Day 24, Book 24

Odysseus reunited with Laertes,
photo of Roman sarcophagus
(Roger Ulrich)

The ghosts of Achilles and Agamemnon – both figures who have loomed large over Odysseus' martial and marital quests – unite in marveling at "Happy Odysseus!" (210) as they receive the shades of the slaughtered suitors in Hades. 

Then, another reunion (with Laertes, Odysseus' father), but not before another test through tale-telling, and another sign of "Living proof" – both his scar (that disclosed him the Eurycleia) and his trees (the vineyard here recalling the rooted bed of Book 23). 

At long last, Athena commands peace, restoring order to Ithaca and drawing closure to the epic.