The Nurse Eurycleia In Homer's The Odyssey

512 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Odysseus character essay

The Odyssey(180-247) In book XXIII of Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope is informed that her husband Odysseus is alive and present by her “loyal nurse”. The nurse Eurycleia tells Penelope that the scar on the beggar’s, knee matches Odysseus’ but she believes that she has gone mad. She has slept through the entire bloodshed so she is unbelieving and must go see for herself. When she sees him with her own eyes she is still overcome with disbelief. Penelope is very cautious and believes that a trick is being played on her by a god. She tells the nurse Eurycleia to move her bridal bed “Nurse, bring the bed out from the master bedroom, the bedstead he made himself, and spread it for him […]”(184). This really upsets Odysseus and he says that it “cuts

Show More
Related

  • Why Is Eurycleia Important In The Odyssey

    248 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the Odyssey Eurycleia is a slave who was bought by Odysseus’ father but was treated the same as his wife. She was so important is the lives of Odysseus that she is the one that nurses Odysseus and his son Telemachus as children. Despite the fact that she is a slave in Odysseus’ household but is treated as a member of the family so she holds no ill will. When Telemachus goes on his Journey to search for answers about his father it is Eurychleia who gives him his rations and helps him sneak away. When Odysseus returns to Ithica the first person to recognize him is Eurycleia. As she is bathing him she recognizes his scar from a childhood accident and “joy and torment gripped her heart at once, tears rushed to her eyes” (533-534). Eurycleia’s

    Read More

  • The Odyssey Rhetorical Analysis

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Penelope tests Odysseus to make sure that he is really her husband. Penelope asks Odysseus to tell one secret of their marriage. Odysseus is outraged that she doesn’t believe him, but he tells her that their bedroom was made out of part of a tree. Penelope felt the need to test Odysseus because she was not sure it was him. She show this when she says, “Think what difficulty the gods gave: they denied us life

    Read More

  • Penelope´s Cleverness In Homer's 'Odyssey'

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    With confidence, Penelope speaks up “if only Odysseus came back home to on native soil now, he and his son would avenge the outrage of these men—like that!” (17.600-01). In the Quote one is able to notice that Penelope is trying to get a spark out of her son, to see how he would reply to her after having found out that her husband is said to be on the island from the god Theoclymenus. Penelope realizes that her son said that he did not speak to Odysseus but she senses that her son may be lying to her. Moments after Penelope voiced how she wished for her husband to be home her son “shock with a lusty sneeze like a thunderclap resounding up and down the halls” (17.602-03). At this point in the book Penelope has already been told about the arrival of a beggar and she has formed an idea that the beggar may be her husband. Penelope speaks in response to the sneeze, “bring me this stranger now, face –to-face! You hear how my son sealed all I said with a sneeze?” (17.606-07). This response shows that Penelope got what she wanted, which was to get her son to reveal what she believed to be true this whole time. The belief was that the beggar is her husband which is confirmed when she said: “bring me the stranger now” (17.606). Homer portrayed Penelope as oblivious but the sneeze shows that she is able to pick up on the little things

    Read More

  • Penelope's Recognition of Odysseus as a Beggar

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Upon hearing of the travels of the beggar, Penelope is very interested to question him as to whether he has ever crossed paths with her husband Odysseus. The story that Odysseus tells her is for the most part untrue. However, he does give specific details as to what clothes he had worn, so that Penelope would believe that the story was truthful. The beggar then goes on to tell her that Odysseus is coming back to Ithaka in the very near future. It is at this point that Penelope first thought that the beggar could actually be her husband Odysseus, as she was overcome with emotions, and began to cry. From this point on ...

    Read More

  • Mortal Women In Homer's The Odyssey

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Greeks had a misogynistic society, however women still had important roles in the Odyssey. Mortal women's most esteemed roles were either wife or mother. All the mortal female characters in the Odyssey existed to interact with a male, due to their beauty or sex appeal. But, the most powerful female characters in the Odyssey have other qualities such as cleverness which still play a role. Beauty is still one of the most important thing to Homer. For instance he starts a war using Helen of Troys beauty, and makes the two of the biggest obstacles Odysseus has to deal with love interests, Circe and Calypso. If you’ll remember he stayed on Circe's island an extra year longer of his own free will. However, Circe and Calypso are not mortal, so they already have the advantage. Homers non mortal women all have other qualities to them that allow them to help the plot along. Namely, Penelope, Queen of Ithaca and Odysseus bride.

    Read More

  • Life's Findings in Homer's Odyssey

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... in his heart pitied his sobbing wife; but his eyes stood fixed as horn or iron. Through craft he checked his tears" (187). Homer's use of epic simile in describing the tears Penelope shed enhances the reader's understanding of her sorrow. Odysseus longs to be embraced by his wife after twenty years of roaming. However, he knows that if he would reveal his true identity, he might jeopardize his carefully plotted revenge. One can see that even Odysseus' perseverance wavers when he encounters temptation to obtain what he longs for.

