Signs and Omens Before the Storm — The Odyssey

Odysseus lies in the cloister on an undressed bullock's hide, with sheepskins the suitors have eaten, and a cloak Eurynome throws over him. He hears the women laughing on their way to the suitors' beds. He wants to kill them at once. He talks his heart down: it had worse than this the day the Cyclops ate the companions; it bore that in silence until cunning got him out of the cave. Athena comes, tells him his wife and son are safe, and sends him to sleep.

Penelope wakes before dawn, weeps, and prays to Diana for an arrow in the heart rather than another marriage. Odysseus prays to Zeus for two signs: one from a mouth inside the house, and one from outside. Thunder rolls from a clear sky. In the mill room a woman who is not as strong as the other eleven is still grinding. She hears the thunder and prays that this be the last day the suitors dine here. They have worn her out. Odysseus takes both as confirmation.

At breakfast Eumaeus and Philoetius greet the stranger as a man who looks as if he had been some great one. Melanthius mocks him. The suitors hatch another plot against Telemachus until an eagle flies on the left with a dove in its talons. Amphinomus says the plot will not succeed; they should go to dinner. At table Ctesippus of Same throws a heifer's foot from the meat-basket. Odysseus turns his head aside, smiling grimly. It hits the wall. Telemachus says if it had hit, he would have run Ctesippus through with the spear. Theoclymenus sees a shroud of darkness, walls dripping blood, and ghosts at the gate. The suitors laugh and drive him out. Telemachus sits watching his father. The supper that a goddess and a brave man are about to lay before them has not yet been served.