Return of Odysseus.
    Return of Odysseus. Awaking on the shores of Ithaca, Odysseus was greeted by Athena, who advised him to disguise himself as a beggar. Thus, he was able to enter the city unrecognized and to discover what had happened during his twenty-year absence. He found his wife, Penelope, still faithfully praying for his return, but he also discovered a persistent band of suitors, chief among them Antinous, who had been thronging the palace for years, wooing Penelope and living at her expense.
    Odysseus revealed his true identity only to his son, Telemachus, maintaining the ruse even before Penelope. His old nurse, Eurycleia, recognized him but was told to keep his secret. The disguised Odysseus was treated with discourtesy by the suitors. He suffered numerous indignities and was forced to fight with Irus the beggar, to the suitors’ delight.
    At length, Penelope declared that she would marry the man who could string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through the eyes of twelve axes. All the suitors tried in vain to perform this feat; only Odysseus succeeded and thus revealed his identity. With the aid of Telemachus, Athena, and a faithful servant, he slew all the suitors and the disloyal servants. He convinced Penelope of his identity by describing the construction of their marriage bed and revealed himself to his father, Laertes. Athena then restored peace to the land of Ithaca.

Listings are arranged under the following headings:
Odysseus, General list; Odysseus, the Lotus-eaters; Odysseus, Polyphemus; Odysseus, Circe; Odysseus in the Underworld; Odysseus and the Sirens; Odysseus, Scylla and Charybdis; Odysseus and Calypso; Odysseus and Leucothea; Odysseus and Nausicaä; Return of Odysseus; Death of Odysseus; Odysseus' Last Voyage

See also Penelope