Summary of The Odyssey Book 20
Book XX: Signs and a Vision (pages 375-387)
Odysseus is having trouble getting to sleep, “rolling from side to side, as a cook turns a sausage”
(376) because he is worried about how to defeat so many suitors. Athena comes to him and
assures him he will prevail because she is his “goddess-guardian to the end in all your trials”
(376). Penelope is also having trouble getting to sleep and prays to Artemis “if you could only
make an end now quickly, let the arrow fly, stop my heart” (377).
Odysseus wakes up and prays to Zeus for a sign. Sure enough, Zeus sends a clap of thunder in
reply, and a woman grinding flour prays, “Let this day be the last the suitors feed so dainty in
Odysseus’ hall! They’ve made me work my heart out till I drop, grinding barley. May they feast
no more!” (378). Odysseus observes these signs and was “sure in his bones that vengeance was
at hand” (379).
Telemakhos checks in with Eurykleia to make sure his beggar guest was well cared for, and she
assures him he was. Eumaios the swineherd asks Odysseus if the suitors are still insulting him.
He says they are, and presently Melanthios, the goatherd goes by and tells Odysseus to quit
hanging around begging. They are joined by Philoitios, the cattle foreman, who is very kind to
the beggar and says he fears Odysseus himself may be wearing similar rags in his wanderings.
Philoitios says he wishes Odysseus would come home and get rid of all the suitors and Eumaios
agrees. Odysseus assures him that the time is coming soon.
The suitors are talking of how to kill Telemakhos “when from the left an eagle crossed high with
a rockdove in his claws” (382). Amphinomos concludes that they shouldn’t kill Telemakhos and
should go feast instead. They do. While eating, Ktesippos, a rich suitor, throws a cow’s hoof at
Odysseus, and Telemakhos reproaches him and says, “Let me see no more contemptible conduct
in my house! I’ve been awake to it for a long time—by now I know what is honorable and what
is not. Before, I was a child. I can endure it while sheep are slaughtered, wine drunk up, and
bread—can one man check the greed of a hundred men?—but I will suffer no more viciousness.
Granted you mean at last to cut me down: I welcome that—better to die than have humiliation
always before my eyes, the stranger buffeted, and the serving women dragged about, abused in a
noble house” (385)
Agelaos, a suitor, reminds Telemakhos that they have no hope of Odysseus’s return, so he should
encourage his mother to marry one of the suitors. Telemakhos reminds the suitors that it is up to
his mother to choose a husband, not him, and he’s certainly not going to force his mother out of
her house. Athena then causes the suitors to suffer an uncontrollable fit of laughter followed by
wheezing. Theoklymenos, the visionary, says the men are surrounded by shades (ghosts). The
suitors laugh more, and insult Telemakhos for being friends with beggars and crazy people.
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The Odyssey Book 21
Name_______________________________ Period______
Book XXI: The Test of the Bow (pages 391-405)
People
Eumaios: swineherd (good)
Philoitios: cowherd (good)
Antinoos: suitor (bad)
Eurymakhos: suitor (bad)
Eurykleia: nurse (good)
Questions
1. What will happen to the person who is able to string Odysseus’s bow and send and arrow
through twelve iron axe-helve sockets? (393)
2. Who tries to string the bow first, and what happens? (394-395)
3. Why does Odysseus reveal himself to Eumaios, and the cowherd, Philoitios? (397-398)
4. How does Eurymakhos feel after he cannot string the bow? (399)
5. Why don’t the suitors want the beggar to try and string the bow? (400-401)
6. What does Penelope say to counter their argument? (401)
7. How does Telemakhos try to assert his authority? (402-403)
8. How do Eumaios, Philoitios and Eurykleia help Odysseus? (403)
9. What is being compared in the epic simile on page 404?
10. What happens when Odysseus gets the bow? (403-405)
For more information on the setup of the archery contest, read pages 475-478 in the back.
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