“I have returned to you, dear Penelope,” he said, “I am Odysseus.”
She did not smile, she did not rush to him. She sat down and looked at him, wondering. For a moment she would recognize him, and then not. Finally, Odysseus became angry. “Why don’t you come to me!”
“It has been so long,” she said. “I am not yet sure. For tonight, I will have the servants move the bed Odysseus made for us out into the hallway, where you may sleep.”
“My bed!” cried Odysseus, “in the hallway! That is not possible. I carved one of its posts from a living tree, around which I built that room!”
“Yes!” laughed Penelope, rushing to him. For she had tricked Odysseus into revealing a secret only he himself could know!
They were delighted, and they talked away the long night, telling each other their stories, happy to be together once more.
In the morning, Odysseus set out to find his father and tell him of his return. Laertes, who had grieved for his son and then for his wife, Antikleia, who had long since died of heartbreak for Odysseus, was overjoyed.
Odysseus had regained his kingdom, his son, his wife, and his father, thus ending his odyssey.
Favorite Greek Myths Page 7
