Summary Book XVII

Book 17
In the morning of the thirty-eighth (or thirty-ninth) day, Telemachus returns to the palace and relates his adventures to Penelope. Odysseus heads for town with Eumaeus, patiently suffering the rudeness of his swineherd, Melanthius, on the way. Outside the palace, Odysseus' dog Argus recognizes him after twenty years and then dies. Odysseus begs among the suitors, but the haughty Antinous strikes him with a footstool. Even the suitors are appalled. Penelope summons the beggar for his story, but Odysseus puts off the encounter until evening.