Speaker 1: Mmm, Hello, this is let's talk about myths baby, and
Speaker 1: I am your host, live here with more of the Odyssey,
Speaker 1: my absolute favorite thing to do. Of course, we're a
Speaker 1: book twenty one now out of We're getting so close
Speaker 1: to the end. I will be looking at what I'm
Speaker 1: going to read next in these uh Friday episodes, so
Speaker 1: stay tuned for an announcement. So for now, all I
Speaker 1: will say is March is Women's history month. This is
Speaker 1: Homer's Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler, Book twenty one. Minerva
Speaker 1: now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors
Speaker 1: try their skill with the bow and with the iron
Speaker 1: axes in contest among themselves, as a means of bringing
Speaker 1: about their destruction. She went upstairs and got the storeroom key,
Speaker 1: which was made of bronze and had a handle of ivory.
Speaker 1: She then went with her maidens into the store room
Speaker 1: at the end of the house, where her husband's treasures
Speaker 1: of gold, bronze and wrought iron were kept, and where
Speaker 1: was also his bow and the quiver full of deadly
Speaker 1: arrows that had been given him by a friend whom
Speaker 1: he had met in lacedaemon Ifitis, the son of Eurytus.
Speaker 1: The two fell in with one another in Messini at
Speaker 1: the house of Ortilicus, where Odysseus was staying in order
Speaker 1: to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people,
Speaker 1: For the Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from
Speaker 1: Ithaca and had sailed away with them and with their shepherds.
Speaker 1: In quest of these, Odysseus took a long journey while
Speaker 1: still quite young, for his father and the other chieftains
Speaker 1: sent him on a mission to recover them. Ifitis had
Speaker 1: gone there also to try and get back twelve brewed
Speaker 1: mayors that he had lost and the mule folds that
Speaker 1: were running with them. These mayors were the death of
Speaker 1: him in the end, for when he went to the
Speaker 1: house of Jove's son Mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies
Speaker 1: of valor, Hercules to his shame, killed him, though he
Speaker 1: was his guest, for he feared not Heaven's vengeance, nor
Speaker 1: yet respected his own table, which he had set before Ifitus,
Speaker 1: but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the
Speaker 1: mares himself. It was when claiming these that Ifitus met
Speaker 1: Odysseus and gave him the bow which Mighty Eurytus had
Speaker 1: been used to carry, and which on his death had
Speaker 1: been left by him to his son. Odysseus gave him
Speaker 1: in return a sword and a spear, and this was
Speaker 1: the beginning of a fast friendship, although they never visited
Speaker 1: at one another's houses, for Jove's son Hercules killed Ifitis
Speaker 1: ere they could do so. This bow, then given him
Speaker 1: by Ifitis, had not been taken with him by Odysseus
Speaker 1: when he sailed for Troy. He had used it so
Speaker 1: long as he had been at home, but had left
Speaker 1: it behind, as how, having been a keepsake from a
Speaker 1: valued friend. Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the storeroom.
Speaker 1: The carpenter had planed this duly and had drawn a
Speaker 1: line on it so as to get it quite straight.
Speaker 1: He had then set the doorposts into it and hung
Speaker 1: the doors. She loosed the strap from the handle of
Speaker 1: the door, put in the key, and drove it straight
Speaker 1: home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors.
Speaker 1: These flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing
Speaker 1: in a meadow, and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform
Speaker 1: where the chests stood, in which the fair linen and
Speaker 1: clothes were laid by, along with fragrant herbs. Reaching Vince,
Speaker 1: she took down the bow with its bow case from
Speaker 1: the peg on which it hung. She sat down with
Speaker 1: it on her knees, weeping bitterly as she took the
Speaker 1: bow out of its case, and when her tears had
Speaker 1: relieved her, she went to the cloister where the suitors
Speaker 1: were carrying the bow and the quiver with the many
Speaker 1: deadly arrows that were inside it. Along her came her maidens,
Speaker 1: bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze, which
Speaker 1: her husband had won as prizes. When she reached the suitors,
Speaker 1: she stood by one of the bearing posts supporting the
Speaker 1: roof of the cloister, holding a veil before her face,
Speaker 1: and with a maid on either side of her. Then
Speaker 1: she said, listen to me, you suitors, who persist in
Speaker 1: abusing the hospitality of this house because its owner has
Speaker 1: been long absent, and without other pretexts than that you
Speaker 1: might want to marry me. This, then, being the prize
Speaker 1: that you are contending for, I will bring out the
Speaker 1: mighty bow of Odysseus, and whomsoever of you shall string
Speaker 1: it most easily and send his arrow through each one
Speaker 1: of twelve axes him, Will I follow and quit this
Speaker 1: house of my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding
Speaker 1: in wealth. But even so I doubt not that I
Speaker 1: shall remember it in my dreams. As she spoke, she
Speaker 1: told you, maias, to set the bow and the pieces
Speaker 1: of iron before the suitors. And you may have wept
Speaker 1: as he took them to do as she had bidden him.
