Summary

A beggar named Arnaeus (or Irus) arrives at the palace and insults Odysseus in front of the suitors. This gives the suitors the idea to pit the two beggars against each other for sport, with the winner of the fight to be given choice cuts of meat and a place at the suitors’ table. When Odysseus takes off his robe to spar with Arnaeus, he reveals his muscular build. So as to hide his full strength, Odysseus decides not to kill Arnaeus and instead defeats him by breaking his jaw.

At the table, the suitor Amphinomus shows kindness to the disguised Odysseus. Because of this, Odysseus tells him a cautionary tale of greed and dishonor, hinting that Amphinomus must leave the palace or perish along with the other suitors when Odysseus returns to take revenge. This troubles Amphinomus, but as he is fated to die along with the rest of the suitors, he does not leave.

Meanwhile, Athena compels Penelope to come downstairs and appear before the suitors. The goddess makes her look lovelier without her knowledge, and so the suitors are stricken with lust when she addresses them. Penelope hints that courtship gifts are due to her, as she will soon choose a husband. In response, the suitors readily bring forth splendid gifts. Odysseus is delighted at his wife’s cunning.

That evening, Odysseus is once more the subject of mockery and abuse, both from the suitors and from the slave girl Melantho. After Eurymachus throws a footstool at Odysseus, Telemachus ends the suitors’ drunken revelry and bids them all retire for the night.