What is the secret test Penelope gives Odysseus?

Penelope tests Odysseus by asking Eurycleia to move the bed to see if Odysseus knows the secret of the bed's construction.

What test did Penelope give Odysseus?

Penelope has not seen her husband for many years. When Odysseus returns, Penelope doesn't recognize him and cannot be sure that Odysseus is really who he says he is. She tests Odysseus by ordering her servant Eurycleia to move their marriage bed.

What is the secret between Penelope and Odysseus?

The nuptial bed had been carved by him a long time ago from the gigantic trunk of an olive tree. The roots still run into the soil, the bed cannot be moved, the whole palace has been built around that unmovable bed. Only Odysseus and Penelope know this very private secret of their bedroom.

Why does Penelope test Odysseus in The Odyssey?

Penelope wants to be certain that her husband has really returned before she welcomes him back into their home. Second, she wants to see if he is still worthy of being her husband. In her test, he has to match her wits, proving he is still capable of holding his own against his wife.

What is the test that Penelope had for her suitors?

She would marry whoever could string Odysseus's bow and fire it through 12 axes. The bow once belonged to the archer Eurytus, grandson of Apollo, and no one, she hoped, could wield it. One by one the suitors tried their hand, but none could even string the bow let alone shoot an arrow with it through the axes.

Odysseus

How does Penelope test Odysseus in Book 19?

She knows that he has claimed to have met Odysseus, and she tests his honesty by asking him to describe her husband. Odysseus describes the Greek hero—himself, capturing each detail so perfectly that it reduces Penelope to tears. He then tells the story of how he met Odysseus and eventually came to Ithaca.

Why does Penelope test Odysseus with the marriage bed?

When Odysseus reveals himself to Penelope, she needs to be certain of his identity, so she tests him by making this statement about moving the bed they shared, which her true husband would know is an impossible thing to do. Penelope's use of the wedding bed for a test symbolizes her cunning.

What is the purpose of Penelope's test?

The purpose of Penelope's test is to prove if this man is really Odysseus, her husband. Eurynome, a housekeeper for Penelope, bathes and clothes Odysseus.

Why might Penelope have given this test?

what is "the test of the bow" and why might penelope have given it? the test of the bow is where penelope has her suitors string and successfully shoot the bow through 12 hoops. she knows that only odysseus is capable of doing it & it would be a miracle if anyone else could.

Why does Penelope feel the need to test Odysseus even though he has abandoned his disguise?

Why does Penelope feel the need to test Odysseus even though he has abandoned his disguise? Because she wants to make sure it wasn't a prank the gods were playing on her and she couldn't trust the men.

Does Odysseus cheat on Penelope with Calypso?

After that Odysseus traveled to Calypso's island. Not only did he cheat with Calypso in addition to Circe, but he stayed on her island for seven years until Zeus ordered her to release him.

Did Penelope and Odysseus have a child?

Penelope, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Icarius of Sparta and the nymph Periboea and wife of the hero Odysseus. They had one son, Telemachus.

Who betrayed Penelope in the Odyssey?

Melantho is not a well-known character in the poem. She is Penelope's maid and the sister of Melanthius in Odyssey. In the poem, Melantho betrays Penelope. She appears to be more loyal to the suitors.

What book is Penelope's test?

Odysseus' Bed

Penelope uses it to test if Odysseus is who he claims to be.

What is test of the bow and how will Penelope reward the winner?

His wife Penelope devises a contest where the suitors must string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axe handles. Whoever wins the contest will be allowed to marry her.

How does Penelope test the beggar what is the result?

She tests his honesty by asking him to describe her husband. Odysseus describes the Greek hero. What is the result of the beggar's perfect description of Odysseus? He captures each detail so perfectly that it reduces Penelope to tears.

What test has Penelope devised to choose a new husband why does she choose this particular task?

The test of the bow is Penelope's test for the suitors. She claims that she will marry the man who can complete this test because he will be much like Odysseus. The man who completes this will be able to string Odysseus' bow.

How does Odysseus prove his true identity?

He proves his identity with the scar and with his memories of the fruit trees that Laertes gave him when he was a little boy. He tells Laertes how he has avenged himself upon the suitors.

What is Penelope's plea?

She pleads with him not to take to the open sea as his father did, but he puts her fears to rest by saying that he knows that a god is at his side.

What is Penelope's final test to prove her husband's identity?

To assure herself of Odysseus' identity, Penelope tests him. As he listens, she asks Eurycleia to move the bedstead out of the couple's chamber and spread it with blankets. The king himself had carved the bed as a young man, shaping it out of a living olive tree that grew in the courtyard of the palace.

What was the secret of their marriage bed?

Odysseus himself had shaped the corner post of that bed from the trunk of a living olive tree, around which they built their home. Only he would know that the bed cannot be moved—unless a tree be severed. Reacting with dismay to Penelope's command to move the bed, Odysseus passes the test, showing his identity.

Did Penelope sleep with the suitors?

In some versions, Penelope slept with either Apollo, Hermes, or all of the suitors who came to court her in Odysseus' absence. From this union, she gave birth to Pan, a half-goat woodland deity. In other versions, Penelope only slept with one of the suitors.

What trick does Penelope play on the suitors in Book 18?

Many suitors had come to woo "the widow". She put them off with a ruse, persuading them to wait until she had finished a funeral shroud for Laertes, Odysseus's father, which she wove by day and secretly unravelled by night. In this way she managed to deceive them for three years.

What test does Penelope give Odysseus when he returns to make sure he is indeed her husband?

Pressed by the suitors to choose a husband from among them, Penelope says she will marry the man who can string Odysseus' bow and shoot an arrow through twelve ax handle sockets.

What did Penelope do after Odysseus died?

After Odysseus' death at the hands of his son Telegonus (by the sorceress Circe), Penelope married Telegonus.