Summary

Odysseus shoots Antinous in the throat, killing him instantly. The hall is thrown into chaos, with the suitors cursing and threatening the beggar. Odysseus reveals himself and declares that the suitors’ actions in his home have earned them death. The suitors beg for mercy, offering to repay all they have cost him, to which Odysseus replies that their lives are the only payment he will accept.

Eurymachus rallies the suitors into fighting but is instantly shot by Odysseus. Telemachus runs to fetch Eumaeus and Philoetius, along with additional weapons and armor, while Melanthius sneaks in armor and weapons for the suitors. Telemachus spots Melanthius, however, and orders Eumaeus and Philoetius to stop him. The two capture Melanthius, bind his hands and feet, and leave him lying in the rafters.

Athena, in the form of Mentor, appears beside Odysseus and scolds him for not displaying the strength he had at Troy. She then transforms into a swallow and perches in the rafters, manipulating the suitors’ arrows so that they miss. Odysseus, assisted by Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius, slaughters the rest of the suitors mercilessly. They spare no one except the bard Phemios and the herald Medon.

The suitors are all dead. Telemachus calls on Eurycleia, who gathers the disloyal maidservants and instructs them to dispose of the bodies and clean the bloodstained hall. On Odysseus’s orders, Telemachus then hangs the maidservants, and the men brutally execute Melanthius. Odysseus orders the purification of his hall with fire and brimstone, after which his loyal servants crowd and kiss him while he cries tears of relief.