gate and hold a stick to 'sit there and scare away the pigs and dogs'. The Suitors find this very amusing.
 * Antinous presents him with a large paunch stuffed with fat and blood.
 * Odysseus tells them all (and especially Amphinomous) about an omen in which all of the Suitors' blood will be spilled and Amphinomous feels a great sense of foreboding, but that will not save him because Athene has already marked him to be taken down by Telemachus' spear.
 * Athene then appears to Penelope, who wishes to speak with the Suitors and get them in a better favor (for her husband and son) and makes her beautiful (moreso) while she sleeps. Penelope wakes up feeling refreshed and goes to see the Suitors.
 * The Suitors are weak at the knees with her beauty and are soon overtaken with her charm, and that delights Odysseus as he gazes upon his wife and sees her trying to get the Suitors to leave her alone. Penelope addresses Telemachus and how much he has grown up, also.
 * The Suitors give Penelope tons of gifts and then party. Odysseus and the maids tend to the fire and then suggests that they go to Penelope to cheer her up and help her weave, but one of the maids, Melantho, chooses instead to jeer at him (because he is in love with Eurymachus and is his mistress).
 * Odysseus is not happy with this, calls her a bitch, and then threatens her by telling her he will get Telemachus to slice her into pieces. Odysseus schemes by the fire and Athene decides to have the Suitors taunt him more, in order to get him even more angry at them.
 * Eurymachus insults him and Odysseus is not okay with that, so he brags about how godly and amazing he is and this sends Eurymachus into a serious hissy fit.
 * In the midst of his hissy fit, he throws a stool, which Odysseus ducks, and causes the stool to hit Amphinomous in the hand, making him drop the wine in his hand and fall over.
 * Telemachus then tells them all off and they wonder at his godliness and the way he speaks to them.
 * Finally the Suitors (frat boys) make sacrifices to the gods (not that it will help them, Athene is seriously pissed) and go home to their own homes where they're not mooching off of Telemachus.

Major Themes:
Disguise (pp.239-249) Athene disguises Odysseus as an old man so that the suitors and the rest of Ithaca do not recognize him Justice (pp.239-242) Odysseus fights Irus because he insulted him Divine intervention (p.243) Athene puts the idea into Penelope's head that she should approach the suitors and try to open their hearts

Locations Traveled:
Ithaca (p.239) Odysseus travels to his palace disguised as a beggar

Odysseus (the beggar) and Irus fighting in the palace.

Epithets:
Odysseus of the nimble wits (p.239)

The great Antinous (p.240)

The wily Odysseus (p.240)

The great Telemachus (p.240)

King Echetus the destroyer (p.241)

The patient, good Odysseus (p.241)

Zeus the father of gods and men (p.242)

Athene goddess of the flashing eyes (p.243)

The noble, patient Odysseus (p.246)

The favorite of Zeus, the master-strategist (p.246)

The ready-witted Odysseus (p.248)

Study Guide Questions:

 * Why do they call the vagrant Irus?**

They call him that because is will run errands for anyone who asks. Irus is the messanger of the gods in the Iliad.

 * What do he and Odysseus argue about?**

Irus tells Odysseus to get away and Odysseus tell him to think twice before challenging him and that he will dye his lips and breast with blood.
He says if Irus loses he will be sent to King Echetus, the destroyer who will cut his ears and nose off.
 * How does Antinous propose to resolve the fight?**

Odysseus wins the fight
 * Who wins the fight?**

Odysseus says to endure the troubles that the gods give him with a patient heart, he also tells him that the suitors are in trouble and will die once a man comes home.
 * What “advice” does Odysseys offer Amphinomus?**

Penelope comes to see the suitors.
 * Who does Athene have come to see the suitors?**


 * What does Athene do to Penelope?**

Athene makes Penelope beautiful so that she can trick the suitors and so that odyseeus will see his wife's beauty.
Basically, He told Penelope to stay in charge and take care of their parents but when telemachus grows a beard then she is can marry someone else and leave.
 * What did Odysseus tell Penelope before he went to war?**

To fetch gifts for Penelope because she told them that they should give her offerings instead of taking from her all the time if she is going to marry on of them.
 * What do the suitors send their squires to do?**