Odysseus built his and his wife's bed and did so around an olive tree to symbolize the strength of their marriage.
With an olive tree
it was built around a tree.
Odysseus built his bed and his entire house around the trunk of an ancient tree. It was penelopies test of Odysseus' true idenity when she asked her servents to bring the bed to them
She did nothing. She just tested him with it. He had built the bed around a tree in their bedroom. No one knew about it but them.
1. (XXI.85-) When Penelope sets out the axes and challenges the suitors to archery, knowing only Odysseus will be able to shoot it. 2. (XXIII.197-202) Penelope commands Eurycleia to move the unmovable bed (that Odysseus himself built) so that Odysseus (before Penelope believes it to be him) will have sleeping accomodations. Odysseus then opposes that idea, claiming that the bed cannot be moved, convincing Penelope that it truly is Odysseus. Only Odysseus, Penelope, and Eurycleia know about the bed being unmovable.
it was built around a tree.
With an olive tree
Odysseus built his bed and his entire house around the trunk of an ancient tree. It was penelopies test of Odysseus' true idenity when she asked her servents to bring the bed to them
She did nothing. She just tested him with it. He had built the bed around a tree in their bedroom. No one knew about it but them.
her about their bed. Odysseus proves his identity by describing their bed, which he explains that he carved himself from an olive tree still rooted to the ground in their bedroom. This specific knowledge convinces his wife that it is truly Odysseus.
In Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey," the secret of Odysseus and Penelope's marriage bed is its immovability. Odysseus constructed their marriage bed around a living olive tree in their home, symbolizing their deep-rooted connection and fidelity. By revealing this secret, Odysseus proves his identity to Penelope, as only he would know this detail.
Because she wanted to test Odysseus to see if it was really him so she gave him little tests. By suggesting to move the bed, Penelope knows that only her and Odysseus kno that the bed is immovable sice he built it around a tree trunk in their bedroom (I think). She gave him is test to c If it really was odysseus since he is the only one that' know tht the bed cannot b moved
The bed was built around an olive tree, using the tree as the center post. Moving the bed would require uprooting the tree, or cutting it down.
Odysseus proves his identity to Penelope by recounting a secret about their bed that only he would know, as it was constructed by him and is immovable. This knowledge convinces Penelope that the man before her is truly her husband, Odysseus, and not an imposter.
1. (XXI.85-) When Penelope sets out the axes and challenges the suitors to archery, knowing only Odysseus will be able to shoot it. 2. (XXIII.197-202) Penelope commands Eurycleia to move the unmovable bed (that Odysseus himself built) so that Odysseus (before Penelope believes it to be him) will have sleeping accomodations. Odysseus then opposes that idea, claiming that the bed cannot be moved, convincing Penelope that it truly is Odysseus. Only Odysseus, Penelope, and Eurycleia know about the bed being unmovable.
Penelope asks Odysseus if he will arrange to have his bed moved out of their bedroom while she gets used to him being home. Odysseus replies that this is impossible because the bed is built around a tree which grows within and forms a fundamental part of the structure of the palace and so to move it would be impossible. Only Odysseus would have known this and so he passes Penelope's test.
Penelope tells Eurycleia to move the bed, Odysseus responds by saying that is impossible because he has made the bed around the Olive tree.