Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

Irus (Arnaeus), a public beggar who runs errands for the suitors, tries to drive Odysseus from his own threshold. The suitors egging them on, Antinous sets a goat-paunch prize. Athena swells Odysseus’s limbs; he drops Irus with one blow to the neck and drags him to the courtyard gate, propping him with a staff and a warning to scare off dogs and beggars. The suitors laugh and gift Odysseus food; he warns Amphinomus that the master will soon return—Amphinomus troubled but not saved by the omen. The bout is comic rehearsal for the slaughter: the disguised king’s strength flashed, the suitors’ cruelty turned to sport, and a soft-hearted suitor already marked for doom.