What is the name of Odysseus's old nurse?

Odysseus's old nurse is named Eurycleia. In Homer's Odyssey, she is a trusted household servant who nursed Odysseus when he was young and later cared for his son, Telemachus. Her long connection with the royal family makes her one of the few people in Ithaca who can recognize Odysseus immediately after his twenty-year absence.

Eurycleia identifies him by a scar above his knee while washing his feet. Odysseus received the scar during a boar hunt with his maternal grandfather, Autolycus. Although Eurycleia is astonished, Odysseus stops her from revealing his identity to Penelope because he needs to keep his return secret while preparing to confront the suitors.

She is more than a nurse in the story. Eurycleia helps Telemachus prepare for his journey to search for news of his father, identifies the disloyal maidservants after Odysseus returns, and later announces that Odysseus has come home. Anticlea, one of the wrong options, is Odysseus's mother—not his nurse—while Nausicaa and Arete are figures associated with the Phaeacians.