Eurycleia In The Odyssey

In Book 19, Odysseus disguised as a begger gets Penelope to order Eurycleia to wash his feet. Odysseus wants Eurycleia specifically becuase she is "an old women, seasoned, wise, who carefully tended"(line 402) for Odysseus since "the day his mother bore him(405). The second she saw Odysseus she declared, "your build, your voice, your feet– you're like Odysseus... to the life!"(431-432), but Odysseus immedietly rejected the claim. However, while washing his feet, she spotted the scar on Odysseus' thigh and instantly knew the beggar's true identity.

In the story the scar, Autolycus, Odysseus' grandfather, named his grandson Odysseus meaning "the Son of Pain"(464), which we have seen is "a name he earned in full"(464). This shows that Odysseus was fated to go through the many trials and struggles that he has indured. Odysseus got the scar on his leg while on a trip to his grandfather's estate where they went on a hunt. On the hunt, they came across "a great boar"(495) that charged at Odyssey, "gouging a deep strip of flesh"(510). Ultimitly, Odysseus "thrust and struck, stabbing the beast's right shoulder"(513) and killing it. The story of his scar is also his coming of age story. Odysseus comes as a boy getting hugged by his grandmother and returns to Ithica as a "young man filled with joy"(523).
It is interesting that Athena, a deathless god, did not or was not able to conceal this scar even though she was able to disguise Odysseus to be unrecognizable. I think that Athena purposefully kept the scar as a way for Odysseus to be able to prove his identity. Odysseus trusts Eurycleia, so she may be able to help Odyseus test others in further books. I think the scar may also help to confirm his identify to the others who are bound to be