BOOK 21

Part 1:

Why does Penelope now want to stage the test of the bow? How do you think Penelope is probably feeling at this point in the situation? Do you think she might suspect the stranger is Odysseus? What arguments could be mounted in support of such an opinion?

Penelope is using the test of the bow to decide witch of the suitors she will marry. “The hand that can string this bow (Odysseus’ bow) with greatest ease, that shoots an arrow clean through all twelve axes – he is the man” Penelope will follow and marry (426.86-88). Even though Penelope is following through with the plan a part she is dying inside and does not want to remarry. When Penelope is retrieving Odysseus’s bow, Homer describes her, “Reaching, tiptoe, lifting the bow down off its peg, still secure in the burnished case that held it, down she sank, laying the case across…” (426.62-64). As I read this, reading the words “down she sank” I knew immediately she was feeling horrible and dirty. One sinks in a pile of mud not when they are going to get married and through these words, I believe Homer is stating that Penelope feels like scum on the bottom of a shoe for lack of better words. She is falling, sinking slowly to something she does not want to be at. She does not want to remarry. Continuing on, knowing she does not want to remarry she still continues on with the plan because I believe that she suspects that the stranger is Odysseus. When the stranger (Odysseus) asks to try his hand at the bow the suitors laugh while Penelope wants him to try. Penelope says, “Come, hand him the bow now, let’s just see…”(435.375). I think Penelope suspects that the stranger is Odysseus and she wants him to attempt to use the bow so it can stand as proof whether the stranger is Odysseus or not. It can be argued that if she knows the stranger is Odysseus then why is she still holding the contest but in my opinion, I state that Penelope is unsure and she rather know for sure than make any assumptions

To whom does Odysseus now reveal his identity and why? Discuss the way Odysseus has decided whom he can trust and whom he cannot. Has he made good decisions in that regard?

            In this book Odysseus decides to reveal his identity to the swineherd and cowherd. Odysseus feels he can trust them both but he also needs more people to help him bring down all of the suitors. Before revealing his identity, he asks, “How far would you go to fight beside Odysseus?” (430.221) Odysseus is testing their worthiness. If they respond in aments and say they would do anything for Odysseus and fight to their death he can trust them. If they respond with any sense of doubt, they are a lost cause for Odysseus and he cannot reveal his true identity. Of course the suitors say they will fight beside their king and convince Odysseus of their worthiness. In return, “certain at least these two were loyal to the death,” Odysseus reveals his identity (431.232). Odysseus in the past and in this scene has revealed his identity because he feels that these people are loyal to him to death and can be trusted. I agree with his antics and think they are the right way to decide who he should reveal his identity too.

The main idea of this book was the competition to win Penelope’s hand in marriage. Penelope gives the suitors the opportunity win her hand by being able to string Odysseus’ bow and shoot and arrow cleanly through twelve axes in a row. The suitors all being hot heads immediately get riled up and they all want to be the first to get the arrow through the twelve axes. As quick as they were to jump to their feet, they were even quicker to sit back down. The challenge proved to be too difficult and they all underestimated the strength of Odysseus. Antinuous who has always been the one to talk smack tries first but he fails to bend it. He says the rest of the suitors, “Friends, I can’t bend it. Take it, someone – try. Here is a bow to rob our best of life and breath” (429.172-174). Like Antinuous, Melanthius, Eurymachus, and all the strongest suitors all failed to bend Odysseus bow. They tried to lather it with oil but everything they tried and everyone who tried failed. It is made clear that Odysseus’ strength is far more superior to that of the suitors. But in this, I also recognize how the mind of Odysseus is also stronger than those of the suitors. The suitors after one try immediately give up but Odysseus who has suffered defeat after defeat never gave up.

Eventually, Odysseus gets his hands on the bow while he is disguised as the beggar bends his bow in front of the suitors. “Horror swept through the suitors, faces blanching white,” (437.459). At this point the suitors know they are in for it and doomed. As Odysseus reveals himself, Telemachus draws his sword and the two prepare for battle.

GQ1:           

Even though the suitors are given the opportunity to win Penelope’s hand in marriage through the bow contest, it seems as though Penelope has given them an impossible task. Is the task truly impossible to achieve, is their a more significant reason that Penelope chose this task for the suitors to accomplish? What does she gain from giving them an impossible task if it is impossible?

Part 2:

Literary Devices

SIMILE:

1. So they mocked, but Odysseus, mastermind in action, once he’d handled the great bow and scanned every inch then, like an expert singer skilled at lyre and song – who strains a string to a new peg with ease, making the pliant sheep-gut fast at either end – so with his virtuoso ease Odysseus strung his mighty bow” (437.451-456). This simile allows Odysseus to be seen as the master of the bow. He is the expert and he is the only one who can string the bow and use it properly. With that said, Odysseus is now revealing to everyone one he is Odysseus and he is the only one with the might and power to string his bow.

Epic Machinery

            In book 21, Homer once again emphasizes on the number 3. He describes Telemachus attempting to string Odysseus’ bow, “Three times he made it shudder, straining to end it, three times his power flagged—but his hopes ran high…”(428.143-144). Here Homer is bringing in the idea of three times is the charm. If you fail, try a second time, and a third time but fail again on the third time there is no use trying again. Homer is saying that no matter how hard Telemachus tried each time he could not string the bow even after the charmed third time.

            Homer also uses epic machinery to describe the bow’s origins. This occurs on page 424 on line 15 and ends on page 425, line 44. In this the reader finds the bow was given to Odysseus from Iphitus who was murdered by Apollo. In the translator’s notes we find how this can affect the story.

Translators Notes

21.16 Eurytus: One of the great archers Odysseus mentions when he claims mastery of the bow among the Phaecians (8.246-60). Eurytus had even challenged Apollo to a contest, an insult for which the god killed him. According to later sources, Apollo had given him a bow and trained him in its use; if so, the bow Iphitus gave Odysseus comes from the hand of the archer god himself, to be used against the suitors on Apollo’s feast day.

These notes can be interpreted in two ways. One way is that because the bow is from Apollo himself Odysseus will kill the suitors with ease due to the amazing power the bow has. On the contrary, Odysseus may offend Apollo by using his bow on his feast day and Odysseus may suffer because of this.

GQ2:

Now knowing even more about the origin of the bow and how it originates straight from Apollo, do you think Odysseus’ use of it will provide any significance in his battle with the suitors?

Part 3:

 A theme that has recently been brought up in the book is the swineherd and cowherd’s loyalty to Odysseus. For the many years Odysseus has been gone they still continue to show their loyalty to their unforgotten king. In book 21 this loyalty is emphasized when Odysseus asks the suitors how far they will go for Odysseus. In the end Odysseus feels they are loyal to him to their deaths and he reveals his identity to them. With that said, the swineherd and cowherd would crawl on their hands and knees and fight for Odysseus to the end. Like wise, soldiers today fight for their country everyday even to the death. They crawl on their hands and knees and do what they can for their country. The essay below gives an opinion on why soldiers do what they do.

http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/leafs/soldiersdie.pdf

GQ3:

Would you ever crawl on your hands and knees and fight till death for someone or something? What qualities make that someone or something worth fighting fore? What qualities does Odysseus have that make him worth fighting for?