HONR 1101 Lecture Notes - Eumaeus, Odysseus, Swineherd
Document Summary
When odysseus finally arrives home and sees his wife, penelope, for the first time, he approaches her no differently than he has with anyone else in the poem. He converses with her in a way that seems like a poker game , similar to how he did this with eumaios and telemakhos earlier. However, it turns out that penelope plays this game arguably better than odysseus does. The dynamic is entertaining, but at first i wondered why this whole game was necessary. Reading further, i realized that penelope needed proof that this was truly her husband, although it is hinted that she suspects that the stranger is odysseus much earlier than she lets on. I think that the first scene where penelope considers that this stranger may be. When odysseus is sitting there as the old nurse goes to fetch more water, penelope asks him to interpret her dream in which.
