The Odyssey - Book 23 Notes

• The nurse went upstairs to tell Penelope that Odysseus had finally returned home. and had killed all of the suitors.
• When the nurse told Penelope that her husband had finally returned home, Penelope didn't believe her.
• When the nurse finally convinced her that the suitors had been killed, Penelope hugged the nurse and asked her how Odysseus had done it.  
• The nurse said that she didn't know how he had done it- she didn't see and didn't ask.
• Penelope, however, still didn't believe that her husband was home, and said that it was one of the gods who had killed the suitors. 
• The nurse tried to convince Penelope again, but she still doubted what the nurse told her. 
• Penelope decided to go to the hall to talk to Telemachus and to see the bodies of the suitors.
• When Penelope entered the hall, she sat down across from Odysseus, wondering if she should question her husband, or kiss his head and hands.  Penelope decided to say nothing.
• There was silence for a long time, until Telemachus became angry at his mother for not welcoming Odysseus home.
• Even after this, Penelope still doubted that the man in front of her was Odysseus.  She said that if he was her husband, then they would both know, because they share secrets that only the know about.
• Odysseus and Telemachus decided to turn to other maters, like covering up the death of the suitors in a way so that all of their friends would not want to avenge their deaths.
• Odysseus came up with a plan which would make all of the people in the town think that Penelope had finally chosen one of the suitors to marry.  This way, no rumors could be spread about the death of the suitors.
• Odysseus was given a bath, and sat down facing Penelope again. Odysseus told the nurse to make him a bed somewhere else, seeing as Penelope refused to talk to him.
• Penelope decided to test Odysseus, to see if he really was her husband.  She told the nurse to move the bed that Odysseus had made himself into the hallway so that he could sleep on that. 
• This made Odysseus very angry.  He asked who moved his bed, and then described how he had built it, using a live olive tree as one of the bedposts.
• When Penelope heard this, she knew that her husband had finally returned home.  She asked Odysseus not to be mad at her and told Odysseus that there had been so many impostors pretending to be him, that couldn't be sure it was actually her husband until he could tell her about the bed that Odysseus had made himself.  
• Odysseus told Penelope about the task he had to complete now that he was home, given to him by the prophet Teirsias in the underworld.
• At last it was time to go to bed, and Odysseus told Penelope all about his travels and adventures. 
• At the end of his tale, Odysseus and Penelope fell asleep.
• The next morning, Odysseus rose and set out to fin his father, Leartes, to tell him that he was home.