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The King Strings the Bow
Throughout the reading of The Odyssey, the reader encounters many instances of symbols and symbolic meanings. ... Examples of these symbols include the shroud Penelope weaves for Laertes, the sea itself, the Island of Ithaca, and Odysseus’ bow. It is Odysseus’ bow that offers the most interesting look at symbolism in The Odyssey.
Penelope first comes up with the idea to have the suitor’s string Odysseus’ bow and shoot it through twelve axes to hit a mark dead on. ... Penelope cunningly comes up with this plan knowing that Odysseus is the only one who has ever been able to succeed in completing this task. ... When the time for the competition arrived the suitor’s soon found the task to be a daunting one and was not
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able to complete it, most were not able to even string the bow let alone shoot it through twelve axes. ...
The bow symbolizes characteristics that the king of Ithaca would need to possess in order to be a good king. ... Leodes the first suitor to attempt the bow, fails to even bend it back. Realizing that the task would be harder then it first appeared Leodes who is able to read futures in the smoke, perhaps in a moment of foreshadowing states:
If there’s a suitor here who hopes, who aches, to marry Penelope, Odysseus’ wife,
just let him try the bow; he’ll see the truth!
Approximate Word count = 1045
Approximate Pages = 4.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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