Eurycleia- Greek FigureMortal"Nurse of Odysseus"

Origins and Service

Eurycleia was bought by Laertes for the price of twenty oxen as a young woman and honored equally with his wife Anticleia in the household. She nursed the infant Odysseus and placed the newborn on the knees of his grandfather Autolycus, asking the old thief to name the child. Autolycus chose Odysseus — "man of wrath" — a name that proved prophetic. When the boy grew up and visited Parnassus, a wild boar gored his thigh during a hunt, leaving a scar that Eurycleia would recognize decades later. She nursed Telemachus after him, serving two generations of the same house.

The Foot-Washing and Recognition

When Odysseus returned to Ithaca disguised as an aged beggar, Penelope instructed the old nurse to wash the stranger's feet as a gesture of hospitality. As Eurycleia lifted his leg to the basin, her fingers found the old boar-tusk scar on his thigh. She recognized it instantly — she had known this scar since Odysseus's youth.

In her shock, Eurycleia let the leg drop into the basin, spilling the water, and turned to Penelope with joy to reveal the truth. But Odysseus seized her by the throat and commanded her silence, warning that he would not spare even her if she betrayed him. Athena at that moment turned Penelope's attention away so that she noticed nothing. Eurycleia swore to keep the secret.

After the Slaughter

When Odysseus called for Eurycleia after killing the suitors, she came to the hall and nearly raised a cry of triumph at the sight of the dead. Odysseus restrained her — it was impious to exult over the slain. He then asked her to name the maidservants who had been disloyal during the long absence, those who had consorted with the suitors and disrespected Penelope. Eurycleia named twelve of the fifty household women. It was she who climbed to Penelope's chamber to deliver the news that Odysseus had returned and the suitors were dead.