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On the last day Odysseus (Ulysses) spent with the Phaeacians, Alcinous sacrificed an ox in honour of Zeus. The hero thanked them for their hospitality and presents, and all feasted. When night fell, he greeted queen Arete one last time, then reached the boat and settled into the couch prepared for him. A sweet sleep “just like the peace of death” took hold of him as the power of the oars moved the boat away; the hawk, the fastest bird, could not have followed the boat.
When the queen of the stars announcing the Dawn appeared, the boat approached Ithaca. The Old Man of the Sea, Phorcys, had on Ithaca one of his harbours whose entrance was protected by the peaks of two steep cliffs facing each other. Inside the harbour, the waters were always absolutely calm, and at the end was an olive tree. The dark, holy cave of the nymphs called Naiads was nearby, filled with looms on which they weaved wonderful fabrics painted in sea purple and stone amphorae where the bees deposited their honey. The cave had two entrances: the one that opened to the north (Boreas) was where the men entered, while the one that opened at noon (Notus) was reserved for the gods.
The boat entered the harbour and the Phaeacians laid Odysseus (Ulysses) still asleep on the sand and the presents at the foot of the olive tree.
Poseidon, who had not finished satisfying his vengeance (due to the blindness of his son Polyphemus), came to take the advice of his brother Zeus. Unable then to attack Odysseus (Ulysses) whom “he always refrained from depriving him of the return that Zeus had promised him”, he offered to smash the boat of the Phaeacians, although a people of his race, so that they would leave the smuggler’s trade, and to hide their city with a mountain that would encircle it. Zeus nodded, but preferred that the boat be only turned into a rock which was to retain the shape of the boat, and be stuck at the bottom of the waters, at the outskirts of the city of the Phaeacians. It would be “for the humans a source of astonishment”. Poseidon did as he wished.
The Phaeacians wondered about this prodigy, but Alcinous told them of an ancient prophecy heralding this event. He ordered them to relinquish their function as smugglers and sacrifice twelve bulls to Poseidon so that he would abandon his plan to hide their city behind a mountain.
Odysseus (Ulysses) awoke on his native land but did not recognize it because he had been far from it for a long time. Athena surrounded him with a cloud “so that he could learn everything from her” and that no one would recognize him: neither his wife, nor his friends, nor his people were to know of his return until he had punished the suitors.
The goddess came to him in the guise of a young shepherd, who, questioned by Odysseus (Ulysses), praised Ithaca, this well-watered goat island, rich in grain, wine, oxen and wood of all species, which many people know, either living in the regions of the Dawn and Sun, or inhabiting lands on the opposite side, in the darkness.
Then the hero invented a story to explain his presence, but Athena made herself known. She asked the hero to stop cheating with her and told him that he “should go through everything without ever revealing himself.” Odysseus (Ulysses), in turn, reproached her of taking on various appearances that prevented him from recognizing her and having abandoned him after the rampage of Troy until his arrival in Phaeacia. Still doubting, he asked her to confirm that this was indeed his homeland. Athena reprimanded him for his lack of trust. She gave news of Penelope and told him that she had never doubted his return after the loss of the last of his men. On the other hand, she admitted that she did not want to oppose Poseidon who accused Odysseus (Ulysses) of blinding his beloved son Polyphemus. She described the harbour of Phorcys, the olive tree, the den of the Naiads and Mount Neritus covered with forest. Then she dispelled the cloud.
Odysseus (Ulysses) greeted the Nymphs and offered them his prayers. At Athena’s injunction, he deposited his riches in the cave which the goddess stored before closing the entrance with a heavy stone.
While both went under the sacred olive tree, the goddess incited the hero to take revenge on the suitors, assuring him of her support and presence in the action. She explained that Penelope was just waiting for his return but had no choice but to let the suitors remain with their hope.
Then she told him that after she had transformed him into a hideous beggar, he should go to his pig keeper Eumaeus who remained faithful to him and cherished Penelope and Telemachus. Odysseus (Ulysses) would find him with his pigs near the Raven’s rock, at the spring Arethusa. There he had to wait while she takes care of the return of Telemachus who went to Menelaus to inquire about his father.
As Odysseus (Ulysses) was surprised that she let his son incur grave dangers, the goddess replied that she had led him so that he would gain great fame. She mentioned the ambush being prepared, but guaranteed that she was watching over him.
Then she touched the hero with her wand: his skin withered and became that of an old man, his skull turned bald, his gaze dull and he found himself dressed in rags and covered with the threadbare skin of a deer.
Before tackling the interpretation of this Book, one can legitimately ask why the seeker must endure so many trials just to return to the same place (why Odysseus (Ulysses) “endures” so much to return to his kingdom from where he left twenty years before): in fact, he reaches a new position of consciousness where nothing has changed, but everything is different. This explains why Odysseus (Ulysses) does not recognize the place where he was born. Put another way, everything has always been there, only the vision changed, linked to a different position of consciousness.
Mother explains in the Agenda that human consciousness is normally fixed at one point and the world is perceived from this point, but for her, there is no