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"[I am here] to tell you all the troubles you are destined to suffer
in your well-built house; but you must, of necessity, endure
and you must not tell any man or woman that you have
come home from your wanderings, but you must suffer
much grief in silence, standing and facing men in their violence."
(Od. 13.30610) |
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In order to make it easier for Odysseus to remain incognito, the goddess changes his outward appearance. It is up to Odysseus, however, to adapt his behaviour and never drop his mask. |
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The first test follows in the next book. Eumaeus tells "the stranger"/Odysseus about the insolent behaviour of the suitors. The latter reacts as follows: |
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and he ate his meat and drank his wine, quietly,
greedily and without speaking, and devised evils for the suitors.
(Od. 14.10910) |
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Reacting with angry or excited words to Eumaeus' information would betray Odysseus' real identity. Hence he remains silent, but the embedded focalization ( ) reveals to the reader although not to Eumaeus what is at the same time going on in his mind. Unspoken thoughts take the place of words.11 |
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The confrontation with the friendly Eumaeus requires only a modicum of self-restraint on Odysseus' part. The situation changes, however, when he meets with physical and verbal abuse, as Athena predicted he would in passage (3). The first time it is the goatherd Melantheus who reviles (17.21532) and then kicks (2334) him. Physically, our hero manages to keep his footing ( ), and this is his mental reaction: |
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11 For the simultaneity of Odysseus' outward and inward reaction, see Beßlich (1966) 801. Less well Stanford (1958) ad loc.: "O. 'wolfs' his food because he wants to give his immediate attention to the planning of revenge on the suitors". |
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