Speaker 1: Hard By the stockman wept also when he saw his
Speaker 1: master's bow. But Antonoux scolded them, you country louts, said he,
Speaker 1: silly simpletons, Why should you add to the sorrows of
Speaker 1: your mistress by crying? In this way? She has enough
Speaker 1: to grieve her in the loss of her husband. Sit still, therefore,
Speaker 1: and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if
Speaker 1: you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you.
Speaker 1: We suitors shall have to contend for it with might
Speaker 1: and main, for we shall find it no light matter
Speaker 1: to string such a bow as this is. There is
Speaker 1: not a man of us all who is such another
Speaker 1: as Odysseus. For I have seen him and remember him,
Speaker 1: though I was then only a child. This was what
Speaker 1: he said. But all the time he was expecting to
Speaker 1: be able to string the bow and shoot through the iron,
Speaker 1: whereas in fact he was to be the first that
Speaker 1: should taste of the arrows from the hands of Odysseus,
Speaker 1: whom he was dishonoring in his own house, egging the
Speaker 1: others on to do so also. Then Telemachus spoke, Great heavens,
Speaker 1: He exclaimed, Jove must have robbed me of my senses.
Speaker 1: Here is my dear and excellent mother saying she will
Speaker 1: quit this house and marry again. Yet I am laughing
Speaker 1: and enjoying myself, as though there were nothing happening but suitors.
Speaker 1: As the contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward.
Speaker 1: It is for a woman whose peer is not to
Speaker 1: be found in p loss Argos or Mycene, nor yet
Speaker 1: in Ithaca, nor on the mainland. You know this as
Speaker 1: well as I do. What need have I to speak
Speaker 1: in praise of my mother? Come on, then, make no
Speaker 1: excuses for delay. But let us see whether you can
Speaker 1: string the bow or no, I too will make a
Speaker 1: trial of it. For if I can string it and
Speaker 1: shoot through the iron, I shall not suffer my mother
Speaker 1: to quit this house with a stranger, not if I
Speaker 1: can win the prizes which my father won before me.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he sprang from his seat, threw his
Speaker 1: crimson cloak from him, and took his sword from his shoulder.
Speaker 1: First he set the axes in a row, in a
Speaker 1: long groove which he had dug for them and had
Speaker 1: made straight by line. Then he stamped the earth tight
Speaker 1: round them, and everyone was surprised when they saw him
Speaker 1: set them up so orderly, though he had never seen
Speaker 1: anything of the kind before this done, he went on
Speaker 1: to the pavement to make trial of the bow. Thrice
Speaker 1: did he tug at it, trying with all his might
Speaker 1: to draw the string, and thrice he had to leave off.
Speaker 1: Though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot
Speaker 1: through the iron. He was trying for the fourth time
Speaker 1: and would have strung it had not Odysseus made a
Speaker 1: sign to check him. In spite of all his eagerness,
Speaker 1: So he said, alas, I shall either be always feeble
Speaker 1: and of no prowess, or I am too young and
Speaker 1: have not yet reached my full strength so as to
Speaker 1: be able to hold my own if anyone attacks me.
