One of my favorite moments in literature comes as the end of chapter 21 of Homers The Odyssey. Odysseus has at last arrived home on Ithaca,dressed in rags and disguised by the goddess Athena as an old beggar. He is mocked by the suitors of his wife, Penelope, when, after they have failed to string the longbow of Odysseus and hit a target -- Penelope having promised to marry whomever can hit the target -- he is allowed a try. He inspects the bow, unused for twenty years, for damage, finds it good. Then, the bow that none of the suitors could even bend, Odysseus strings without effort, and scarcely pausing to arm, fires an arrow through a row of circular axe handles, as the thunder of Zeus sounds overhead, winning the competition and showing the suitors that the King has returned. Havoc follows in chapter 22.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:31:07 +0000
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