FRESHMAN ENGLISH 212
Name:
Homer’s Odyssey (translated by Stanley Lombardo)
Reading #6: Book 21 (322-335)—The Contest to String the Bow of Odysseus
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS
SUMMARIZE— VISUALIZE— QUESTION—CONNECT—INFER—REPAIR
Summary of Books 18-20
BOOK 18 Summary (from GradeSaver)
Another beggar (called Irus) arrives and challenges Odysseus to a boxing match. With the extra strength of
Athena on his side, Odysseus is able to quickly defeat the other man. The suitors watch on all along, shouting to
keep the fight going. Odysseus is praised by the suitors and given food by Amphinomus, who is one of the
kinder suitors. Odysseus quietly tells Amphinomus to leave the city, because he get killed when Odysseus returns.
However, Athena has already decided that Amphinomus must die.
Driven by the careful nudging of Athena, Penelope appears before the suitors with the extra beauty bestowed
upon her by a goddess. She relays that Odysseus had instructed her to take a new husband if Telemachus grew
facial hair before he had returned. She plays her own clever tricks on them as well, requesting the suitors to
bring her gifts, rather than take from her, to woo her properly.
The suitors offer many gifts to Penelope. They also insult Odysseus. Athena makes Eurymachus insult Odysseus,
which leads to a fight. The room is about to erupt into a full riot when Telemachus finally steps in and settles
them all down.
BOOK 19 Summary (from GradeSaver)
That night, Telemachus and Odysseus hide the weapons in the storeroom. Telemachus lies to the head maid
Eurycleia and tells her that they are keeping them from damage. Next, Penelope speaks to Odysseus. She is
curious of his knowledge of her husband and asks him to describe Odysseus. Odysseus therefore describes
himself in absolute detail, bringing Penelope to tears. He tells her how he met Odysseus and how he came to be
in Ithaca. He tells her that Odysseus is alive and well and will return within one month.
He says no to an offer by Penelope for a bed to sleep in and very reluctantly allows Eurycleia to wash his feet.
Eurycleia notes the scar on Odysseus’s foot he received while boar hunting as a young man with his grandfather.
She immediately recognizes Odysseus and hugs him. Athena does her part to keep Penelope distracted though so
that Odysseus can maintain his secret identity and he makes Eurycleia swear to keep the secret.
Penelope describes a dream before she sleeps to Odysseus about an eagle that kills all twenty of her pet geese
and then reveals itself as her husband killing her lovers. Odysseus explains the dream to her and Penelope
announces that she will choose a new husband by challenging the suitors to shoot an arrow through twelve axes
in a line, something only Odysseus has been known to be able to do.
BOOK XX Summary (from GradeSaver)
Odysseus, who is nervous, has trouble sleeping. Athena assures him of his future success though, even against
such incredible odds. Penelope on the other hand is sad that her husband is still lost and that she has just
committed to a new husband. She awakes and prays for death at the hands of Artemis. Odysseus responds with
a prayer of his own to Zeus for an omen. Zeus replies with a thunder clap.
The next morning, Telemachus and Odysseus meet up with Eumaeus. Another eagle appears with a dove in its
claws and Amphinomus requests that they call off their plot against Telemachus. Athena keeps the suitors riled
up though so that Odysseus stays angry. One of the suitors throws a cow’s hoof at Odysseus and another
threatens to kill him, and they laugh at Odysseus.
The Contest to String the Bow of Odysseus GUIDED READING QUESTIONS
SUMMARIZE— VISUALIZE— QUESTION—CONNECT—INFER—REPAIR
1. Pages 322-323.
a. SUMMARIZE. What is Penelope getting from the storeroom in this section?
b. INFER. What is Penelope doing when “her eyes [are] welling with tears” (line 53).
2. Pages 324-325.
a. Using her words to the
suitors at the top
paragraph on page
324, describe (1) the
test that Penelope sets
for the suitors and (2) her promise.
b. After Antinous expresses excitement about the challenge, Telemachus pretends to be excited
also. INFER why Odysseus stops Telemachus from stringing the bow (“Odysseus reined him in”
[132]) just as Telemachus is about to do it. Why wouldn’t Odysseus want his son to succeed?
3. Pages 326-327.
a. Who are the final two suitors left in the competition by the time all the others fail to string the
bow?
and
b. What does Odysseus (stlll as the beggar) ask the swineherd (Eumaeus) and the cowherd
(Philoetius) when the three men are away from the suitors?
4. Pages 328-329.
a. After Odysseus reveals himself to the two servants (bonus: How does he prove it’s him?), he
tells them the plan—on the bottom of 328 and top of 329. SUMMARIZE it:
b. Why is Eurymachus upset that he can’t string the bow (aside from the obvious—not being able to
marry Penelope)?
5. Pages 330-331. The suitors are angry when Odysseus (the beggar) says he wants to try to string the bow.
Why would the suitors be “afraid that he would string the polished bow” (line 302)? Eurymachus explains
this to Penelope at the bottom of page 331. SUMMARIZE his point:
6. Pages 332-333.
a. As there is tension about whether the beggar (Odysseus) should be allowed to string the bow,
Telemachus asserts his leadership. Give an example from EACH page of Telemachus’s forceful
voice.
b. Just after Eumeaus gives the bow to the beggar, Odysseus, he gives instructions to Eurycleia—at
the bottom of page 333. What are they?
7. Pages 334-335. VISUALIZE. Draw a picture of this final scene, of Odysseus either stringing the bow OR
shooting the arrows through the twelve axeheads: