n (as in
other tales) and the oracle of Dodona. He almost lets the secret out:
"He is alive and will soon be here; not far off is he now, I swear it."
Not much further could disguise be carried. Still Penelope remains
skeptical: "I must think he will not come home." Her hard lot, however,
has not hardened her heart, but softened it rather; she reveals her
native character in the words here spoken (Bryant's Translation):--

Short is the life of man, and whoso bears
A cruel heart, devising cruel things,
On him men call down evil from the gods
While living, and pursue him when he dies,
With scoffs. But whoso is of generous heart,
And harbors generous aims, his guests proclaim
His praises far and wide to all mankind,
And numberless are they who call him good.

3. Having been brought so near to a discovery, we next come to an
actual discovery by the nurse Eurycleia. She is commanded by Penelope
to bathe the beggar's feet, which she does with no little sympathy and
lamentation. The character of the nurse is in a certain sense the echo
of that of Penelope, the echo in emotion, and in fidelity, if not in
intelligence. She gives way to her feelings, she recalls the image of
Ulysses, whom she nursed, and addresses him as present. She beholds in
the stranger the resemblance at the start. "I have never yet seen any
one so like Ulysses as thou art in body, voice and feet." We now
observe that Ulysses really selects Eurycleia, "a certain old woman,
discreet, who has endured as much as I have: she may touch my feet"
(line 346). He sought for some confidant among the servants, one who
might be needed for important duties before and during the fight;
Eurycleia is chosen, since Ulysses knew that she would discover the
scar on his foot and thus recognize him. All of which takes place,
Ulysses exacts secrecy, and she replies, giving a hint of her character
as well as the reason why she was chosen: "Thou knowest my firmness, I
shall hold like the solid rock or iron."

There is a long narrative pertaining to the manner in which Ulysses
received the wound which caused the scar. Much fault has been found
with this story for various reasons, but it gives a certain relief as
well as epical fullness to the movement of the Book. It is, however,
one of those passages which may have been interpolated--or may not, and
just there the argument stands. It traces the character of Ulysses back
to his grandfather Antoly