The Odyssey: Book 21 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFDGHIJKLMNDIOIP IQRSTUVIAERGWIDEIXYI ZA2B2C2LD2D2E2D2D2F2 B2D2IB2GDOAIG2KIKEC2 OH2I2IAJ2KK2C2JVL2D2 DQIEM2NJDIN2KO2OP2DV NRHC2RIF2Q2KER2S2EB2 DF2C2C2T2KU2DSKV2IW2 IKD2KHKOD2EIX2JDSGY2 RD2IIDGIZ2B2RD2A3B3D C2KQ2QE2HIC3E2D3C3B2 E3F3A2ERG3HIVA2B2IH3 IMI3DF2IJ3IAHRK3IL3C 2IM3N3IIEC2Y2C2J3O3P 3RHC2C2IC2VKHGD2LIQ3 F2AHR3S3A2ADRC2T3KU3 V3N2BIC2C2T3HDC2W3EX 3RVJO3Y3X3C3IKD3OE2N 2A2Y2IZ3N2C2IIA4J3H3 B4DW2RC4IVEKC2B2H3EC 2D2D4OKD2IHC2JIO2TE4 O2D2G3B2OF4G4H4C2IIK HI4J4IIIJONRIE2FHRIS D2K4IE3DG4KD3H4C2C2I KZ2HIAL4W3C3Y2QIIM3| Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors try | A |
| their skill with the bow and with the iron axes in contest among | B |
| themselves as a means of bringing about their destruction She went | C |
| upstairs and got the store room key which was made of bronze and | D |
| had a handle of ivory she then went with her maidens into the store | E |
| room at the end of the house where her husband's treasures of gold | F |
| bronze and wrought iron were kept and where was also his bow and | D |
| the quiver full of deadly arrows that had been given him by a friend | G |
| whom he had met in Lacedaemon Iphitus the son of Eurytus The two | H |
| fell in with one another in Messene at the house of Ortilochus | I |
| where Ulysses was staying in order to recover a debt that was owing | J |
| from the whole people for the Messenians had carried off three | K |
| hundred sheep from Ithaca and had sailed away with them and with | L |
| their shepherds In quest of these Ulysses took a long journey while | M |
| still quite young for his father and the other chieftains sent him on | N |
| a mission to recover them Iphitus had gone there also to try and | D |
| get back twelve brood mares that he had lost and the mule foals | I |
| that were running with them These mares were the death of him in | O |
| the end for when he went to the house of Jove's son mighty Hercules | I |
| who performed such prodigies of valour Hercules to his shame killed | P |
| him though he was his guest for he feared not heaven's vengeance | I |
| nor yet respected his own table which he had set before Iphitus but | Q |
| killed him in spite of everything and kept the mares himself It | R |
| was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses and gave him the bow | S |
| which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry and which on his death | T |
| had been left by him to his son Ulysses gave him in return a sword | U |
| and a spear and this was the beginning of a fast friendship although | V |
| they never visited at one another's houses for Jove's son Hercules | I |
| killed Iphitus ere they could do so This bow then given him by | A |
| Iphitus had not been taken with him by Ulysses when he sailed for | E |
| Troy he had used it so long as he had been at home but had left it | R |
| behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend | G |
| Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store room | W |
| the carpenter had planed this duly and had drawn a line on it so as | I |
| to get it quite straight he had then set the door posts into it and | D |
| hung the doors She loosed the strap from the handle of the door | E |
| put in the key and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts | I |
| that held the doors these flew open with a noise like a bull | X |
| bellowing in a meadow and Penelope stepped upon the raised | Y |
| platform where the chests stood in which the fair linen and clothes | I |
| were laid by along with fragrant herbs reaching thence she took down | Z |
| the bow with its bow case from the peg on which it hung She sat | A2 |
| down with it on her knees weeping bitterly as she took the bow out of | B2 |
| its case and when her tears had relieved her she went to the | C2 |
| cloister where the suitors were carrying the bow and the quiver with | L |
| the many deadly arrows that were inside it Along with her came her | D2 |
| maidens bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze which her | D2 |
| husband had won as prizes When she reached the suitors she stood | E2 |
| by one of the bearing posts supporting the roof of the cloister | D2 |
| holding a veil before her face and with a maid on either side of her | D2 |
| Then she said | F2 |
| Listen to me you suitors who persist in abusing the hospitality of | B2 |
| this house because its owner has been long absent and without other | D2 |
| pretext than that you want to marry me this then being the prize | I |
| that you are contending for I will bring out the mighty bow of | B2 |
| Ulysses and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send | G |
| his arrow through each one of twelve axes him will I follow and | D |
| quit this house of my lawful husband so goodly and so abounding in | O |
| wealth But even so I doubt not that I shall remember it in my | A |
| dreams | I |
| As she spoke she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of iron | G2 |
