After the war ended, not all the Greeks enjoyed a pleasant homecoming. King Agamemnon went home to his Queen, the evil Clytemnestra – and while he was relaxing in his bath, she plunged a dagger into him. The cleverest of the Greeks, the wily, red-headed Odysseus spent ten more years sailing home to his lovely Queen Penelope. When we last left Odysseus, his ship had been wrecked by a storm. All his crew were drowned, but he was washed ashore, half dead. He managed to crawl to some bushes by the mouth of the river, and there he fell into a deep sleep.
The island was ruled by wealthy, seafaring people. It just so happened that the King’s daughter, the lovely Nausicaa, had come down to the river with her maids. They were all playing with a ball, and it splashed into a swirling pool of the river. The maids shrieked with laughter, and their cries awoke the sleeping warrior.
He clambered out of the bushes, covering his naked, sea-tossed body with leafy branches. The servant girls let out squeals when they saw him – but Princess Nausicaa calmly asked him who he was and how he came to be there.
The stranger replied, “Princess, your beauty is so great – are you a goddess or a mere mortal? In either case, I stand here at your mercy. My ship was wrecked in the great storm last night. My crew are drowned and I have lost everything.”
For once, the long suffering Odysseus was in luck. The people of the island respected all who risked their lives at sea. The princess led the stranger to her father. When the king learned that their guest was Lord Odysseus on his way home from Troy, he prepared a great feast in his honour. He then ordered a ship to be made ready to take him home - he filled a sea chest for him with rich gifts: sumptuous robes, a golden cauldron, and a handful of jewels.
The ship carried Odysseus home to his rocky kingdom on the island of Ithaca. After 20 years away, he was far from certain what sort of welcome he would receive and so he asked to be put on shore in a quiet harbour, away from the town. There he hid his sea chest in a secret cave and wrapped himself in beggar’s rags. Wearing this disguise, he climbed up a rough path. He came to the part of the island where pigs were kept. As he approached the hut of the pigs’ keeper, some fierce dogs rushed out at him. They were about to tear at his limbs – a fine welcome home – but just in time the keeper appeared and called them off.
“You should be more careful,” he scolded, “for the gods would be angry with me if my dogs ripped apart an innocent stranger – if you are, indeed, an innocent stranger.”
Odysseus recognised the man as his old servant, Eumaeus. He was a good man, and he honoured the Greek tradition of giving food and shelter to strangers. In fact, in the Greek language there was just one word for both stranger and guest – because all strangers should be honoured as guests . That night the two men sat up talking. Eumaeus explained that his master was King Odysseus who had been away for twenty long years, and was almost certainly dead by now, but his loyal wife Queen Penelope would not believe it. Now his palace was full of scoundrels who ate his food and drank his wine. They demanded that Penelope pick one of them to marry but she refused. She told them that she could not marry until she had finished sewing her wedding dress. She worked all day and every night she unpicked her work, so that it was never done.
Her son, Prince Telemachus, had taken a ship and gone in search of his father – but he had found no news. He was expected back any day now. The suitors of Penelope had set up a watch down at the harbour, and they planned to ambush and murder him on the road to the palace.
Odysseus listened to all this but did not say who he really was. The next morning, the swineherd pointed him on the road to the town. Odysseus set out and on his way he met his son, Prince Telemachus, who was smart enough to take a back route to avoid an ambush. The two men walked along – a tramp and a prince side by side. Athene, the wise goddess, made Odysseus appear as his true self; younger, stronger, and richly dressed -Telemachus was amazed. He realised that this sudden transformation must be the work of a god or goddess – and he understood that the man standing before him was his father who had left him as a baby. After they had embraced each other for a long time, they hatched a plan... Telemachus would return to the palace alone, and Odysseus would follow on, dressed as a beggar and accompanied by the loyal swineherd. No matter how many insults his wife’s suitors flung at him, they would keep their tempers till the moment was ripe for revenge.
Later that day, Odysseus and the swineherd approached the town. On the way they were met by a man they both knew, a servant who kept the goats. When he saw the two shabbily dressed men he called out, ”Well look what we have here! One piece of filth sticking to another piece of filth. Old pig keeper, what are you taking that garbage to the palace for? All he’ll get there is a sound beating.”
Odysseus was sorely tempted to batter the man, but he knew he must keep his temper for now, so he and the loyal swineherd walked past. Not far from the town there was a pile of dung and rubbish. Lying on top of it was a sad old dog who had been cast out of the palace by the suitors. The dog’s name was Argos, and in his prime he had been a fine hunting hound, the favourite of Odysseus. Now he was all but broken, but the moment that Odysseus came near he sensed his master’s scent. He lifted his muzzle from the dung heap and thumped his tail. Odysseus saw him, and went over to pat his faithful animal on the head. Argos licked his master’s hand and was happy for the first time in many years
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