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Summary Recognition in the Odyssey
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RecognitionNostos isn’t just the journey home, but the reoccupation once there. If the hero is not recognised and
celebrated after his journey, then the kleos does not follow. In the Odyssey, there are two types of
recognition scenes: where Odysseus reveals himself, or where he is recognised by accident.
Book XIII: Odysseus’ recognition of Ithaca after Athene has shrouded it in a mist – ‘Whose country
have I come to this time? Are they brutal savages?’
Book XIII: Odysseus’ recognises Penelope in a kind of recognition game – she teases him, he tells
her a Cretan tale, they make jokes, and then they plot how to get revenge on the Suitors.
Book XVI: a bit of irony where Telemachus laments that he hasn’t met Odysseus, and then they
have a grateful and emotional recognition scene.
o Tracy: ‘The recognition is the centrepiece of the book. The poet has led up to it by beginning
the entire poem with the son; their reunion marks the turning point.’
Book XVII: Argus recognises Odysseus despite his disguise and wags his tail before he dies – very
poignant, and has such ‘dogged loyalty’.
Book XIX: Eurycleia recognises Odysseus from the scar on his leg, and he has to threaten her not to
speak about his true identity.
o This seems accidental, but there is the possibility that he is doing this on purpose to use his
old nurse’s loyalty and goodwill to his advantage when preparing his revenge.
Tracy: ‘In short, Odysseus experiences a necessary reunion with a mother figure,
without which his identity would be incomplete.’
Book XXI: Eumaeus and Philoetius recognise Odysseus after he reveals himself to them (Odysseus
waits until just before the bow test to secure their loyalty)
Book XXI: Antinous only realises who Odysseus is when he lists the crimes they have committed
against him, and then he kills him and the rest of the Suitors.
Book XXIII: Penelope recognises Odysseus but waits to test him by asking him about their bed;
Telemachus rebukes her and Odysseus then rebukes him, giving him a job to distract him.
o She only acknowledges Odysseus after he has fallen into her trap.
Anne Amory: ‘Penelope’s recognition of Odysseus actually begins in Book XIX but this
is done intuitively rather than rationally.’
From this, we can see that recognition is very important in the Odyssey, as it brings about not only
emotional moments but also kleos and tension (and heavy irony!).
Richard Jenkyns: ‘a whole society, in all its ranks, welcomes Odysseus home through their
recognitions – slaves, herdsmen, wives, sons, and dogs.’
Tracy: ‘Recognition scenes are a thematic device to portray Odysseus as re-establishing himself in
Ithaca.’
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