Speaker 1: You others, therefore, who are stronger than I, make trial
Speaker 1: of the bow and get this contest settled. On this,
Speaker 1: he put the bow down, letting it lean against the
Speaker 1: door that led into the house, with the arrow standing
Speaker 1: against the top of the bow. Then he sat down
Speaker 1: on the seat from which he had risen, and Antonyu said,
Speaker 1: come on, each of you, in his turn, going towards
Speaker 1: the right from the place at which the cupbearer begins,
Speaker 1: when he is handing round the wine. The rest agreed,
Speaker 1: and Liadis, son of Enops, was the first to rise.
Speaker 1: He was sacrificial priest to the suitors and sat in
Speaker 1: the corner near the mixing bowl. He was the only
Speaker 1: man who hated their evil deeds and was indignant with
Speaker 1: the others. He was now the first to take the
Speaker 1: bow and arrow, so he went on to the pavement
Speaker 1: to make his trial. But he could not string the bow,
Speaker 1: for his hands were eke and unused to hard work.
Speaker 1: They therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors,
Speaker 1: my friends, I cannot string it. Let another have it.
Speaker 1: This bow shall take the life and soul out of
Speaker 1: many a chief among us, for it is better to
Speaker 1: die than to live. After having missed the prize that
Speaker 1: we have so long striven for, and which has brought
Speaker 1: us so long together. Some one of us is even
Speaker 1: now hoping and praying that he may marry Penelope. But
Speaker 1: when he has seen this bow and tried it, let
Speaker 1: him woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman,
Speaker 1: and let Penelope mary whoever makes her the best offer,
Speaker 1: and whose lot it is to win her. On this
Speaker 1: he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door,
Speaker 1: with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow.
Speaker 1: Then he took his seat again on the seat from
Speaker 1: which he had risen, and Antonous rebuked him, saying, Lieties,
Speaker 1: what are you talking about. Your words are monstrous and intolerable.
Speaker 1: It makes me angry to listen to you. Shall then
Speaker 1: this bow take the life of many a chief among us,
Speaker 1: merely because you cannot bend it yourself. True, you were
Speaker 1: not born to be an archer, but there are others
Speaker 1: who will soon string it. Then he said to Melanthius
Speaker 1: the goatherd look sharp, Light a fire in the court,
Speaker 1: and set a seat hard by with a sheepskin on it.
Speaker 1: Bring us also a large ball of lard from what
Speaker 1: they have in the house. Let us warm the bow
Speaker 1: and grease it. We will then make trial of it
Speaker 1: again and bring the contest to an end. Melanthia slit
Speaker 1: the fire, and set a seat covered with sheepskins beside it.
Speaker 1: He also brought a great ball of lard from what
Speaker 1: they had in the house, and the suitors warmed the
Speaker 1: bow and again made trial of it, but they were
Speaker 1: none of them nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: there still remained Antonous and Eurymicus, who were the ringleaders
Speaker 1: among the suitors, and much the foremost among them all. Then,
Speaker 1: the swine herd and the stockman left the cloisters together,
Speaker 1: and Odysseus followed them. When they had got outside the
Speaker 1: gates and the outer yard, Odysseus said to them quietly, Stockman,
Speaker 1: and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which
Speaker 1: I am in doubt whether to say or no, But
Speaker 1: I think I will say it. What manner of man
Speaker 1: would you be to stand by Odysseus if some god
Speaker 1: should bring him back here all of the sudden? Say
Speaker 1: what you are disposed to do to side with the
Speaker 1: suitors or with Odysseus. Father Jove, answered the stock and
Speaker 1: would indeed that you might so ordain it. If some
Speaker 1: god were to bring Odysseus back, you should see with
Speaker 1: what might and main I would fight for him in
Speaker 1: like words, you may has prayed to all the gods
Speaker 1: that Odysseus might return. When therefore he saw for certain
Speaker 1: what mind they were of, Odysseus said, it is I
Speaker 1: Odysseus who am here. I have suffered much, but at last,
Speaker 1: in the twentieth year, I am come back to my
Speaker 1: own country. I find that you two alone, of all
Speaker 1: my servants, are glad that I should do so, for
Speaker 1: I have not heard any of the others praying for
Speaker 1: my return to you two. Therefore will I unfold the
Speaker 1: truth as it shall be. If Heaven shall deliver the
Speaker 1: suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both