    Read More

  • Penelope's Ambiguity In The Odyssey

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, she felt comfortable when he was talking to her and she mentioned that he is the first stranger that warm her heart with the news that he has about Odysseus. Nonetheless, she decides that she will marry one of the suiters if he will be able to shoot an arrows through the holes of twelve axes set, but the axes should be in a line. The Odyssey supported her idea because he knew that he will be able to answer her riddle and it will be hard for any man to do so. It was obvious how confident he was when he said “do not delay this contest in the palace for the resourceful Odysseus, himself will be here long before those polished bow and shoot the arrow through the iron axes” (P:264). Which made it very clear that this stranger knew and certain that Odysseus is coming back to Ithaca and to save his beautiful wife. After he won the contest, she was shocked to the point that she felt that he is Odysseus. She wanted to test him if that man was him or not. With a big fear in her heart, she could not believe her eyes. She told him that his bed was moved, which shocked him because he belted that bedroom and that bed in a way that no man can move it and he told her about all the details in that room. She was surprised of how much details he knew, “Bursting into tears she ran up

    Read More

  • Lies In The Odyssey

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Eurycleia is told by Penelope to wash the beggar, she notices a scar on his leg that is strikingly similar to the one her master had before he left for war. Immediately, she recognizes Odysseus but is sworn to secrecy as to not inform anyone of his arrival home. Obeying her beloved master, Eurycleia overcomes the instinct to run to Penelope and tell her that her husband is finally home. Not only does this event show how loyal Eurycleia is to Odysseus but “The incident also prepares for the importance of Eurycleia in the coming Homilia: she is more dangerous right now than the suitors” (Scodel 6-7). Illustrating the importance of Eurycleia in the final half of the epic, she is vital to Odysseus’s plan and has the power to easily ruin it with three words: Odysseus is home. If she says those three words to any other person in Ithaca, word will spread to everyone else like wildfire. Surely, then, the Suitors will be informed of Odysseus’s presence and instantly plan to murder him before he is able to regain his

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Odyssey Essay

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Such a society obviously places severe restrictions on the position of women and what is considered to be acceptable behaviour for women”. (Whittaker 39) Penelope is forced to step out of the typical Homeric Greek woman role in order to make sure Odysseus has a success homecoming. She does this by proving to be clever, like her husband, when she tricks the suitors, claiming that she will choose one once she finishes a burial shroud for Laertes. Every night she undoes the weaving she has done for the day. This works until some of her house servants catch her. Another example of this trickery, is her promise to marry any suitor that can string and shoot Odysseus 's bow. Penelope knew no one but Odysseus could do this. There are many different interpretations of Penelope 's role as a woman in this moment of the epic. Homer has Penelope show a role that isn’t what you would normally see in a Homeric Greek woman. She depicts that she can be just as manipulative as a man can

    Read More

  • Greek Women in The Odyssey

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    The women in The Odyssey are a fair representation of women in ancient Greek culture. In his work, Homer brings forth women of different prestige. First there are the goddesses, then Penelope, and lastly the servant girls. Each of the three factions forms an important part of The Odyssey and helps us look into what women were like in ancient Greece.

    Read More

  • Woman Character of The Odyssey, Medea, and Thousand and One Arabian Nights

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Firstly, Penelope who plays Odysseus’s wife is alone tending to her city Ithica until her husband returns. Meanwhile Odysseus is out fighting in the Trojan War and against many of the Greek God’s who are trying to make his trip back home as eventful and hard as possible; “…work out his journey home so Odysseus can return” (Homer 276). While King Odysseus is away Penelope is to deal with a bunch of suitors who are eating and trashing out Ithica, “…if those suitors have truly paid in blood for all their reckless outrage” (559). In order for Penelope to keep peace until Odysseus returns she has to come up with a clever plan to keep the suitors from completely taking over. For almost 2 years Penelope was able to keep the suitors from getting out of hand by saying she will find someone to marry and replace Odysseus after she is d...

    Read More

  • Odyssey Hero's Journey Essay

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odysseus faced many challenges and monsters along the way but one of the biggest challenges was when he returned home to his wife Penelope. She was testing Odysseus because he did not believe it was home that really came back. Penelope challenged Odysseus with a bow and arrow . But she said that there was a “ … have sawn that trunk and dragged the frame away” ( Homer 615 ). This is important because of the fact that in The Odyssey the whole story is based on the fact that. Odysseus is coming back home but since his wife does not believe it is him it has to prove to his wife that he came back .

    Read More

  • Tone in The Odyssey

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    _ This was Penelope’s reply to Eurycleia claiming that Odysseus was home. Through this quote we can see that Penelope is starting to lose hope in Odysseus returning home. When Eurycleia tells her of the news at first she simply dismisses it as the old nurse going crazy.

    Read More

  • What Is The Similarities Between The Odyssey And The Epic Of Gilgamesh

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, his journey isn’t over yet. This last leg of Odysseus’s journey is perhaps the most important and crucial. Odysseus’s nurse and maidservant, Eurycleia is the first woman in Ithaca to know that Odysseus is back after she recognizes the scar on his leg while she is washing him. Eurycleia vows to keep his identity a secret. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope has stayed faithful to Odysseus for all the years that he was gone. Penelope was consistently unweaving her web to the delay the suitors. The reader even grows sympathetic for Penelope as “we see her struggle to make the virtuous choice about her marriage, despite pressures from her suitors, her son’s endangered situation, and her own uncertainty about Odysseus’s survival” (Foley ). Finally, Odysseus reveals his identity and Penelope is bewildered, but quickly embraces her husband after he tells her the secret of their immovable bed. It is the faithfulness of Penelope and nurse Eurycleia that insures Odysseus’s survival to the very end.

    Read More

  • Odysseus Reflection

    1333 Words  | 3 Pages

    The close reading is from The Odyssey by Homer in book nine lines 1-33. In this paper, one could see Odysseus goes full circle of emotions throughout the lines. Before this book starts Odysseus was lead to the palace of Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians. Once he was there he plead for help from the Queen to get back to his land. The King thought Odysseus was a god but Odysseus put that to rest by saying he was a mortal. That evening, while the King and Queen were talking to Odysseus, the Queen noticed that he was wearing her daughter’s clothes. This lead to him being questioned by the Queen. At the end of the questioning the Queen was so impressed by him that the King offers Odysseus his daughter’s hand in marriage. The next morning, they

    Read More

More about The Nurse Eurycleia In Homer's The Odyssey

Open Document