Why Is Eurycleia Important In The Odyssey

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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

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