Odysseus has disguised himself as an old beggar with nothing but a dagger to protect him. He sits in the palace's courtyard under an olive tree, watching the suitors disrespect his home and his family. He's been away for twenty years and had changed a lot. He hides his body with large cloaks.

Odysseus has a wooden bowl that he holds out any time a suitor passes by. Of course they ignore him or call him names. Antinous notices him sitting there and decides to speak up.