Speaker 1: of you, will give you house and holding close to
Speaker 1: my own, and you shall be to me as though
Speaker 1: you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will now
Speaker 1: give you convincing proofs that you may know me and
Speaker 1: be assured. See here is the scar from the boar's
Speaker 1: tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on
Speaker 1: Mount Parnassus with the sons of Artilochus. As he spoke,
Speaker 1: he drew his rags aside from the great scar, And
Speaker 1: when they had examined it thoroughly, they both of them
Speaker 1: wept about Odysseus, threw their arms round him and kissed
Speaker 1: his head and shoulders, while Odysseus kissed their hands and
Speaker 1: faces in return. The sun would have gone down upon
Speaker 1: their mourning if Odysseus had not checked them and said,
Speaker 1: cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and
Speaker 1: see us, And tell those who are within. When you
Speaker 1: go in, do so separately, not both together. I will
Speaker 1: go first, and do you follow afterwards. Let this moreover
Speaker 1: be the token between us the suitors. Will all of
Speaker 1: them try to prevent me from getting hold of the
Speaker 1: bow and quiver. Do you, therefore, Eumaeus, place it in
Speaker 1: my hands when you are carrying it about, And tell
Speaker 1: the women to close the doors of their apartment. If
Speaker 1: they hear any grow owning or uproar as of men
Speaker 1: fighting about the house, they must not come out. They
Speaker 1: must keep quiet and stay where they are at their work.
Speaker 1: And I charge you, Felicious, to make fast the doors
Speaker 1: of the outer court and to bind them securely at once.
Speaker 1: When he had thus spoken, he went back to the
Speaker 1: house and took the seat that he had left presently.
Speaker 1: His two servants followed him inside. At this moment, the
Speaker 1: bow was in the hands of Eurymicus, who was warming
Speaker 1: it by the fire. But even so he could not
Speaker 1: string it, and he was greatly grieved. He heaved a
Speaker 1: deep sigh and said, I grieve for myself and for
Speaker 1: us all. I grieve that I shall have to forego
Speaker 1: the marriage. But I do not care nearly so much
Speaker 1: about this, for there are plenty of other women in
Speaker 1: Ithaca and elsewhere. What I feel most is the fact
Speaker 1: of our being so inferior to Odysseus in strength that
Speaker 1: we cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in
Speaker 1: the eyes of who are yet unborn. It shall not
Speaker 1: be so, You're Macus, said Antinous, and you know it yourself.
Speaker 1: Today is the feast of Apollo throughout the land. Who
Speaker 1: can string a bow on such a day as this?
Speaker 1: Put it on one side. As for the axes, they
Speaker 1: can stay where they are, for no one is likely
Speaker 1: to come to the house and take them away. Let
Speaker 1: the cup bearer go round with his cups, that we
Speaker 1: may make our drink offerings, and drop this matter of
Speaker 1: the bow. We will tell Melantheus to bring us in
Speaker 1: some goats tomorrow, the best he has. We can then
Speaker 1: offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again
Speaker 1: make trial of the bow, so as to bring the
Speaker 1: contest to an end. The rest approved his words, and
Speaker 1: they're on. Men's servants poured water over the hands of
Speaker 1: the guests, while pages filled the mixing bowls with wine
Speaker 1: and water and handed it round, after giving every man
Speaker 1: his drink offering. Then, when they had made their offerings
Speaker 1: and had drunk each as much as he is desired,
Speaker 1: Odysseus craftily said, suitors of the austrious Queen, listen that
Speaker 1: I may speak, even as I am minded. I appeal
Speaker 1: more especially to Eurymicus and to Antonous, who has just
Speaker 1: spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present,
Speaker 1: and leave the matter to the gods. But in the morning,
Speaker 1: let Heaven give victory to whom it will. For the moment, however,
Speaker 1: give me the bow, that I may prove the power
Speaker 1: of my hands among you all, and see whether I
Speaker 1: still have as much strength as I used to have,
Speaker 1: or whether travel and neglect have made an end of it.
Speaker 1: This made them all very angry, for they feared he
Speaker 1: might string the bow. Antonous therefore rebuked him fiercely, saying,
Speaker 1: wretched creature, you have not so much as a grain
Speaker 1: of sense in your whole body. You ought to think
Speaker 1: yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters,
Speaker 1: without having any smaller portions served you than we others
Speaker 1: have had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation.
