The Odyssey Book Twenty-Three: The Great Rooted Bed

Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Mrs. Rachel Greb to discuss Book 23 of the Odyssey: The Great Rooted Bed.

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From our written guide:

108.    What happens in book twenty-three?

The old maid Eurycleia, laughing with delight, runs and tells Penelope that the day she’s dreamed of is here: Odysseus has come home (23.05). “Penelope’s heart busts in joy” upon hearing that the beggar in the hall was actually her husband (23.34). Penelope, however, falls back into her guarded skepticism (23.75). She enters the hall and sits in silence studying his face in “numbing wonder” (23.100). Meanwhile, Odysseus counsels Telemachus on the threat of the suitors being avenged and asks that the whole house be full of dancing and merrymaking to hide the fact the suitors have all been slain (23.146). Odysseus is bathed, and Penelope instructs her servants to drag the marital bed out the chamber for this “strange man” to sleep on (23.193). Odysseus falls into a “fury,” as he knows the marital bed he made cannot be moved: it is made of the stump of an olive tree still rooted in the ground (23.203).

 Odysseus passes the test, and Penelope runs to him and embraces him in tears (23.230). Odysseus tells her of his penitential journey he must undertake to appease Poseidon (23.282), and, after the two delight in each other, he tells her of his journey home (23.349). The book ends with Odysseus, inspired by Athena, going out into the country to visit his father (23.407).

109.    What should be noted about the reunion of Penelope and Odysseus?

Penelope’s “heart bust[ing] in joy” at hearing the beggar was Odysseus again raises the question of what she already suspected. Despite the reaction, she quickly resumes her guarded skepticism (23.75). Most notably, Penelope is not convinced by the scar (22.83), and we should recall Telemachus’ earlier concern that a god could deceive them in the guise of Odysseus. Penelope shares this concern (23.250). What test has Penelope devised to avoid this fate? Note that Telemachus cannot understand what is happening between the man of twists and turns and the matchless queen of cunning (23.111).

Penelope’s test is one of the intimate knowledge between husband and wife. The knowledge of the marital bed is the “secret sign” between them (23.226), as it is carved in part from a stump still rooted in the ground (23.222). The immovable marriage bed is an analogue for Penelope’s fidelity to her husband. It is the final answer to the parallel narrative of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

Next week Book 24 and the end of the Odyssey!