| before the suitors and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she | K |
| had bidden him Hard by the stockman wept also when he saw his | I |
| master's bow but Antinous scolded them You country louts said he | K |
| silly simpletons why should you add to the sorrows of your | E |
| mistress by crying in this way She has enough to grieve her in the | C2 |
| loss of her husband sit still therefore and eat your dinners in | O |
| silence or go outside if you want to cry and leave the bow behind | H2 |
| you We suitors shall have to contend for it with might and main | I2 |
| for we shall find it no light matter to string such a bow as this | I |
| is There is not a man of us all who is such another as Ulysses for I | A |
| have seen him and remember him though I was then only a child | J2 |
| This was what he said but all the time he was expecting to be | K |
| able to string the bow and shoot through the iron whereas in fact | K2 |
| he was to be the first that should taste of the arrows from the | C2 |
| hands of Ulysses whom he was dishonouring in his own house egging | J |
| the others on to do so also | V |
| Then Telemachus spoke Great heavens he exclaimed Jove must | L2 |
| have robbed me of my senses Here is my dear and excellent mother | D2 |
| saying she will quit this house and marry again yet I am laughing and | D |
| enjoying myself as though there were nothing happening But | Q |
| suitors as the contest has been agreed upon let it go forward It is | I |
| for a woman whose peer is not to be found in Pylos Argos or | E |
| Mycene nor yet in Ithaca nor on the mainland You know this as well | M2 |
| as I do what need have I to speak in praise of my mother Come on | N |
| then make no excuses for delay but let us see whether you can string | J |
| the bow or no I too will make trial of it for if I can string it and | D |
| shoot through the iron I shall not suffer my mother to quit this | I |
| house with a stranger not if I can win the prizes which my father won | N2 |
| before me | K |
| As he spoke he sprang from his seat threw his crimson cloak from | O2 |
| him and took his sword from his shoulder First he set the axes in | O |
| a row in a long groove which he had dug for them and had Wade | P2 |
| straight by line Then he stamped the earth tight round them and | D |
| everyone was surprised when they saw him set up so orderly though | V |
| he had never seen anything of the kind before This done he went on | N |
| to the pavement to make trial of the bow thrice did he tug at it | R |
| trying with all his might to draw the string and thrice he had to | H |
| leave off though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through the | C2 |
| iron He was trying for the fourth time and would have strung it | R |
| had not Ulysses made a sign to check him in spite of all his | I |
| eagerness So he said | F2 |
| Alas I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess or I am | Q2 |
| too young and have not yet reached my full strength so as to be | K |
| able to hold my own if any one attacks me You others therefore | E |
| who are stronger than I make trial of the bow and get this contest | R2 |
| settled | S2 |
| On this he put the bow down letting it lean against the door | E |
| that led into the house with the arrow standing against the top of | B2 |
| the bow Then he sat down on the seat from which he had risen and | D |
| Antinous said | F2 |
| Come on each of you in his turn going towards the right from the | C2 |
| place at which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round the | C2 |
| wine | T2 |
| The rest agreed and Leiodes son of OEnops was the first to rise He | K |
| was sacrificial priest to the suitors and sat in the corner near | U2 |
| the mixing bowl He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and | D |
| was indignant with the others He was now the first to take the bow | S |
| and arrow so he went on to the pavement to make his trial but he | K |
| could not string the bow for his hands were weak and unused to hard | V2 |
| work they therefore soon grew tired and he said to the suitors | I |
| My friends I cannot string it let another have it this bow shall | W2 |
| take the life and soul out of many a chief among us for it is | I |
| better to die than to live after having missed the prize that we | K |
| have so long striven for and which has brought us so long together | D2 |
| Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that he may marry | K |
| Penelope but when he has seen this bow and tried it let him woo | H |
| and make bridal offerings to some other woman and let Penelope | K |
| marry whoever makes her the best offer and whose lot it is to win | O |
| her | D2 |
| On this he put the bow down letting it lean against the door | E |
| with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow Then he took his | I |
| seat again on the seat from which he had risen and Antinous rebuked | X2 |
| him saying | J |
| Leiodes what are you talking about Your words are monstrous and | D |
