At the end of the story, he disguised himself so that he could do this once again. He patiently waited for his opportunity to reveal his true identity to the suitors. IV. Penelope and some of the servants were faithful to Odysseus, even though he did not return home immediately after the war and was presumed dead.

A, It was not only Penelope who was faithful to Odysseus. Euryclea, sometimes called the nurse and sometimes called the housekeeper, was also faithful.

B. "Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should escape death, and find his way home again after all." (Book II)

C. Telemachus has little hope that his father is still alive, although he acknowledges it is a possibility. Euryclea...

Homer built his epic around two desirable traits, hospitality and faithfulness, and an undesirable one, hubris.
A. One of his purposes in writing the poem was to tell a fantastic story, interweaving the lives of mortals and gods. He invokes a muse to help him tell the story, as it is too epic for a mere man (Tell me, O muse… -- Book I).

B. The three themes would have been easily understood by Homer's audience. They would have understood and accepted a story in which a mortal hero communed with the gods and became god-like himself ("But Odysseus gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped down like a soaring eagle" -- Book XXIV)