Who Is The Beggar In The Odyssey

It is hinted at many times before the unveiling of the Odysseus’s identity to all the Penelope had already realized that the beggar was Odysseus. There are many points in the book that can be used to show Penelope knew, but she begins to realize that the beggar is Odysseus in book 19 after the first interview of Odysseus where she says “You may have been pitied befor Stranger, But now you will be loved and honored Here in my halls.” Then, when the beggar tells her that Odysseus is still alive and is journeying home this solidified what she may have been wondering before.

After meeting the beggar, Penelope decides the she wants the beggar to sit “side by side” with Telemachus. Having your son sit side by side with a beggar is an odd thing to do, unless said beggar just so happens to be your son’s father in disguise.

Penelope never asks for the beggar’s age, but she somehow knows he is the same age as Odysseus.

It’s possible that the beggar just looked like he could be Odysseus’s age. However, Odysseus had gone through many stressful trials and probably looked a lot older than he would have had he made it to Ithaca right after Troy. Penelope seems to consider this saying “men age quickly when life is hard.” Even so Penelope had to have had at least a very strong hunch at this point that the beggar was Odysseus. Saying “wash the feet of this man who is your master’s age” might have been her way of telling Odysseus that she knew it was