Book 20 - Signs and a Vision

I had loads of trouble sleeping that night, and by the amount of sounds she made, I am guessing Penelope did too. I worried that Telemachus and I would never be able to conquer so many suitors, but Athena reassured me that through the gods all things are possible. Tormented by the loss of her husband and her commitment to remarry, Penelope awoke and prayed for Artemis, her favorite goddess to kill her. Her distress woke me, which led to me asking for a good omen. It didn't really matter to me how many times Athena came and reassured me that I would win, people still have worries. People always need reassurance, but also have that little worrisome little Gemini cricket in their minds pondering the question, "What if something goes wrong?" Zeus responded with a clap of thunder, and, at once, a maid in an adjacent room was heard cursing the suitors. That was a sign to me, that the servants were also on my side. I thought of carrying out the plan right now, so that it may be easier to kill sleeping suitors. This however, would be an act of cowardice, something that I don't agree with. As the palace sprung to life the next day, Telemachus and I met, in succession, the swineherd Eumaeus, the foul Melanthius and Philoetius, a kindly and loyal herdsman who said that he had not yet given up hope of my return. The suitors entered, once again plotting Telemachus’s murder. Can you believe it? Idiotic, ungrateful filthy pieces of vermin, in my house, eating my food, courting my WIFE, and plotting the murder of MY SON in front of my very own eyes, and there's nothing that I could do about it!!!! Amphinomus convinced them to call it off, however, when a portent of doom appeared in the form of an eagle carrying a dove in its talons. He thought it was an omen that I would be back to avenge the death of my son. As if I wouldn't. Which sane man wouldn't avnege the death of their son? Idiots, I tell you, pure idiots! But Athena kept the suitors antagonistic all through dinner to prevent my anger from losing its edge. Ctesippus, a wealthy and arrogant suitor, threw a cow’s hoof at me, in response to which Telemachus threatened to run him through with his sword. The suitors laugh and laugh, failing to notice that they and the walls of the room are covered in blood and that their faces had assumed a foreign, ghostly look—all of which Theoclymenus interpreted as portents of inescapable doom. They never were aware of their deaths looming right in fromt of their faces. Stupid idiots! They'll know in the due course of time.