Answer:
Eumaeus, the swineherd, is Odysseus' trusted servant. While Odysseus is in Troy fighting in the Trojan War and on his many travels in his return home, Eumaeus acts as a father sort of figure to Odysseus' son Telemachus. When Odysseus returns, apart from Athene the goddess, Eumaus is the first person that Odysseus sees, while in his hut, disguised as a old man.