Rumor

Odyssey Book 24 line 373-380 Barry B Powell
Odyssey Book 23 line 329-330 Barry B Powell
Odyssey Book 23 line 322-323 Barry B Powell

The path to Kefallini

Rumor the messenger, went swift everywhere through the city, telling of the awful death and fate of the suitors. The people heard it all at once.

Right away, at the time of the rising sun, a report about the suitors I killed will get out.

And they opened the gates and went out. Odysseus was in the lead. Already the sun shone on the earth,

Immediately at sunrise, so you'd expect Odysseus to have skedaddled before then, right?

Haircut

Even my not so god-like locks would occasionally need attention, so I visited the hairdresser in Vasiiki. They tend to be chatty folk and this one ended up telling me about a place called Kefallini, which she visited in her childhood with her family for the view and a stroll on Sundays.

So no, which either makes Odysseus a mad daredevil or the messengers don't bring the message immediately. A little perplexing, but Homer goes on:

Wait, what? He goes everywhere and the people hear it all at once, how is this possible? Let's look at it step by step.

After the massacre, Odysseus has to flee fearing retribution for his crime. The goal is his father's farm, whom he hasn't seen since he left for Troy. He says to Penelope:

One of the peculiar things people would do from Kefallini was to shout messages, as it was said they could be heard all over the plain. This piqued my interest as it'd fit the story of the two heralds, Medon, who revealed the suitors' plans to Penelope, and another herald called Rumor.

First: Rumor is the one who spreads the rumour.
Second: He doesn't spread it immediately.
Third: Rumor goes through the whole city.
Fourth: To a place everyone can hear him at once.
Fifth: Calling from somewhere outside the city.
Sixth: Not anywhere close to palace or city.
Seventh: Because Odysseus has time to escape

Considering this, the story of Kefallini made sense of it all, we've found Rumor at the barbershop!

I immediately walked from Vasiliki to Kefallini, but it wasn't till a few weeks later I could check the rumour with a visiting friend