Why does Antinoos call for a fast ship and twenty men?

In book 2 of

, Telemachus sets sail on his own swift ship with a hearty crew, as he

longs to find any information pertaining to the whereabouts of his long-absent father. Despite

the fact that all the other survivors of the Trojan War returned years prior, Odysseus has

remained away, and no news of him has reached the shores of his home in Ithaca. The war ended

nearly ten years ago, and still Odysseus does not return. Suitors who pursue his wife, Penelope,

have been camped at his palace for several years now, abusing the Ancient Greek rules of

hospitality and attempting to force her to marry one of them. She will not, and she devises

ruses and reasons to delay the new marriage that begins to seem more and more inevitable if

Odysseus does not return soon.

In book 4, Antinous and the other suitors

learn what Telemachus has done, and they are eager to prevent him from returning with news about

Odysseus that would give Penelope more reason to continue denying their demand that she remarry.

Antinous prays that Zeus will kill Telemachus before he reaches manhoodhe is just about twenty

years old nowand he tells the others to "'fetch [him] a swift ship and twenty men'" so

that he can ambush Telemachus as the young man attempts to return to

Ithaca.