Antinous said, “What spirit brought this plague to spoil our feast? Stand off there in the middle of the court, away from my table, or you will find a bitter Egypt and Cyprus. You are a bold, shameless beggar. You take from each man in turn, and they give freely because they feel no restraint or pity in giving another’s goods.”
Odysseus drew back and said, “Well — your mind does not match your looks. You would not give a grain of salt from your own house to a household man of yours. You sit at another’s table and cannot bring yourself to take a scrap of bread and give it to me — though there is plenty here.”
Antinous grew angrier still. He scowled and said, “Now you will not leave the hall in peace, after that insult.” He seized the footstool and struck Odysseus at the base of the right shoulder, on the back. The stool flew on and hit the ground. Odysseus stood firm as a rock. The blow did not shake him. He shook his head in silence, planning dark things.
“Sit and eat in silence,” Antinous shouted, “or go elsewhere — or I will have you dragged through the house by hands and feet, and the young men will strip the skin from you.” The other suitors were displeased. One of the proud young men said, “Antinous, you did wrong to strike the unhappy wanderer. You are doomed if he turns out to be some god from heaven.”
So the suitors spoke, but Antinous paid no heed. Telemachus nursed great pain in his heart for the blow struck at his father, but no tear fell. He shook his head in silence, planning dark things.
When Penelope learned a blow had fallen on the beggar in the dining hall, she said before her maids, “May Apollo the archer strike you so, Antinous.” Her housekeeper Eurynome added, “If only our prayers were answered — not one of these men would see Dawn of the fair throne.” Penelope said, “Nurse, they are all hateful, for they work evil. Antinous is the worst.”
So she talked among her women upstairs, while Odysseus took his meal. Then she called the swineherd: “Go, good Eumaeus, and fetch the traveler to my rooms. I mean to greet him and ask if he has heard of Odysseus who has suffered much, or seen him with his eyes. He looks like a man who has wandered far.”
When Eumaeus heard that he went to Odysseus and said, “Father stranger, Penelope, Telemachus’s mother, calls you. Her heart is sorrowful, but she wants to ask about her husband. If she finds you speak truth, you will have a cloak and tunic, which you need most. As for food, you will beg it through the land and fill your belly. Whoever wishes will give.”
Odysseus answered, “Eumaeus, I will tell Penelope the whole truth. I know about that man. We have shared the same hardships. But I fear this crowd of brutal suitors. Their violence reaches the iron sky. Just now, when that man struck me as I walked harmlessly through the house, Telemachus and the others did not stop him.”
The swineherd went back. As he crossed the threshold Penelope said, “You do not bring him, Eumaeus? What does the wanderer mean by this? Is he afraid of someone too arrogant, or is he shy in the house? A shy beggar is a poor beggar.”