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Book 19
I noticed his glossy tunic too, clinging to his skin
like the thin glistening skin of a dried onion,
silky, soft, the glint of the sun itself.
In Book 19, Odysseus, still in disguise, assures his wife Penelope that he has seen Odysseus. To prove it, he describes the tunic Odysseus was wearing. This has the dual effect of confirming for Penelope that Odysseus is indeed alive and complimenting her handiwork, as the tunic would have been of her design. Read more about this quote in Quotes by Theme: The Power of Cunning over Strength.
Just as I
have come from afar, creating pain for many—
men and women across the good green earth—
so let his name be Odysseus . . .
the Son of Pain, a name he’ll earn in full.
In Book 19, the narrator explains the meaning behind Odysseus’s name, quoting his grandfather Autolycus. It means “Son of Pain,” suggesting that pain will always be part of Odysseus’s life, and indeed, as we’ve seen throughout The Odyssey, it has been. Read more about this quote in Famous Quotes Explained.
Book 20
So he vowed
and Athena set off uncontrollable laughter in the suitors,
crazed them out of their minds—mad, hysterical laughter
seemed to break from the jaws of strangers, not their own,
and the meat they were eating oozed red with blood—
tears flooded their eyes, hearts possessed by grief.
As Telemachus vows in Book 20 neither to stand in Penelope’s way as she chooses a new suitor nor drive her from the house so he can have it for himself, Athena forces the suitors into a frenzy. They erupt in laughter, though their hearts are “possessed by grief”—signaling that their actions, like their fates, are out of their control, and their deaths are fast approaching.
