Book 16

At the swineherders humble household I got settled in. Just as a few days were passing, my long lost son, Telemakhos, shows up at the house! I was so extatic but seeing as I was disguised as a herder, no one could tell it was really me. Telemakhos told Eumaios, the herder, to go and find his mother, Penelope, and tell her of his arrival, but he said to be very careful as to not let the suitors hear his news for they were trying to kill him. As Eumaios left, Athena arrived outside the gate only for my eyse to see. She changed me back to the clothes of a god and gave me a nice clean shave. When I went back inside, Telemakhos could not believe his eyes. I introduced myself and told him that I was his father. Many tears were shed for many hours. These were not tears of anger, but tears of joy. I was finally home and I finally met my darling son. We both told a runner to bring news to Penelope of Telemakhos's coming and he arrived at the palace at the same time as Eumaios. The suitors heard his news but not Eumaios's. The brutes rounded up and plotted against my son, while they did this, Penelope gave a speech telling them to leave him alone. Eumaios arrived back at the hut and we feasted. Then I fell sound asleep. The subconcious was not haunting me anymore like it does to people who are not at rest with it.