Father and Son Reunited — The Odyssey

At dawn Odysseus and Eumaeus were getting breakfast in the hut when Telemachus arrived. The dogs fawned on him instead of barking. Eumaeus wept with joy and embraced his young master like a father welcoming a son home from war.

Telemachus asked about Penelope and learned she still grieved in the palace. He did not know the ragged stranger was his father. Odysseus, still disguised, tested him by asking why he tolerated the suitors. Telemachus explained that over a hundred men from nearby islands were eating up his estate, and he sent Eumaeus secretly to tell Penelope he had returned safely.

Athena appeared outside the hut, visible only to Odysseus, and told him it was time to reveal himself to his son. She restored his true appearance. Telemachus thought he was looking at a god until Odysseus said he was his father. They embraced and wept. Then Odysseus told how the Phaeacians brought him home and began planning revenge with Telemachus, who counted more than one hundred suitors and said they would need allies.

Odysseus told Telemachus to go back to the palace, endure insults when he returned as a beggar, and watch for a nod that would signal him to hide the house weapons from the suitors. Eumaeus went to town and told Penelope the news in private. The suitors learned Telemachus had escaped their ambush and debated killing him, but Amphinomus argued against murder. Penelope confronted them in the hall. That evening Eumaeus returned to the hut, and Athena changed Odysseus back into an old beggar so the secret would not spread.