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Post by Mr. Thomas on Nov 18, 2013 7:58:35 GMT -5
Odysseus Strings His Bow...
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Post by hankmichels on Nov 18, 2013 12:53:29 GMT -5
E. This is the chapter where stuff really starts to happen. At first glance, this chapter probably seems really lame. The title of this book is “Odysseus Strings his Bow” (Title) . He also shoots it, but that title pretty much tells you everything that happens in this chapter. They should have named it something else. “the beginning of the end” or “stuff starts to happen” would probably be sufficient titles. All I can say is I don’t know what Robert Fagles was thinking when he named this chapter. George Lucas Just might have well named Star Wars: Return of The Jedi “The one where Darth Vader Dies.”
D. “Here is my lord Odysseus' hunting bow.
Bend and string it if you can. Who sends an arrow
through iron axe-helve sockets twelve in line?
I join my life with his and leave this place, my home,
my rich and beautiful bridal house, forever
to be remembered, though I dream it only.” (Lines 78-83). This is probably the most important line in the chapter. Here, Penelope is describing the bow and basically summarizing the competition: String this bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes and I will marry you. And since this chapter is all about “Odysseus Strings His Bow”, it fits perfectly.
G. If I was Telemechus I would be really excited and nervous. The last 5 books or so have built up to this. Now finally it is here. I can just imagine myself getting really shaky when the women are sent to their rooms
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Post by zaysofly on Nov 18, 2013 19:22:02 GMT -5
Isaiah Colon
D: Is anyone else completely freaked out by Telemachus. I mean he first sets up the test to see which one of the male suitors can shoot an arrow through a line of 12 axes. He then actually attempts to win the hand of Penelope by trying to shoot the arrow through the line of the twelve axes. Now, obviously he missed, BUT WHTAT IF HE WOULD HAVE MADE IT? Telemachus would have been technically married, and perfectly well suited for his mom. Yuk. If that were me I would have not even attempted, just for the sake of sanity. I don’t know that really creped me out, and I think Odysseus and Penelope would have both been creped out as well. I also thought it was funny how cocky Odysseus was when he wanted to shoot the bow. He even says, Oh come on guys I’m not going to hit it I’m drunk and old.
C: Why and how does this challenge of shooting an arrow through a line of twelve axes prove you are a good husband, leader, or just all around awesome? I mean it seems very biased, and yet useless at the same time. For example, what if one of the suitors was a marksmen shooter, yet really ugly, had poor leadership skills and was just an all around bad guy, so to speak.
G: If I were a suitor I would feel ashamed that an old man can pull back a bow through twelve axes and I cant.
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Post by jotirmoykundu on Nov 18, 2013 21:22:44 GMT -5
C: In this part of the book, I don’t understand why and how this challenge of shooting an arrow through a line of twelve axes prove you are really good as everything. This honestly seems to prove nothing and overall just a waste of time and has elements of bias to it. For example, what if one of the suitors was a sharp shooter, but not the most aesthetically pleasing? He wouldn’t be considered as great as Odysseus.
D. “Here is my lord Odysseus' hunting bow.
Bend and string it if you can. Who sends an arrow
through iron axe-helve sockets twelve in line?
I join my life with his and leave this place, my home,
my rich and beautiful bridal house, forever
to be remembered, though I dream it only.”. In this part of the book, I really enjoyed this line as well as found it very important. This is probably the most important line in the chapter. Penelope is describing the bow and basically talking about and trying to get information about the competition. String this bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes and I will marry you and since the title chapter is “Odysseus Strings His Bow”, it fits perfectly.
G. If I was Telemachus, I would feel a mix of emotions from excited to nervous. The books before this built up to this and now we are here. I can just imagine seeing myself become shaky when all the ladies get sent to there rooms.
