Eurycleia

• bk 1 - Homer says she is the daughter of Ops and granddaughter of Peisenor
• giving the patronymic and epithet 'faithful' - indication of standing about a common servant
• Laertes treated her with respect when he acquired her as a slave
• referred to as the nurse - though she clearly has no children to look after
• referring to her as a mere servant would diminish her importance in the household and in the narrative
• been the nurse of Odysseus
• put Telemachus on his grandfather's knee and told him to think of a name
• been the nurse of T and now his torchbearer
• gives her a perspective which goes beyond the 20 year absence
• loyal and affectionate
• first in the palace to see T on his return
• T calls on her to hide the women
• locks the doors of the hall
• brings the sulphur to cleanse the palace
• plain-speaking with her exchanges
• she alone can address Ody as 'my child'
• after the slaughter, she bossily tells him to put on some decent clothes
• Ody only allows her to wash his feet - 'great discretion'
• discretion treated straightaway when she recognises him
• joyful elation is quashed by a criticism
• audience warms to a well-meaning servant who never gets the praise she deserves
• foresees the importance of identifying the disloyal maids and offers to tell Ody who they are
• bk 22 - Ody rebukes her for triumphing over the dead
• told not to exult too soon when rushing to tell P