This passage describes how Athena transforms Odysseus into a beggar. Odysseus has now returned home, and he is ready to go back to his wife, Penelope. She has been faithful to him all these years, but now is about to choose a new husband.
The house is full of suitors, and Odysseus plans to get rid of them. In order to help him, Athena disguises him. This is what is meant by the last lines: "a man of miseries." Odysseus is now a beggar.