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Post by youssefj16 on Nov 18, 2013 22:32:28 GMT -5
I. zaysofly: I was also freaked out by Telemachus. Why would he set up an impossible test like that. He knew he would never be able to shoot that well of an arrow.I also wasnt suprised about Odysseus's cockiness because hes been like that for the whole novel and that his one of his downfalls. We saw it many times....EX: with the cyclops. C. I'm kinda perplexed on how being a good marksman makes you almost equal to a God. Apparently in the world of the Oddyssey, if youre not good with a bow, your not a good husband or leader. Yeah....that makes sense. G- If I were the suitors, I would be extremely embarrassed on how some old dude is ripping me up at shooting a bow. I guess the suitors dont have shame in anything because the second that would happen to me,I would run and hide and stay hidden until this old guy dies. |
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Post by bakerm16 on Nov 19, 2013 7:03:31 GMT -5
Excuse my previous response
C. This book really confused me throughout so have a few questions. The first is what is this stupid challenge the suitors have to go through proving. The suitors each have to go through is they have to shoot an arrow from a bow and row between a line of twelve axes. This of course is not an easy task, but I don't know what it really is proving. In the book it says that suitors who can complete this task are considered as great as Odysseus. This makes no sense to me. One of the suitors could have his great leadership skills but just not ne able to shoot a bow and arrow and others are very good with bows and arrows and terrible leadership skills. So this task to me is a bad judgement call of which suitors are as great as Odysseus.
D. Telemachus weirded me out in this scene. Telemachus is told to set up the axes and does so. However after he does set up the axes for the suitors to shoot through he actually shoots the bow and arrow. This is so weird because the reward for completing this daunting task is Penelope's hand in marriage. So this gets me thinking, if Telemachus won he would technically be married to Penelope. But is this strategic or just him being weird. Strategically him making it would make it so that Penelope is not forced to marry any suitors and Telemachus has saved Odysseus. On the other hand is this some weird thought that went through Telemachus' head where he thought it would be cool to be married to his mom?
G. Im envisioning the 12 axes and the suitors in a mile long line waiting to take their shot. I can see many of them missing and leaving and others practicing on the side.
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Post by michaelgenco on Nov 19, 2013 22:01:06 GMT -5
C.
I am confused because why would Penelope let he suitors use Odysseus‘ favorite bow in this competition? She knows that he treasures this item and she still uses it. This gets me extremely mad at Penelope. Another thing that Penelope does that gets me mad is she is crying about Odysseus and she chose to do this competition. Penelope said, “Then, having wept and sobbed to her heart’s content, off she went to the hall to meet her proud admirers, cradling her husband’s back sprung bow in her arms, its quiver bristling arrows, shaft of pain.
E.
A scene that I found kind of suspicious is when Odysseus is talking to the cowherd. Odysseus said, “Cowherd, swineherd, what, shall I blurt this out or keep it to myself? No, speak out. The heart inside me says so. How far would you go to fight beside Odysseus? Say he dropped like that from a clear blue sky and a god brought him back would you fight for the suitors or your king? Tell me how you feel inside your hearts?” I thought that if I was the cowherd I would be a little suspicious about what Odysseus is saying. Odysseus is basically screaming at him that he is here, and tells him would you join me to fight the suitors.
D.
“And the men gazed at it, scanned it, knew it well, broke into tears and threw their arms around their master- lost in affection, kissing his head and shoulders, and so Odysseus kissed their heads and hands. Now the sun would have set upon their tears if Odysseus had not called a half himself.” I love this quote because you can see how much people can care about you for so many years. Being a nice person will reward you in the furture
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Post by petergiglio on Nov 20, 2013 15:49:59 GMT -5
C. What confuses me is what does this challenge that the suitors have to go to prove? yeah i mean them shooting an arrow between 12 axes is an extremely hard task and not many can do but i dont get how this would help Penelope to find a husband. So what if he can do that it doesnt show anything more than he has good aim and this is kind of insulting Odysseus by saying all he was was a good shot and nothing else and that if one of the suitors can do it then he is the next great Odysseus i would be pretty pissed. This only shows who has the best aim as a suitor.
