DEALING WITH QUOTATIONS:
CONTEXT
In this scene, when the challenge to the suitors to string
Odysseus’s bow is going on, Telemachus is bending the bow
and appears just ready to string it when Odysseus tells him to
stop.
QUOTATION
4+ lines:
Still he meant
to string that bow and pull for the needle shot.
A fourth try and he had it all but strung—
when a stiffening in Odysseus made him check.
Abruptly then he stopped. (XXI.143-147)
OR
1-3 lines:
“A fourth try and he had it all but strung— / when a stiffening in Odysseus made
him check” (XXI.145-146).
ANALYSIS
This seems important because Odysseus stops Telemachus from
completing something that he clearly wanted to do. It seems to
show Odysseus as jealous of Telemachus and it reminds the
reader of the hubris, excessive pride, that Odysseus expressed
during his journey home. Perhaps Homer uses this moment to
remind the reader that Odysseus, even though he has returned
to Ithaca, still has the flaws that brought him trouble since he
left Troy.
HOW IT WILL LOOK IN THE BODY PARAGRAPH:
…One example of Odysseus’s flaws showing up when he returns to Ithaca is his response to
Telemachus during the challenge to the suitors to string Odysseus’s bow. While Telemachus is
just about to string the bow, his excitement is quashed by Odysseus’s hubris:
Still he meant
to string that bow and pull for the needle shot.
A fourth try and he had it all but strung—
when a stiffening in Odysseus made him check.
Abruptly then he stopped. (XXI.143-147)
Here Odysseus seems to be jealous of Telemachus, wanting to be the one who gets the credit for
stringing the bow, and it reminds the reader of the hubris, excessive pride, that Odysseus
expresses during his journey home. Homer uses this moment to remind the reader that
Odysseus, even though he has returned to Ithaca, still has the flaws that brought him trouble
since he left Troy.
OR LIKE THIS:
…One example of Odysseus’s flaws showing up when he returns to Ithaca is his response to
Telemachus during the challenge to the suitors to string Odysseus’s bow. Telemachus is bending
the bow and appears just ready to string it on “A fourth try and he had it all but strung— / when a
stiffening in Odysseus made him check” (XXI.145-146). Here Odysseus seems to be jealous of
Telemachus, wanting to be the one who gets the credit for stringing the bow, and it reminds the
reader of the hubris, excessive pride, that Odysseus expresses during his journey home. Homer
uses this moment to remind the reader that Odysseus, even though he has returned to Ithaca, still
has the flaws that brought him trouble since he left Troy.