So I called a council meeting yesterday. At the beginning, Aegyptius, a wise Ithacan elder, spoke first. He praised me for stepping into my father’s shoes, noting that this occasion marks the first time that the assembly has been called since father had left us to join King Menelaus and King Agamemnon to defeat the Trojans. I gave a speech through which I tried the suitors to back down and step away from my house, if they feared the gods. I lamented the loss of both my father and his home. I told them that they were stinking Id satisfiers that were simply evidence that the idea of Legalism in the Chinese philosophy is true. They were people who were naturally born evil. All they wanted to do was screw mother and just let her be their little sex toy. People are just wanting to satisfy their Ids. These men are naturally evil and their lust for mother is evidence enough to prove this. I told them that I was sick and tired of them consuming father’s oxen and sheep as they continue their courting day in and day out when any decent man would simply go to the father of my mother, Icarius, and ask him for her hand in marriage. Antinous blamed everything on mother, who, he says, seduces every suitor but will commit to none. She is smart in doing so, but this is destroying the livestock count of my father. Antinous reminded the suitors of a trick she pulled off on the suitors: mother said that she would choose a husband as soon as she finished weaving a burial shroud for her elderly father-in-law, Laertes. But each night, she carefully undid the knitting that she had completed during the day, so that the shroud would never be finished. Above is an example of what she wanted to knit. If mother can make no decision, Antinous declares, then she should be sent back to her father, Icarius so that he can choose a new husband for her. How dare he have such nerve to say this infront of all of the elders. The elders, themselves are such cowards that none stopped Antinous and declare how big of an imbecile he is to say this to begin with. I refused to throw mother out and called upon the gods to punish the suitors. At that moment, a pair of eagles, locked in combat, appeared overhead. The soothsayer Halitherses interprets their struggle as a sign of father’s imminent return. He signaled that the eagles were Poseidon and father who are locked in battle. Father is determined to return home while Poseidon is determined to keep him as far away from here as possible. Halitherses warned the suitors that they will face a massacre if they don’t leave. The suitors balked at such foolishness, and the meeting ended in deadlock. As I prepared for my trip to Pylos and Sparta, Athena visited me again, this time disguised as Mentor, another old friend of father's. Atleast I think it was Athena. It would give me great heart to find out that a god was right next to me and is guiding me to find my father. It would be Poseidon versus Athena. She encouraged me and predicted that my journey will be fruitful. She then left for town to find a crew for my ship. She told me to tell no one. I told none of the household servants about my trip for fear that they will tell mother, which will upset her greatly. I told Eurycleia, my favorite nurse. I didn't tell her directly, but I told her to pack a few things. She began to plead with me not to take to the open sea as father did, but I put her fears to rest by saying that I knew that a god is at my side. I knew that Athena wouldn't let me down.
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