| intolerable it makes me angry to listen to you Shall then this bow | S |
| take the life of many a chief among us merely because you cannot bend | G |
| it yourself True you were not born to be an archer but there are | Y2 |
| others who will soon string it | R |
| Then he said to Melanthius the goatherd Look sharp light a fire | D2 |
| in the court and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it bring us | I |
| also a large ball of lard from what they have in the house Let us | I |
| warm the bow and grease it we will then make trial of it again and | D |
| bring the contest to an end | G |
| Melanthius lit the fire and set a seat covered with sheep skins | I |
| beside it He also brought a great ball of lard from what they had | Z2 |
| in the house and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of | B2 |
| it but they were none of them nearly strong enough to string it | R |
| Nevertheless there still remained Antinous and Eurymachus who were | D2 |
| the ringleaders among the suitors and much the foremost among them | A3 |
| all | B3 |
| Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together and | D |
| Ulysses followed them When they had got outside the gates and the | C2 |
| outer yard Ulysses said to them quietly | K |
| Stockman and you swineherd I have something in my mind which I am | Q2 |
| in doubt whether to say or no but I think I will say it What | Q |
| manner of men would you be to stand by Ulysses if some god should | E2 |
| bring him back here all of a sudden Say which you are disposed to do | H |
| to side with the suitors or with Ulysses | I |
| Father Jove answered the stockman would indeed that you might | C3 |
| so ordain it If some god were but to bring Ulysses back you should | E2 |
| see with what might and main I would fight for him | D3 |
| In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might | C3 |
| return when therefore he saw for certain what mind they were of | B2 |
| Ulysses said It is I Ulysses who am here I have suffered much | E3 |
| but at last in the twentieth year I am come back to my own | F3 |
| country I find that you two alone of all my servants are glad that | A2 |
| I should do so for I have not heard any of the others praying for | E |
| my return To you two therefore will I unfold the truth as it | R |
| shall be If heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands I will | G3 |
| find wives for both of you will give you house and holding close to | H |
| my own and you shall be to me as though you were brothers and friends | I |
| of Telemachus I will now give you convincing proofs that you may know | V |
| me and be assured See here is the scar from the boar's tooth that | A2 |
| ripped me when I was out hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons of | B2 |
| Autolycus | I |
| As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar and when | H3 |
| they had examined it thoroughly they both of them wept about Ulysses | I |
| threw their arms round him and kissed his head and shoulders while | M |
| Ulysses kissed their hands and faces in return The sun would have | I3 |
| gone down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and | D |
| said | F2 |
| Cease your weeping lest some one should come outside and see us | I |
| and tell those who a are within When you go in do so separately not | J3 |
| both together I will go first and do you follow afterwards Let this | I |
| moreover be the token between us the suitors will all of them try | A |
| to prevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver do you | H |
| therefore Eumaeus place it in my hands when you are carrying it | R |
| about and tell the women to close the doors of their apartment If | K3 |
| they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house | I |
| they must not come out they must keep quiet and stay where they | L3 |
| are at their work And I charge you Philoetius to make fast the | C2 |
| doors of the outer court and to bind them securely at once | I |
| When he had thus spoken he went back to the house and took the seat | M3 |
| that he had left Presently his two servants followed him inside | N3 |
| At this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus who was | I |
| warming it by the fire but even so he could not string it and he was | I |
| greatly grieved He heaved a deep sigh and said I grieve for | E |
| myself and for us all I grieve that I shall have to forgo the | C2 |
| marriage but I do not care nearly so much about this for there are | Y2 |
| plenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere what I feel most is the | C2 |
| fact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannot | J3 |
| string his bow This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yet | O3 |
| unborn | P3 |
| It shall not be so Eurymachus said Antinous and you know it | R |
| yourself To day is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land who | H |
| can string a bow on such a day as this Put it on one side as for the | C2 |
