The Contest of the Bow — The Odyssey

Athena put the bow contest in Penelope's mind. Penelope went to the storeroom, took down Odysseus's bow, wept over it, and told the suitors that whoever could string it and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads would win her hand. The bow was a gift from Iphitus, a friend Odysseus had known long ago. Eumaeus and Philoetius cried when they saw it, but Antinous mocked them and said the suitors would win easily.

Telemachus set the twelve axe heads in a straight row, then tried the bow himself three times. He would have succeeded on the fourth try, but Odysseus signaled him to stop so the father could make the decisive move. Leiodes tried next and failed, warning that the bow would bring death to many of them. Antinous ordered Melanthius to warm and grease the bow over a fire, but still no suitor could bend it. Eurymachus admitted they would be disgraced if a beggar succeeded where they had failed.

Outside the hall, Odysseus asked Eumaeus and Philoetius whether they would stand with him or the suitors. Both prayed for his return, so he revealed himself through the old boar scar on his leg. He told them to enter separately, lock the outer gates, keep the women inside during the fight, and hand him the bow when the moment came. Antinous tried to postpone the contest for Apollo's feast day, but the beggar asked for a turn anyway.

The suitors laughed and threatened to ship him off to King Echetus, yet Penelope offered gifts if he succeeded and Telemachus insisted on guest-right. Telemachus overruled the crowd so Eumaeus could place the bow in Odysseus's hands. Philoetius bolted the outer court and Eurycleia locked the women's quarters. Odysseus strung the bow easily, the string sang like a swallow, and Zeus thundered from heaven. His arrow flew through every axe head. He told Telemachus his guest had not disgraced him, then signaled with his eyes as Telemachus armed himself beside his father's seat. The contest was over, and the slaughter would begin at any moment.