Who is the loyal swineherd of Odysseus?

Eumaeus is the loyal swineherd of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. He tends Odysseus’s pigs on Ithaca and remains devoted to the absent king even after years without reliable news of his return.

When Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca, Athena disguises him as an old beggar. Eumaeus does not recognize his master, but he still offers him food, shelter, and respectful hospitality. His kindness reflects the Greek expectation that strangers should be treated well under the protection of Zeus.

Eumaeus’s backstory adds another layer to his loyalty. He was born the son of Ctesius, a king on the island of Syra, but was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. Laertes bought him and raised him in Odysseus’s household, where he became a trusted servant and friend.

Eumaeus later helps Odysseus, Telemachus, and the cowherd Philoetius defeat the suitors. Readers sometimes confuse him with Melanthius, the disloyal goatherd, or Philoetius, who cares for cattle rather than pigs.