What happens in Book XX of The Odyssey?
Ulysses is lying awake in the cloister on a bullock's hide topped with sheepskins, consumed by thoughts of how to eliminate the suitors. When women who have been with the suitors leave the house laughing, his anger flares, and he contemplates killing them right then and there. However, he holds back, reminding himself of the hardships he endured with the Cyclops. Minerva takes the form of a woman and reassures him of her protection, even against a multitude of men, before gently closing his eyes and returning to Olympus.
Penelope awakens in tears and prays to Diana, wishing for death or a way to escape like the daughters of Pandareus during the storm. She recounts a dream where Ulysses was lying beside her. At dawn, Ulysses prays to Jove for a sign. Jove responds with a thunderclap from a clear sky, while a frail miller-woman continues grinding grain, praying aloud that this will be the suitors' last meal. Ulysses feels joy at these two signs.
Telemachus gets up and questions Euryclea about how the stranger is being treated; she defends Penelope's hospitality. The maids prepare the house for the feast day. Eumaeus arrives with three pigs, Melanthius brings goats along with insults aimed at Ulysses, and Philoetius comes with a heifer and goats. Philoetius is kind to Ulysses, saying he reminds him of his master. Ulysses swears that he will return and take vengeance on the suitors, and both Philoetius and Eumaeus pledge their loyalty.
The suitors contemplate murdering Telemachus but drop the idea when an eagle carrying a dove flies past on their left. They proceed to dinner. Telemachus seats Ulysses in the stone-paved cloister and warns the suitors not to mistreat him. Ctesippus throws an ox’s foot at Ulysses, who manages to dodge it. Telemachus sharply reprimands Ctesippus. Agelaus suggests that Penelope should remarry, to which Telemachus responds that he will support his mother in her choice but won’t force her to leave. Minerva causes the suitors to laugh uncontrollably; their food becomes smeared with blood, tears fill their eyes, and Theoclymenus sees a vision of darkness, ghosts, and blood, prophesying doom before he leaves. The suitors mock both strangers, but Telemachus silently observes his father, waiting for the moment to strike.
Analysis
This chapter creates tension by alternating between scenes of private suffering and public confrontation, leading inevitably to the impending violence. It begins with a detailed psychological portrait of Ulysses, who lies awake, his internal struggle illustrated through striking animal imagery: his heart "growled within him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and shows her teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with anger." The simile likening him to "one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front of a hot fire" emphasizes the visceral, physical aspect of his restless scheming.
Penelope's night scene reflects Ulysses' insomnia, creating dramatic irony as the couple endures separate sufferings under the same roof. Her prayer to Diana lays bare her despair through mythological reference, calling upon the daughters of Pandareus, who were whisked away by storm winds—a desire for escape through destruction rather than remarriage.
The chapter presents a framework of signs and countersigns: Jove's thunder and the miller-woman's prayer respond to Ulysses' call for omens, while the eagle with the dove foreshadows the suitors' failed murder plot. The introduction of the three herdsmen—Eumaeus, Melanthius, and Philoetius—establishes the divide between loyal and disloyal servants.
The tone darkens sharply when Minerva instigates unnatural laughter and Theoclymenus shares his apocalyptic vision. The grotesque transformation of the feast—meat smeared with blood, walls dripping, ghosts filling the courtyard—shifts the mood from realism to nightmare, even as the suitors remain oblivious. The chapter concludes with Penelope as the observer and Telemachus as the vigilant conspirator, setting the stage for the impending slaughter.
Key quotes from Book XX
““Heart, be still, you had worse than this to bear on the day when the terrible Cyclops ate your brave companions; yet you bore it in silence till your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made sure of being killed.””
Ulysses addresses his own heart when it growls with anger at the disloyal women, reminding himself of past endurance.
“There is a shroud of darkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping down into the night of hell”
Theoclymenus describes his prophetic vision of doom to the suitors during the feast.
“nothing can be conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a brave man were soon to lay before them—for they had brought their doom upon themselves.”
The narrator's closing observation about the supper that Minerva and Ulysses will provide for the suitors.
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