Odysseus’ return to himself

Charles Segal argues in his Singers, Heroes, and Gods in the Odyssey that Odysseus’ return to Ithaca is a return to himself. This works in several dimensions. Through the second half of the epic, various characters reconstruct the story of Odysseus’ life – the story of his naming and the origin of the scar are told in the famous scene where his nursemaid Eurycleia washes his feet; Penelope talks about the early married life with Odysseus; finally, he returns to his father, a return to the origin. Along the way, he is also restoring the network of relations that make him who he is – with his son, with Eumaeus the faithful swineherd, with Laertes his father, ultimately with Penelope. And his possessions are put back into his control – the bow and the house and the bed. Having been reduced to nothing, he is restored to everything, and is more the man for the loss and return.