8 The challenge

Chapter 8 The challenge When they arrived at the palace, Odysseus found things were just as Athena had said. The great hall of the palace was full of men lazing around and eating and drinking, ordering his servants to bring them the finest things in the kitchen. Odysseus had to restrain himself from killing them all instantly.

Then he saw her: Penelope, his beloved wife. Wrinkles marked the corners of her eyes, but he thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He was bursting to kiss her, but he thought, "Steady, Odysseus. You have to get rid of these suitors before you can claim your wife again." Penelope saw him- or rather, she saw a ragged old beggar. She called for her maid to take care of him. "Welcome, stranger. Please, rest a while." She looked around at the suitors with a wry smile. "Everyone else is making themselves at home, after all."

Odysseus followed the old maid upstairs, where she prepared a bowl of hot water to bathe his feet. As she did so, he realized he knew her- she was the maid who had taken care of him when he was a baby. "There, that's better," she said, gently rubbing his feet and legs. All of a sudden, she stopped. "That scar on your knee looks awfully familiar. My master has one just like it..."

"Master?" she gasped. She put a hand up to his face and stroked it gently. "How..?" Odysseus grinned and put a finger to his lips. "Shh! Everything will be revealed in time. Don't ruin my surprise!" When Odysseus went downstairs, he saw Penelope walk into the middle of the great hall carrying a huge wooden bow. Behind her, servants came, carrying a number of axes. They set them up in a line. "I have decided," said Penelope. "It's been long enough. I think Odysseus must be dead... so I will now marry whoever can string my husband's old bow and shoot an arrow through the line of axes. All the suitors rushed forward, each one convinced that he would be able to do it easily. Each one tried. Each one failed. "Let me try," said Odysseus, at last. The suitors yelled insults, but Penelope hushed them and Odysseus took the bow. He bent it, strung it, and fired an arrow, in the time it takes to blink.

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As the arrow sailed through each one of the axes, everyone in the room gasped. "Who ARE you?" said Penelope. "There's something familiar about you." Odysseus took her hand and kissed it, then turned to address the whole room. "I am King Odysseus!" he said. "And I'm here to claim my kingdom!" The suitors roared in confusion and anger. Odysseus strung his bow once more and fired it into the crowd of suitors.