Book 23 - Odysseus & Penelope

Question 1

Book 23

How does this book start with Eurycleia

Answer 1

• Eurycleia goes upstairs to call Penelope, who has slept through the entire fight.
• Penelope doesn’t believe anything that Eurycleia says, and she remains in disbelief even when she comes downstairs and sees her husband with her own eyes

Question 2

Book 23

Describe the initial reunion of Ody & P

Answer 2

• Telemachus rebukes her for not greeting Odysseus more lovingly after his long absence, but Odysseus has other problems to worry about.
• He has just killed all of the noble young men of Ithaca—their parents will surely be greatly distressed.
• He decides that he and his family will need to lay low at their farm for a while.
• In the meantime, a minstrel strikes up a happy song so that no passers-by will suspect what has taken place in the palace.

Question 3

Book 23

How is Penelope’s cunning shown

Answer 3

• Penelope remains wary, afraid that a god is playing a trick on her.
• She orders Eurycleia to move her bridal bed, and Odysseus suddenly flares up at her that their bed is immovable, explaining how it is built from the trunk of an olive tree around which the house had been constructed
• Hearing him recount these details, she knows that this man must be her husband

Question 4

Book 23

What does Odysseus catch Penelope up on

Answer 4

• They get reacquainted and, afterward, Odysseus gives his wife a brief account of his wanderings
• He also tells her about the trip that he must make to fulfill the prophecy of Tiresias in Book 11

Question 5

How does book 23 end

Answer 5

• The next day, he leaves with Telemachus for Laertes’ orchard
• He gives Penelope instructions not to leave her room or receive any visitors Athena cloaks Odysseus and Telemachus in darkness so that no one will see them as they walk through the town

Question 6

BOOK 23

Give analyis about what the reunion says abot P & Ody

Answer 6

• his subtle test reveals Penelope’s clever side—the side we have seen in her ploy to use a never-to-be-finished burial shroud to put off remarriage for four years.
• This test not only admits Odysseus to Penelope’s arms but also sheds some light on why their love for each other is so natural in the first place
• They are united by the commonality of their minds, by their love of scheming, testing, and outmaneuvering. They are kindred spirits because they are kindred wits.
• Literally and metaphorically, no one can move their wedding bed.