| axes they can stay where they are for no one is likely to come to the | C2 |
| house and take them away let the cupbearer go round with his cups | I |
| that we may make our drink offerings and drop this matter of the | C2 |
| bow we will tell Melanthius to bring us in some goats to morrow | V |
| the best he has we can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty | K |
| archer and again make trial of the bow so as to bring the contest to | H |
| an end | G |
| The rest approved his words and thereon men servants poured water | D2 |
| over the hands of the guests while pages filled the mixing bowls with | L |
| wine and water and handed it round after giving every man his | I |
| drink offering Then when they had made their offerings and had drunk | Q3 |
| each as much as he desired Ulysses craftily said | F2 |
| Suitors of the illustrious queen listen that I may speak even as I | A |
| am minded I appeal more especially to Eurymachus and to Antinous who | H |
| has just spoken with so much reason Cease shooting for the present | R3 |
| and leave the matter to the gods but in the morning let heaven give | S3 |
| victory to whom it will For the moment however give me the bow that | A2 |
| I may prove the power of my hands among you all and see whether I | A |
| still have as much strength as I used to have or whether travel and | D |
| neglect have made an end of it | R |
| This made them all very angry for they feared he might string the | C2 |
| bow Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying Wretched | T3 |
| creature you have not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body | K |
| you ought to think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed | U3 |
| among your betters without having any smaller portion served you than | V3 |
| we others have had and in being allowed to hear our conversation | N2 |
| No other beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we say among | B |
| ourselves the wine must have been doing you a mischief as it does | I |
| with all those drink immoderately It was wine that inflamed the | C2 |
| Centaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithous among the | C2 |
| Lapithae When the wine had got into his head he went mad and did | T3 |
| ill deeds about the house of Peirithous this angered the heroes who | H |
| were there assembled so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and | D |
| nostrils then they dragged him through the doorway out of the | C2 |
| house so he went away crazed and bore the burden of his crime | W3 |
| bereft of understanding Henceforth therefore there was war | E |
| between mankind and the centaurs but he brought it upon himself | X3 |
| through his own drunkenness In like manner I can tell you that it | R |
| will go hardly with you if you string the bow you will find no | V |
| mercy from any one here for we shall at once ship you off to king | J |
| Echetus who kills every one that comes near him you will never get | O3 |
| away alive so drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel | Y3 |
| with men younger than yourself | X3 |
| Penelope then spoke to him Antinous said she it is not right | C3 |
| that you should ill treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to this | I |
| house If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty | K |
| bow of Ulysses can you suppose that he would take me home with him | D3 |
| and make me his wife Even the man himself can have no such idea in | O |
| his mind none of you need let that disturb his feasting it would | E2 |
| be out of all reason | N2 |
| Queen Penelope answered Eurymachus we do not suppose that | A2 |
| this man will take you away with him it is impossible but we are | Y2 |
| afraid lest some of the baser sort men or women among the Achaeans | I |
| should go gossiping about and say 'These suitors are a feeble folk | Z3 |
| they are paying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not one | N2 |
| of them was able to string and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the | C2 |
| house strung it at once and sent an arrow through the iron ' This is | I |
| what will be said and it will be a scandal against us | I |
| Eurymachus Penelope answered people who persist in eating up | A4 |
| the estate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must not | J3 |
| expect others to think well of them Why then should you mind if men | H3 |
| talk as you think they will This stranger is strong and well built | B4 |
| he says moreover that he is of noble birth Give him the bow and | D |
| let us see whether he can string it or no I say and it shall | W2 |
| surely be that if Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it | R |
| I will give him a cloak and shirt of good wear with a javelin to keep | C4 |
| off dogs and robbers and a sharp sword I will also give him sandals | I |
| and will see him sent safely whereever he wants to go | V |
| Then Telemachus said Mother I am the only man either in Ithaca or | E |
