Twenty years after leaving for the Trojan War, Odysseus fights his way home across a hostile sea only to find his kingdom overrun — and must return in disguise to reclaim his wife, his son, and his throne from the suitors laying siege to his house.

1. Scenes 1–9

   Ithaca frozen in a decade of waiting: Penelope weaving, the suitors feasting, Telemachus unheard.

2. Just before
3. Scene 10

   Telemachus trains at swordplay under blind Eumaeus's coaching, with the dying dog Argus at their feet, frustrated at his own lack of skill.

4. Scene 11

   Flashback: young, sighted Eumaeus is stopped by Odysseus from culling a runt puppy — the origin of Argus.

5. Scene 12

   Present: Eumaeus, remembering, feels the now-dying Argus's fur and confirms Odysseus's old instinct about the dog was right.

6. Scene 13

   This scene