vation her fidelity. Her womanly
instincts are still intact, in spite of the dissolute surroundings.
Ulysses discovers that he is not to meet with the fate of Agamemnon on
his return home.

From the preceding Book, which was occupied with the external conflicts
in the palace, we move in the present Book more and more to the heart
of the business, which is the union in the hearts of husband and wife.
The oneness of the Family after long separation of its two members is
the ethical theme, showing that such union is eternal, as far as the
eternal can be shown in Time. Two divisions we shall mark: Ulysses and
his son Telemachus first, then Ulysses and his wife Penelope.

I. The two men, father and son, are seen preparing for the conflict
which is drawing on--just that being the duty of men. The weapons which
were hanging on the walls of the banqueting-room are removed in the
absence of the Suitors and of the servants. Also a pretext is framed
for their removal. Moreover "Pallas, holding before them her golden
lamp, made very beautiful light." Certainly the Goddess was there, the
scene shows her in every part; "Such is the wont of the Olympians,"
says Ulysses; divine illumination descends upon a work of this kind.

II. But by far the longest portion of the Book is devoted to the
interview between Ulysses and Penelope. Telemachus goes off to his
chamber to rest for the night; Ulysses is now received by his wife at
the hearth. The various turns of this lengthy account we shall throw
into four divisions.

1. By way of introduction, the faithless handmaid Melantho again shows
her character in a harsh speech to Ulysses, "Get out, you beggar! Will
you still keep sneaking through the house by night to spy out women?"
So she reveals plainly what she is, and even mentions the test which
she cannot stand. Ulysses in his reply enforces charity: "I was once
rich, but I gave the poor wanderer alms." Beware of the day of
reckoning: such is his repeated warning to all these people.

Penelope also gives a sharp reproof to the shameless handmaid, and
intimates the fate impending: "Thou hast done a deed which thy head
shall atone for." It is again to be noted that the guilty are the
inhuman, while the faithful have charity. Penelope specially shows this
trait in the present Book, though her threat to Melantho is not gentle.
Quite as Ulysses served Irus, Penelope is ready to serve Melantho; both
can become uncharitable toward the uncharit