Penelope brings Odysseus' bow to the suitors and tells them that she will marry the suitor who can string the bow and shoot it through the line of 12 axes. Telemachus sets up the axes and tries the bow, but he cannot string it. Despite the suitors' efforts to string the bow, none can do it.
While the suitors are trying to string the bow, Odysseus reveals himself to Eumaeus and Philoetius through the scar on his foot. He tells them that he will treat them as Telemachus' brothers if they remain on his side against the suitors. They both agree.
Odysseus returns to find Eurymachus struggling to string the bow. Eurymachus is frustrated, because his inability to string the bow makes him inferior to Odysseus. Antinous suggests that they stop for the day to.....
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