The Odyssey - Book 22 Notes

• Odysseus took aim at Antinoos, who was drinking from a goblet and not thinking of bloodshed.
• Odysseus let the arrow fly, and it went into Antinoos's neck.
• All of the other men were angered by Antinoos's death, and looked around for weapons, but there were none in the hall. 
• When Odysseus told the remaining suitors that he was Odysseus, Eurymachus tried to make Antinoos take all of the blame.  Odysseus didn't buy his tale, and said that even if Eurymachus gave Odysseus all the land he owned an more, Odysseus was still going to kill all of the suitors as a payment for what they have done.
• Seeing that Odysseus was still going to kill all of them, Eurymachus decided to fight Odysseus instead.
• Eurymachus ran at Odysseus with his dagger, but while he was in mid-jump, Odysseus shot him down.
• Next Amphinomos tried to run for the door, but Telemachus killed him with his spear.
• Telemachus said to his father that he would go get weapons, shields, and helmets for them, and ran off.
• Melanthios suggested to the other suitors that Odysseus and Telemachus put the extra weapons in the storehouse.  He offered to go get weapons for the suitors and then ran off.
• Odysseus saw the suitors arming themselves, and realised that Melanthios was sneaking into the storehouse.  Telemachus ordered Eumaios and the driver to stop Melanthios from taking weapons.  
• Eumaios saw Melanthios sneaking off to get more weapons, and asked Odysseus what he should do with Melanthios, once he is captured.
• Odysseus told Eumaios to let him live, but top tie his hands and feet together and then tie him to the beams of the roof.
• The swineherd and the driver found Melanthios in the storehouse, and did just as Odysseus had told them to do, and then went back to the hall.
• Athena then came to the hall in the shape of Mentor.  Athena berated Odysseus, telling him that he was not as brave of wise as he was at Troy.  Athena then flew up to the rafters in the shape of a swallow.
• Agelaos came up with a plan to throw spears at Odysseus in volleys and see if any of the spears hit him.  
• The suitors threw their first volley, but Athena made all of the spears miss.
• Odysseus organized a counter attack, and took down two of the suitors.  The swineherd and the drover each took out a suitor as well.
• The suitors volleyed again, and this time Athena made only most of them miss.  One spear grazed the wrist of Telemachus, and another grazed the shoulder of Eumaios.
• Another counter attack by Odysseus left five suitors dead.
• The fighting continued, and more suitors dropped dead. 
• Athena put her aegis-cape in front of Odysseus and his men, and sent the remainder of the suitors run in fear.
• One man, Leiodes ran up to Odysseus, asking him to spare his life as he was only the diviner.  However, Odysseus did not spare him, and put Agelaos's sword through Leiodes's throat.
• Another man, the minstrel, had escaped death, and decided to put himself at the mercy of Odysseus. 
• The minstrel ran up to Odysseus and hugged his knees, asking to be spared.  Telemachus, who was near by, convinced him to spare the minstrel, and asked that Medon be spared too, if he was not already dead. 
• Medon ran up to Telemachus, begging to be spared. Odysseus spared him, and told Medon and the minstrel to wait outside, away from the fight.
• Odysseus checked every part of the hall, making sure that no one was hiding from him, and then asked Telemachus to get the nurse who had first recognized Odysseus, and her into the hall.
• When the nurse saw the dead suitors, she was overjoyed.  Odysseus asked her to name which of the maids in the house had been faithful to Odysseus while he was away, and which had not.  
• Odysseus asked the nurse to bring the unfaithful maids into the hall. 
• Odysseus ordered the maids to pick up all of the dead bodies of the suitors and bring them into the courtyard.  When they were done with that, Odysseus made all of them clean all of the blood up with sponges.  
• The women were then herded outside into the space in between the house and the walls, so that they couldn't escape.  
• Telemachus suggested that the women did not deserve a quick death, so they were all hung in a row.
• Melanthios was brought out from the storehouse, and then his nose, ears, hands, and feet were all cut off and then fed to the dogs. 
• When the hall was finally clean, Odysseus sent the nurse to go get the rest of the women and bring them to the hall.  When they saw him, they were happy to see him finally home.