In the morning Telemachus sets off for the city, telling Eumaeus to bring the beggar later so he can beg for food there. At the palace Eurycleia and Penelope greet him with tears. Penelope asks what he learned, but he tells her to bathe and pray, and goes to fetch Theoclymenus from Piraeus. After the guests bathe and eat, Telemachus tells his mother what Nestor and Menelaus said, including Proteus's report that Odysseus is alive but held by Calypso. Theoclymenus then makes a bold prophecy: Odysseus is already in Ithaca, learning of the evil deeds and planning revenge. Penelope wishes it were true.
Meanwhile Eumaeus and the disguised Odysseus walk toward the city. At a fountain they meet Melanthius, the goatherd, who is bringing goats for the suitors' feast. He insults them both, calling the beggar a disgusting pest who will be pelted with stools, and he kicks Odysseus in the hip. Odysseus considers striking him dead but restrains himself and endures the insult. Eumaeus prays for his master's return to punish Melanthius's arrogance.
When they reach the palace, they hear Phemius playing the lyre. Lying on a heap of dung outside the gates is an old dog named Argos. Odysseus raised him as a puppy before leaving for Troy, but never got to hunt with him. Now the dog is neglected, covered with fleas, and too weak to move. When he sees Odysseus, he recognizes his master at once, lowers his ears, and wags his tail, but he cannot come to him. Odysseus secretly wipes away a tear and asks Eumaeus about the dog. The swineherd says that the dog was once the fastest hound around, but servants neglect him now that his master is gone. As Odysseus enters the hall, Argos dies, having seen his master again after twenty years.
Inside, Telemachus sends the beggar bread and meat and tells him to go around asking each suitor for food. Athena urges Odysseus to do this so that he can learn which suitors are decent and which are lawless, though she intends none of them to escape. Most give him something, but Antinous scolds Eumaeus for bringing another beggar to spoil their meal. When Odysseus asks Antinous for food, telling him another false story about being captured in Egypt and sold in Cyprus, Antinous grows angry and hurls a footstool at him, striking him in the back. Odysseus stands firm as a rock and prays that Antinous will die before his wedding. Even the other suitors are shocked, warning Antinous that gods sometimes disguise themselves as strangers to test the behavior of men. Telemachus is furious but holds back his tears.
Penelope hears of the incident and condemns Antinous. She asks Eumaeus to bring the stranger to her, hoping he has news of her husband. Eumaeus describes how the beggar charmed him for three days with his stories, and how he claims to have heard that Odysseus is alive and nearby in Thesprotia. Penelope declares that if Odysseus came home, he and his son would soon punish the suitors, and at that moment Telemachus sneezes loudly — a good omen, she laughs. But Odysseus asks to meet her after sunset, when the suitors have gone, since he fears their violence. Penelope praises his good sense. Eumaeus goes back to his pigs, and the suitors continue feasting, dancing, and singing late into the evening.