| in the islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let any | K |
| one have the bow or to refuse it No one shall force me one way or the | C2 |
| other not even though I choose to make the stranger a present of | B2 |
| the bow outright and let him take it away with him Go then | H3 |
| within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties your | E |
| loom your distaff and the ordering of your servants This bow is a | C2 |
| man's matter and mine above all others for it is I who am master | D2 |
| here | D4 |
| She went wondering back into the house and laid her son's saying in | O |
| her heart Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room she | K |
| mourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her | D2 |
| eyelids | I |
| The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to | H |
| Ulysses but the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the | C2 |
| cloisters and one of them said You idiot where are you taking | J |
| the bow to Are you out of your wits If Apollo and the other gods | I |
| will grant our prayer your own boarhounds shall get you into some | O2 |
| quiet little place and worry you to death | T |
| Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised so he put | E4 |
| the bow down then and there but Telemachus shouted out at him from | O2 |
| the other side of the cloisters and threatened him saying Father | D2 |
| Eumaeus bring the bow on in spite of them or young as I am I will | G3 |
| pelt you with stones back to the country for I am the better man of | B2 |
| the two I wish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in | O |
| the house as I am than you I would soon send some of them off sick | F4 |
| and sorry for they mean mischief | G4 |
| Thus did he speak and they all of them laughed heartily which | H4 |
| put them in a better humour with Telemachus so Eumaeus brought the | C2 |
| bow on and placed it in the hands of Ulysses When he had done this | I |
| he called Euryclea apart and said to her Euryclea Telemachus says | I |
| you are to close the doors of the women's apartments If they hear any | K |
| groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house they are not to | H |
| come out but are to keep quiet and stay where they are at their | I4 |
| work | J4 |
| Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women's | I |
| apartments | I |
| Meanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gates | I |
| of the outer court There was a ship's cable of byblus fibre lying | J |
| in the gatehouse so he made the gates fast with it and then came in | O |
| again resuming the seat that he had left and keeping an eye on | N |
| Ulysses who had now got the bow in his hands and was turning it | R |
| every way about and proving it all over to see whether the worms | I |
| had been eating into its two horns during his absence Then would | E2 |
| one turn towards his neighbour saying This is some tricky old | F |
| bow fancier either he has got one like it at home or he wants to | H |
| make one in such workmanlike style does the old vagabond handle it | R |
| Another said I hope he may be no more successful in other things | I |
| than he is likely to be in stringing this bow | S |
| But Ulysses when he had taken it up and examined it all over | D2 |
| strung it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre | K4 |
| and makes the twisted gut fast at both ends Then he took it in his | I |
| right hand to prove the string and it sang sweetly under his touch | E3 |
| like the twittering of a swallow The suitors were dismayed and | D |
| turned colour as they heard it at that moment moreover Jove | G4 |
| thundered loudly as a sign and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he | K |
| heard the omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him | D3 |
| He took an arrow that was lying upon the table for those which | H4 |
| the Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the | C2 |
| quiver he laid it on the centre piece of the bow and drew the | C2 |
| notch of the arrow and the string toward him still seated on his | I |
| seat When he had taken aim he let fly and his arrow pierced every | K |
| one of the handle holes of the axes from the first onwards till it had | Z2 |
| gone right through them and into the outer courtyard Then he said to | H |
| Telemachus | I |
| Your guest has not disgraced you Telemachus I did not miss what I | A |
| aimed at and I was not long in stringing my bow I am still strong | L4 |
| and not as the suitors twit me with being Now however it is time | W3 |
| for the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight | C3 |
| and then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which are | Y2 |
| the crowning ornaments of a banquet | Q |
| As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows and Telemachus | I |
| girded on his sword grasped his spear and stood armed beside his | I |
| father's seat | M3 |
Homer
(1)
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