Editing Odyssey (section)

=== Books 16-20 ===
In Book 16, Telemachus reaches the swineherd's hut and finds him in conversation with an elderly stranger; the swineherd encourages them to go to the palace, but Telemachus is wary of the ambush, so Eumaeus goes to the palace on his own to inform Penelope of her son's return. While he's away Athena calls Odysseus outside; when he re-enters, his disguise is gone and Telemachus sees his father standing there. They embrace and weep, but quickly begin to plot the overthrow of Penelope's suitors. 

Before Eumaeus can inform Penelope, news from the ship's arrival reaches the whole court, and everyone knows that Telemachus is back. The suitors are upset that their ambush had been thwarted and assemble in the courtyard to plan their next strike. Antinous wants to put Telemachus to death, but '''Amphinomous''' is able to convince the others to wait until they see a sign from the gods on how to proceed. 

Book 17 has Telemachus leaving his father behind at the hut, and he returns to the palace where his mother and his nurse await him. While he tells his mother over dinner about the news he's gathered about Odysseus, he does not reveal that he's seen his father at home on Ithaca. Theoclymenus speaks up, and tells them that he is in fact on the island that very moment. Odysseus follows his son's footsteps, and is rudely treated (dressed as a beggar) by the suitors. Antinous insults him and Odysseus responds in kind; and the suitor hits him with a stool, an action that is too far even for the other suitors. Penelope hears about the cruelty and asks to have the beggar brought before her, but he doesn't go to her. 

Instead, in book 18 he engages in a boxing match with another beggar that earns him some respect from some of the suitors, who give him food. He warns one of them of upcoming danger and Odysseus' imminent return, after the man treats him with some hospitality; he still does not leave. Penelope appears before her suitors, at Athena's urging, and she embues her with exceptional beauty and charisma. She tells the suitors that each should present gifts to her; meanwhile, Athena inspires the suitors to make trouble with Odysseus, insulting and enraging him. Stools are thrown and a riot almost breaks out, but Telemachus steps up to intervene and calms tensions. 

In book 19, after the suitors go to bed for the evening, father and son gather up all the spare weapons from the palace and remove them; thereafter Penelope encounters Odysseus-in-disguise and begins to question him about her husband, whom she knows he claims to have encountered. He describes  himself with such vividity that she begins to cry; and he tells a story about how he met Odysseus, and that her husband will return to her within a month's time. The maid Eurycleia washes his feet and spots a scar that she remembers from her service to Odysseus, and she instantly knows it's him.  He swears her to secrecy. Penelope describes to Odysseus a dream wherein she sees an eagle kill twenty pet geese, and though Odysseus tells her it's a clear sign of her husband's imminent return, she says she will pick a new husband anyway - that the first man who can shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axes set in line will win her hand. 

Book 20 shows the two spouses both having difficulties with sleep; Odysseus is worried about being outnumbered but Athena reassures him. In the next room, Penelope cries out and prays for Artemis to kill her; this wakes Odysseus, who asks Zeus for an omen. He hears a thunderclap, and simultaneously a maid nearby complains about the interloping men in the compound. The next morning everyone gathers and antagonisms continue through dinner, when Ctesippus, a wealthy man, throws a cow's hoof at him. Telemachus threatens to stab him in retaliation and the other suitors laugh. They don't notice that they're covered in blood, as are the walls of the room - they look ghostly, which Theoclymenus interprets as a clear sign of inevitable doom.