Speaker 1: No other beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear
Speaker 1: what we say among ourselves. The wine must have been
Speaker 1: doing you a mischief, as it does with all those
Speaker 1: who drink him moderately. It was wine that inflamed the
Speaker 1: centaur Ryton when he was staying with Pararethus among the Lapithaigh.
Speaker 1: When the wine had got into his head, he went
Speaker 1: mad and did ill deeds about the house of Parathus.
Speaker 1: This angered the heroes whom were there assembled, so they
Speaker 1: all rushed at him and cut off his ears and nostrils.
Speaker 1: Then they dragged him through the doorway of the house.
Speaker 1: So he went away crazed and bore the burden of
Speaker 1: his crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore there was a
Speaker 1: war between mankind and the centaurs. But he brought it
Speaker 1: upon himself through his own drunkenness. In like manner, I
Speaker 1: can tell you that it will go hardly with you.
Speaker 1: If you string the bow, you will find no mercy
Speaker 1: from anyone here, for we shall at once ship you
Speaker 1: off to King Ictus, who kills every one that comes
Speaker 1: near him. You will never get away alive. So drink
Speaker 1: and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel with men
Speaker 1: younger than yourself. Penelope then spoke to him. Antonous said she,
Speaker 1: it is not right that you should ill treat any
Speaker 1: guest of Telemachus who comes to this house. If the
Speaker 1: stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow
Speaker 1: of Odysseus, you can suppose that he would take me
Speaker 1: home with him and make me his wife. Even the
Speaker 1: man himself can have no such idea in his mind.
Speaker 1: None of you need let that disturb his feasting. It
Speaker 1: would be out of all reason. Queen Penelope answered, your Imachus,
Speaker 1: we do not suppose that this man will take you
Speaker 1: away with him. It is impossible. But we are afraid
Speaker 1: lest some of the baser sort men or women among
Speaker 1: the Achaeans should go gossiping about and say these suitors
Speaker 1: are feeble folk. They are paying court to the wife
Speaker 1: of a brave man whose bow. Not one of them
Speaker 1: was able to string, and yet a beggarly tramp who
Speaker 1: came to the house strung it at once and sent
Speaker 1: an arrow through the iron. This is what will be said,
Speaker 1: and it will be a scandal against us. Eurymachus Penelope answered,
Speaker 1: people who persist in eating up the estate of a
Speaker 1: great chieftain and dishonoring his house must not expect others
Speaker 1: to think well of them. Why then, should you mind
Speaker 1: if men talk as you think they will. This stranger
Speaker 1: is strong and well built, he says moreover that he
Speaker 1: is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let
Speaker 1: us see whether he can string it or no, I say,
Speaker 1: and it shall surely be that if Apollo vouchsaves him
Speaker 1: the glory of stringing it, I will give him a
Speaker 1: cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to
Speaker 1: keep off dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I
Speaker 1: will also give him sandals, and will see him sent
Speaker 1: safely wherever he wants to go. Then, Telemachus said mother,
Speaker 1: I am the only man, either in Ithaca or in
Speaker 1: the islands that are over against Ellis, who has the
Speaker 1: right to let anyone have the bow or to refuse it.
Speaker 1: No one shall force me one way or the other, not,
Speaker 1: even though I choose to make the stranger a present
Speaker 1: of the bow outright, and let him take it away
Speaker 1: with him. Go then within the house, and busy yourself
Speaker 1: with your daily duties, your loo, your distaff, and the
Speaker 1: ordering of your servants. This bow is a man's matter,
Speaker 1: and mine above all others, for it is I who
Speaker 1: am master. Here. She went wondering back into the house
Speaker 1: and laid her son, saying in her heart. Then going
Speaker 1: upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned her
Speaker 1: dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her eyelids.
Speaker 1: The swineherd now took up the bow and was for
Speaker 1: taking it to Odysseus. But the suitors colamored at him
Speaker 1: from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them said,
Speaker 1: you idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are
Speaker 1: you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other
Speaker 1: gods will grant our prayer, your own borehounds shall get
Speaker 1: you into some quiet little place and worry you to death.
