At this point in time, another beggar arrived to Odysseus's palace. This beggar was named Arnaeus, but everyone called him Irus (after Iris, the messenger for the gods) because he sent messages for anyone who would give him food. When he sees Odysseus disguised as a beggar sitting at the doorway, Irus tried to get rid of Odysseus by challenging him to a fight. Odysseus tried to avoid the fight by saying that the doorway was big enough for the both of them, but this just made Irus angry and insisted that he and Odysseus fight.
As the two beggars got closer to a fight, Antinoos saw them, and suggested to his fellow suitors that they egg the beggars on. The men agreed and surrounded the beggars, and Antinoos offered a deal to the winner. Whoever won, he said, would get to have first pick over the blood pudding that was the main course of the meal. Odysseus turned to the suitors, and made them promise not to help Irus in the fight, but to only stand by and watch the two men.
After being assured that Irus would not be aided in the fight, Odysseus pulled his rags up so that he could fight. When he did this, everyone could see his strong arms and legs, and knew that Irus was in trouble. Irus himself was very scared at the prospect of fighting Odysseus, now, and had to be dragged into the circle. Antinoos chided Irus for being a coward and threatened to sell Irus as a slave if he lost the fight.
As the two beggars stood across from each other, Odysseus couldn't decide wether or not to kill Irus on the spot, or to hit him hard enought to knock him to the ground. Odysseus decided on the latter so that the suitors would not become suspicious. Then, the fight began. Odysseus hit Irus in the jaw, pulverizing the bone, and sending Irus to the floor, moaning. The suitors all laughed at him and went back to their meal. Odysseus dragged Irus outside to the courtyard and gave the beggar his bag full with the scraps that Odysseus had been given earlier.
Odysseus went back inside to laughter from the suitors and much praise. Odysseus was served with a blood pudding, as promised, and he was praised once more by Antinoos. While he was eating, Odysseus gave Anphinomus, another suitor, a final warning that the owner of the house was near, and would not take kindly to the behavior of the suitors. This troubled Anphimnomus, but it was destined that Telemachus would kill him, so the suitor stopped worrying about it.
While the men were eating, Athena put an idea in Penelope's head. Penelope decided to go out in front of all the suitors and excite them, and to have a word with her son. She told one of her maids what she wanted to do, and the maid suggested that she take a bath first, so that her cheeks wouldn't be stained with tears. Penelope refused the bath, but asked for her maid to fetch other maids to go with her, so she wouldn't be alone with so many men.
After she had said this, the first maid left Penelope's chamber to give orders. While the maid was away, Athena made Penelope fall asleep, and the goddess made the queen beautiful once again. After Athena had finished and released Penelope from her sleep, Penelope went down to the hall to face the suitors with her maids by her side. When the suitors saw her, they all went weak at the knees, but Penelope went right to her son. When she reached him, she told him that he had grown strong and handsome, like his father, but he was not as wise as his father, to be hanging around a crowd like the suitors. Telemachus assured his mother that he was not as stupid as she believed him to be, and that he wished that someone would over power the suitors, like Irus had been over powered.
While the mother and son were talking, Eurymachus called out to Penelope, praising her beauty. She replied by asking what good beauty was to her if her husband was gone? She told the suitors that the last thing Odysseus said to her was to take care of the house and Telemachus while he was away. If he did not return by the time Telemachus had grown a beard, she would be allowed to marry which ever man she wanted and to leave the house. Penelope said that soon, she would have to choose a man to marry, and that the behavior of this set of suitors is unlike most others, where the men would present the women with gifts. When Odysseus heard this, he realized that Penelope was trying to get the suitors to give her gifts, but her mond was on other things, and he was pleased.
Antinoos stepped up and said that they would gladly give her gifts, but none of them would go home until she chose someone to marry. At this, each of the suitors presented Penelope with a lavish gift, which she accepted and took back up to her room. At this time, it had grown dark outside, and the palace prepared for the night. As the braziers were being lit, Odysseus suggested to the servants that they go up to Penelope while he lit the lamps for light. One of the servants criticized Odysseus, calling him stupid and brash for coming here ans speaking constantly. This made Odysseus mad, and threatened to tell Telemachus what she had said if she didn't leave.
The suitors began to get bored, so Eurymachus started insulting Odysseus to make the other suitors laugh. Eurymachus said Odysseus would rather beg for his food than work for it. Odysseus replied that he could get more farm work done in a day than Eurymachus could. This made Eurymachus angry, so he threw a stool at Odysseus. Odysseus ducked, and the stool hit the arm of a servant serving wine. The wine fell to the floor, and the suitors started complaining about this beggar causing too much trouble and ruining the feast. Telemachus and Anphinomus calmed everyone down, and suggested that they all have more wine.
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