HUM 102W Lecture Notes - Phemius, Odysseus, Eurymachus
27 Mar 2014
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The second half of the odyssey is an extended recognition scene. Odysseus begins by being transported back to ithaca by the phaeacians, but he continues to obscure his identity even into the last book, when he finally reveals himself to his father. His disguises and dissimulation are justified by the plot to some extent: he wants to find out who is still loyal to him before exposing himself. But the poet takes this to great lengths, making the revelation (anagnorisis) of odysseus" identity a key theme of the poem. Books 13-17 see odysseus acquaint himself cautiously both with his swineherd eumaeus and his son. In book 18 he goes finally to scout his own home and takes the guise of a beggar, a nobody, as he appeared in book 6, 9, and 11. When challenged by another beggar, he reluctantly fights him and wins, at which point he becomes a philosopher:
