She went down from the upper chamber; her heart pondered much whether to keep aloof and question her dear husband, or to go up to him and kiss his head and take his hands. But when she had come in and crossed the stone threshold, she sat opposite Odysseus in the firelight beside the further wall. He sat by a tall pillar looking down, waiting to see whether his wife would speak to him. She sat long in silence; amazement came into her heart. At one moment she would look him full in the face, at another she failed to know him with his foul clothes on his body.
Telemachus rebuked her: Mother — hard of heart — why do you hold aloof from my father, and do not sit by him and question him? No other woman would harden her heart like this and hold off from her husband who, after many harsh sufferings, has come back in the twentieth year. Your heart is always harder than stone. Wise Penelope answered: My child, the heart in my breast is lost in wonder; I cannot speak or ask a question or look him in the face. If he is truly Odysseus and has come home, we two shall know each other better than others can; for we have signs which we two alone know, hidden from others.
Much-enduring Odysseus smiled and spoke to Telemachus: Leave your mother to test me in the halls. She will soon know me better. Now I am foul, clothed in rags, and she dishonors me for that and says I am not he. But you and I must consider how it will be best. When a man has killed even one man in a country — one who does not leave many to avenge him — he flees, leaving his kindred and his fatherland. We have killed the mainstay of the city, the best young men in Ithaca. I bid you consider this. Thoughtful Telemachus answered: Look to this yourself, dear father; they say your counsel is the best among men. We will follow you eagerly; I do not think we shall fail in spirit.
Resourceful Odysseus answered: First wash yourselves and put tunics on, and tell the women to dress. Then let the minstrel lead a playful dance, so that anyone outside may say it is a wedding. The rumor of the killing must not spread before we go out to our wooded farm. Later we will consider whatever the Olympian puts in our minds. So they obeyed. They washed and dressed; the minstrel stirred song and dancing. The great house resounded to merry feet. And someone outside would say: Surely someone has married the queen of many suitors. Hard-hearted — she could not keep her husband's house until he came.
So they spoke, but they did not know how things were. Meanwhile Eurynome the housekeeper bathed great-hearted Odysseus and anointed him with oil, and threw about him a beautiful cloak and tunic. Then Athena poured much beauty over his head, making him taller and sturdier, and from his head she made the locks flow in curls like the hyacinth flower. As when a man overlays silver with gold, a craftsman whom Hephaestus and Pallas Athena have taught every craft — so she poured grace over his head and shoulders. He came from the bath looking like the immortals, and sat down again opposite his wife.