e dog can see a ghost, hence
his unaccountable whine at times. The lower animals and even the
elements recognize the approaching deity by some unusual commotion. But
mark the contrast: the dogs ran in terror from the presence of the
Goddess; Ulysses, observing her, "went out of the house and stood
before her alongside the wall of the court." The rational man,
beholding, must commune with the deity present, and not run off like a
dog. If he does not see the Goddess, as in the case with Telemachus
here, he is simply outside of her influence.

Pallas gives to Ulysses the strong promise of help, reflecting his own
internal condition. She transforms him, he appears a new man, nay a God
to his son, "some divinity whose home is the broad heaven." Then the
recognition follows, with its various doubts and its emotional ups and
downs. "In the breasts of both rose the desire of tears; they wept
shrilly, and louder their screams than those of the eagle whose young
have been stolen from its nest." Lamentation is a trait of the Homeric
hero; in the present case it asserts its fullest right. But enough! let
us pass from heroic tears to heroic deeds.

(3) Next comes the general plan of action. What have we to encounter?
Telemachus gives a catalogue of the Suitors; they reach the surprising
number of 108 persons plus 10 attendants, including the bard and the
herald. We now begin to appreciate the greatness of the task. The
Ithacan people are helpless or hostile, the Suitors have friends and
relatives everywhere, yet they must be punished, they cannot be allowed
to escape. But the aid for such an enterprise--whence? asks Telemachus,
and also the reader. Listen to the answer of Ulysses: "I shall tell
thee, and thou bear it well in mind; think whether Pallas with her
father Zeus be not sufficient for us, or shall I look about for some
other defender?" Such a believer has the skeptic become; he now has
faith in the Gods, and in a World Order. It is also a lofty expression
of belief in his divine mission; the spirit of Eumaeus, which dwells in
that humble hut, has entered the heart of the hero. Such are the two
allies: Pallas, wisdom, and Zeus, fountain of the world's justice,
which had been deeply violated by the Suitors. Telemachus in response,
assents to his father's words, and acknowledges the supremacy of the
Gods. He also lays aside his doubt and shows himself in a spiritual
harmony with his father, which must be antecedent to the dee