Speaker 1: Umyus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so
Speaker 1: he put the bow down and then and there, but Telemachus,
Speaker 1: shouting at him from the other side of the cloisters
Speaker 1: and threatened him, saying, father, Eumaeus, bring the bow on
Speaker 1: in spite of them, or young as I am, I
Speaker 1: will pelt you with the stones back to the country.
Speaker 1: For I am the better man of the two. I
Speaker 1: wish I was as much stronger than all the other
Speaker 1: suitors in the house as I am than you. I
Speaker 1: would soon send some of them off, sick and sorry,
Speaker 1: for they mean mischief. Thus did he speak, and they
Speaker 1: all of them laughed heartily, which put them in a
Speaker 1: better humor with Telemachus, so you Mayus brought the bow
Speaker 1: and placed it in the hands of Odysseus. When he
Speaker 1: had done this, he called Euclea apart and said to her, Euuclea,
Speaker 1: Telemachus says, you are to close the doors of the
Speaker 1: women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or uproar as
Speaker 1: of men fighting about the house, they are not to
Speaker 1: come out, but are to keep quiet and stay where
Speaker 1: they are at their work. Euclea did as she was
Speaker 1: told and closed the doors of the women's apartments. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Felicia slipped quietly out and made fast the gates of
Speaker 1: the outer court. There was a ship's cable of biblus
Speaker 1: fiber lying in the gatehouse. So he made the gates
Speaker 1: fast with it, and then came in again, resuming the
Speaker 1: seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Odysseus,
Speaker 1: who had now got the bow in his hands, and
Speaker 1: was turning it every way about and proving it all
Speaker 1: over to see whether the worms had been eating it
Speaker 1: into two horns during his absence. Then would one turn
Speaker 1: towards his neighbor, saying, this is some tricky old bow fancier.
Speaker 1: Either he has got one like it at home, or
Speaker 1: he wants to make one in such workman like style.
Speaker 1: Does the old vagabond handle it? Another said, I hope
Speaker 1: he may be no more successful in other things than
Speaker 1: he is likely to be in stringing this bow. But Odysseus,
Speaker 1: when he had taken it up and examined it all over,
Speaker 1: strung it easily as a skilled barred strings a new
Speaker 1: peg of his lyre, and makes the twisted gut fast
Speaker 1: at both ends. Then he took it in his right
Speaker 1: hand to prove the string, and it's sang sweetly under
Speaker 1: his touch, like the twittering of a swallow. The suitors
Speaker 1: were dismayed and turned color as they heard it at
Speaker 1: that moment. Moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a sign, and
Speaker 1: the heart of Odysseus rejoiced as he heard the omen
Speaker 1: that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him. He
Speaker 1: took an arrow that was lying upon the table, for
Speaker 1: those which the Accaeans were so shortly about to taste,
Speaker 1: were all inside the quiver. He laid it on the
Speaker 1: centerpiece of the bow, and drew the notch of the
Speaker 1: arrow and the string towards him, still seated on his seat.
Speaker 1: When he had taken aim, he let fly, and his
Speaker 1: arrow pierced every one of the handle holes of the
Speaker 1: axes from the first onwards till it had gone right
Speaker 1: through them and into the outer courtyard. Then he said
Speaker 1: to Telemachus, your guest has not disgraced you. Telemachus, I
Speaker 1: did not miss what I aimed at, and I was
Speaker 1: not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong,
Speaker 1: and not as the suitors twit me with being. Now, however,
Speaker 1: it is time for the Accayans to prepare supper while
Speaker 1: there is still daylight, and then our wise to disport
Speaker 1: themselves with song and dance, which are the crowning ornaments
Speaker 1: of a banquet. As he spoke, he made a sign
Speaker 1: with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on his sword, grasped
Speaker 1: his spear, and stood armed beside his father's seat. Nerds, Oh,
Speaker 1: we're getting there. Only two episodes of the Odyssey left.
Speaker 1: Oh I'm gonna miss Odysseus, but we'll find something else
Speaker 1: fun to read. Thank you all so much for listening.
Speaker 1: What a thrill it's been reading all these Odyssey episodes.
Speaker 1: It's just simply so much fun. I hope you're enjoying
Speaker 1: it too. I am live and I love this ship.
Speaker 1: M