G. If i were a suitor i would feel like crap and want to reevaluate my life considering that an old man is a better shot than i am, i mean not knowing that he is Odysseus of course. I would just see him as some normal old man that out shot me in something that i should be exceptionally good and at at least practiced cause after all it is for a girls heart and Odysseus is the one that beat them. So i guess nobody is really a better shot that Odysseus out of the suitors
I. I agree with Joque and i dont really understand how shooting a bow makes you similar to God
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Post by hessd16 on Nov 23, 2013 16:57:02 GMT -5
i. I agree with zaysofly on “D: Is anyone else completely freaked out by Telemachus. I mean he first sets up the test to see which one of the male suitors can shoot an arrow through a line of 12 axes. He then actually attempts to win the hand of Penelope by trying to shoot the arrow through the line of the twelve axes. Now, obviously he missed, BUT WHTAT IF HE WOULD HAVE MADE IT? Telemachus would have been technically married, and perfectly well suited for his mom. Yuk. If that were me I would have not even attempted, just for the sake of sanity. I don’t know that really creped me out, and I think Odysseus and Penelope would have both been creeped out as well. I also thought it was funny how cocky Odysseus was when he wanted to shoot the bow.” d. I was delighted to see how easy Odysseus made it look and also his subliminal bragging by saying “oh im old and drunk, I can’t do this.” C. my question is what is the actual significance of shooting this arrow through the axes? Does it symbolize something? Is this an old tradition? This is not really explained in detail. |
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Post by Cameron Smith on Nov 24, 2013 15:22:49 GMT -5
E. A scene that I suspicious and confusing is when Odysseus is talking to the cowherd. Odysseus said, “Cowherd, swineherd, what, shall I blurt this out or keep it to myself? No, speak out. The heart inside me says so. How far would you go to fight beside Odysseus? Say he dropped like that from a clear blue sky and a god brought him back would you fight for the suitors or your king? Tell me how you feel inside your hearts?” I thought that if I was the cowherd I would be a little suspicious and confused about what Odysseus is saying. Odysseus is basically holding a huge marque at him that he is here, and tells him would you join me to fight the suitors.
G. I saw 12 axes and the suitors crowded around in a mile thick line waiting to take their shot. I can see many of them missing and leaving disappointed. Others practicing on the side.
D. “Here is my lord Odysseus' hunting bow.
Bend and string it if you can. Who sends an arrow
through iron axe-helve sockets twelve in line?
I join my life with his and leave this place, my home,
my rich and beautiful bridal house, forever to be remembered, though I dream it only.” (Lines 78-83). This is probably the most important line in the chapter. Here, Penelope is describing the bow and basically summarizing the competition all together. Here, string this bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes and I’ll marry you. And since this chapter is all about Odysseus stringing his bow, I was wondering if he could still do it or even remember how. Will he be able to shoot it?
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Post by bakerm16 on Nov 25, 2013 6:44:45 GMT -5
D. I like the part where Eurymachus has the bow and is trying to string it. I like this part because it shows that no suitor can and will ever be as great as Odysseus. Eurymachus also accepts the fact that no man can and will ever be like Odysseus. Eurymachus confesses this from what I feel like is a genuine place. Normally he is a very spiteful and very cruel person but I feel him doing this is his realization of how great of a man Odysseus was.
C. One question I have is why does Penelope have the suitors use his extra special bow. This bow Odysseus keeps secluded from the others. It is very delicate. Penelope however gives the suitors the task of stringing the bow and shooting it through 12 arrows. What would happen if one of the idiot suitors breaks the bow and arrow. Penelope would be in a world of trouble with odysseus when he gets back and a special part of Odysseus would just be broken.
E. I like Odysseus a lot in this book. He shows he "still has it". What I am talking about is when he comes back to his home where the competition is being held. He takes the bow and arrow strings it perfectly and shoots it through the 12 arrows in one try. This shows to me the true return of Odysseus. Another part of this that I like is that while completing the competition Odysseus was still disguised.
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