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“Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be long in joining you, for I too am eager for the fray.”
Odyssey, Book 16; Samuel Butler translation
Book 16 Summary
Telemachus enters Eumaeus’ house and Eumaeus is ecstatic to see he’s still alive. After a meal, Telemachus promises the disguised Odysseus he will give him some clothes and will send him wherever he wants to go, telling him to avoid his home because of the suitors. He also sends Eumaeus to tell Penelope that he’s returned home from Pylos.
After Eumaeus leaves, Athena reveals herself to Odysseus only, instructs him to reveal himself to Telemachus, and changes him back to normal. Odysseus reveals himself to a skeptical Telemachus, but after talking to him Telemachus is convinced and they have a moving reunion.
Odysseus tells Telemachus how he got back to Ithaca and asks about the suitors. Telemachus tells Odysseus there are 108 suitors, so taking them on with just the two of them would be suicide. Both of them hash out a plan to get more support and take on the suitors.
Back at Odysseus’ house, Penelope and the suitors learn that Telemachus is back. The suitors are furious and assemble to see what they should do next. The most reasonable suitor in the group convinces them to do nothing else until they consult the gods.
Penelope finds out about the suitors’ failed plot to ambush Telemachus and she confront them. One of the ringleaders lies to her about not wanting to kill Telemachus and she goes back into her room distraught.
Back at Eumaeus’ house, Athena turns Odysseus back into an old beggar just as Eumaeus arrives. The three of them eat a meal and then go to bed for the night.
The Full Scope of the Tyranny
Book 16 is the first time we learn how many suitors there are: 108!
Can you imagine being 16 or 17 years old and all of the sudden having to deal with 108 grown men bullying you, harassing your mother, and eating up your inheritance? It’s no wonder Telemachus felt powerless to do anything about it when we are first introduced to him.
People have been brought to despair with far, far fewer antagonists in their life. Often, it’s just one bully who crushes a person mentally and emotionally for years. Imagine if you had to go through high school being targeted by 108 students?
The Tyrants Get Desperate
The tyrannical suitors know their days are numbered and are getting even more desperate. So desperate, that they even begin to plot ambushing and killing Telemachus right there in Ithaca before he has a chance to go home. They are so desperate to hold on to what they have they would kill the son of the woman they are wooing in his own native land!
One of the suitors, Amphinomous, convinces the rest to abandon the plan and consult the gods first. Here is how he is described:
“He was foremost among all the suitors from the… island of Dulichium; his conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope than that of any of the other suitors, for he was a man of good natural disposition.”
Odyssey, Book 16; Samuel Butler translation
I’ll write more about Amphinomous in another post, but I will say right now that he’s quite the unfortunate character and makes a good object lesson.
Anyway, I want to repeat the warning I gave back in Book 4: beware the tyrant that gets desperate. First, the suitors tried to use subterfuge by attempting to ambush Telemachus out at sea. That way, they could lay the blame on someone or something else. When that failed, they began considering ambushing Telemachus in his own country where they were more at risk of getting exposed to the public! As these tyrants get more desperate, they get more irrational. They even acknowledge that Telemachus may be getting help from divine intervention and that the people of Ithaca are not fond of them:
“We… waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and killing him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let us consider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape us; our affair is never likely to come off while he is alive, for he is very shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side.”
Odyssey, Book 16; Samuel Butler translation
Nonetheless, they still think they can kill Telemachus and get away with their plot without major recourse. This is how much they desperately cling on to their tyranny. The better action would be to stop altogether as its clear the gig is up, but they don’t consider it for a second.
Don’t think that places or circumstances that were once relatively safe will remain safe as the tyrant loses their grip. Be ever alert. The tyrant is not done until he is finished—one way or another.
The Long Awaited Reunion
The reunion between Telemachus and Odysseus is moving. Remember that Telemachus was an infant when Odysseus left for the Trojan War. Everything he knows about his father is from what others have told him. Now, he finally gets to speak to him personally, hear his voice, touch him, and weep with him.
Telemachus no longer has to shoulder the burden of the suitors alone anymore. His father—older, wiser, stronger, battle-hardened, and more traveled and world weary than most men in existence—is now here. For the first time in his life, Telemachus can rely on, and help, his dad.
Odysseus is ready to take charge… and he’s pissed. He’s out for blood. He will accept nothing less than the suitors’ complete demise. He isn’t bothered in the least that there are 108 of them. He has the goddess of Athena, his experience, and a plan.
In a way, it’s funny to think that Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ first father/son activity together will be the slaughtering of the suitors. Fishing? Camping? Hunting? How quaint!
That’s all for Book 16 of the Odyssey.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Reunion of Odysseus and Telemachus by Henri-Lucien Doucet, 1880. Public domain.