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.
When he successfully describes, in great detail, their marital bed as only penelope and odysseus had ever been in their bedroom so no-one else knew what the bed looked like.
Odysseus' wife was Penelope, daughter of Icarius and Periboea.
No, Penelope does not recognize that the beggar is Odysseus.
Odysseus left Penelope bound for Troy.
Penelope tells Eurycleia to move the bed, Odysseus responds by saying that is impossible because he has made the bed around the Olive tree.
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.
The "marriage" bed or more formally known as the "bridal" bed, was the bed that Odysseus made with his bare hands, and he carved it into a tree that was growing through his house. Odysseus had taken years to build the bed, and it was a gift to Penelope, as a symbol of his love for her. When Penelope tells him the bed had been moved, he gets upset (which only Odysseus would do, because only he and Penelope even knew about the bed.) and this proves to Penelope that he really is Odysseus. The marriage bed/bridal bed was very sacred to Odysseus and Penelope, and only the two of them knew about it. There was a tree that was growing through a small room in their house, so Odysseus built a beautiful bed (bridal bed) he carved into it flowers, and ivory, and built it all by his self and with his bare hands. Odysseus initially built his entire house around this tree, and when Penelope states that she moved the bed, meaning she cut it out of the tree, it infuriates Odysseus (which Penelope knew it would) and then she knows that it really is him. But the basic point of the bed is that only he and Penelope knew about it, so it was used as a test.
Penelope knows that only Odysseus knows that their bed is unmovable because one of the posts is a living tree. She was testing if it was the real Odysseus and not a fake
Penelope tests Odysseus by asking him about their bed, which only the true Odysseus would know was built inside a living olive tree. This test confirms his identity to Penelope and proves that he is her husband returned after a long absence.
Penelope tells Anticlea to move her and Odysseus' bed to a guest room, knowing full well that the bed cannot be moved without damaging it severely.
Odysseus convinces Penelope that he is her husband by revealing the secret detail of their bed, that he alone knows. This detail is that their bed was constructed by Odysseus himself and cannot be moved as one of its legs is made from a living olive tree. This intimate knowledge proves to Penelope that it is indeed her husband Odysseus returned to her.
Penelope was talking to Odysseus and told her maid to move Odysseus' bed so this beggar (odysseus) could stay the night. (Odysseus' bed was made from an oak tree and would be almost impossible to move.) Therefore, Odysseus got really mad and thought she was living with another man who was very strong and could move it. Penelope then knew for sure that this was Odysseus.
First, Odysseus told Penelope that he is Odysseus. But Penelope wanted to make sure that it was the real Odysseus and not one of the suitors. So she gave him a challenge. ANd the challenge is: in their master bedroom...there was a bed and all 4 of the legs of the bed looked like a tree stump. And only 1 of the legs were a real tree. ANd only Odysseus and Penelope knew that. SO odyseus answered by saying pretty much that you are crazy and I can move that. SO therefore i is the real Odysseus!!!!
Rather than directly testing Odysseus and questioning him, Penelope asks her maid Eurycleia to move the great bed that Odysseus himself made with his own hands. This is a clever way of testing Odysseus because the bed was made in a way that would be near impossible to move and Odysseus finds Penelopes words 'a knife in [his] heart' The bed was made by using the trunk of an olive tree as the first bedpost, the tree was still rooted to the ground so Odysseus claims that even a man in his prime wouldn't be able to move the bed. Odysseus and Penelope are the only people to know how the bed was created so Odysseus has just give proof that he truly is who he says he is.
Penelope planned to ask her maids to move the bed in Odysseus's chamber, knowing that only Odysseus would know that their bed was built around a living tree. She used this as a test to verify Odysseus's identity.
When he successfully describes, in great detail, their marital bed as only penelope and odysseus had ever been in their bedroom so no-one else knew what the bed looked like.