The Test of the Great Bow and Death in the Palace

THE TEST OF THE GREAT BOW

Comprehension Questions:

 Where is Penelope at the beginning of this chapter?

What is she retrieving from her closet?

What does she tell the suitors?

What is Penelope's attitude to the suitors? 

What is the reaction of the cowherd and the swineherd to Penelope's announcement?

What does Odysseus say to the cowherd and the swineherd?

How does he convince them that he is who he says he is?

What does he promise them in return for their help?

Odysseus tells the swineherd two things to do. What are they? Be specific! 

Odysseus tells the cowherd three things to do. What are they?  Be specific!

What is the reaction of the suitors to Odysseus taking the bow to string it?

What is Odysseus compared to as he strings the bow?

What grim joke and code does Odysseus say after he strings the bow?

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
Simile:
A bellow like a bull’s vaunt in a meadow
Bellow: a loud, strong roar issuing from the mouth of a cow, a bull, a man or some other type of large animal.
Assonance: repetition of similar vowels
Consonance: repetition of similar consonants
Personification:
Coughing death conveys the powerful and disturbing imagery of a horrible way to die. The arrows are definitely weapons capable of causing suffering and death.
Penelope tells the suitors that who ever can string Odysseus’s bow – that man she will marry. However, only Odysseus is strong enough to string the bow!

Notes!

Cronus – god of time; Cronus was the leader of the Titans, who predated the gods.  Cronus gave birth to the Greek gods whom he destroyed upon their birth for he was told he would be killed by one of his children. Zeus conspired with his mother to kill his father, Cronus, and Zeus became the king of the Greek gods.

Chronological – written in the order of occurrence

Chronology – the order of events in the time of their occurrence

Chronicles – a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence.

Reread The Test of the Bow, and find one example of Homeric simile:

Simile:

Line 1089

“Then a rasping sound as those bright doors the key had sprung gave way – a bellow like a bull’s vaunt in a meadow – “

The sound of the key opening a door is like a huge bull’s bellow which gives an indication of how loud and strong the lock is.

Page 939

Line1185 – 1193

Homeric Simile:

But the man skilled in all ways of contending…..and sang a swallow’s note.”

The Homeric simile shows the ease and mastery with which Odysseus strings the arrow.

                        Question: What is Odysseus being compared to in lines 1185 – 1193?

Vocabulary:
Borings: holes drilled into wood by termites, which are small insects that destroy wood by boring or drilling into the wood. 

Smote: (past tense of to smite) to hit or strike

Omen: a sign, which is interpreted to mean that something evil that has been predicted or prophesied is about to happen.

Allusion: reference to other literature or mythology, usually Greek, Roman, biblical or Shakespearean, in a book or story.

Example of allusion: “Crooked minded Cronus” which is a reference to Zeus’ slaying of his father, Cronus, a Titan, in Greek mythology, who was also the father of time.

Death at the Palace

Vagabond: beggar
Embossed: engraved
Wiliest: cleverest (wily) Wily coyote
Revelry: party; loud partying
Amid: in the middle of
Throng: a crowd; a group; a mob
Foe: enemy
Crimson: red
Runnels: streams
Craned: straining one’s neck
Jostled: elbowing each other for room
Shocked hand: personification and synecdoche (part of a whole)
Personification:
Sickly green fear pulled at their entrails
Entrails: intestines
Aegis: a shield or a sign which acts as a protection.
Stampede: when a large crowd of people or herd of cattle traveling in one direction tramples everything in its path.
Read from 1287 to the bottom of the page; then write what happened. There are two examples of similes in the passage and the passage as a whole is rich in imagery.
What are the suitors compared to when they see Athena’s “aegis” (her shield which is her symbol)? “And the suitors mad with fear at her great sign stampeded like stung cattle by a river….” Like is used to compare, which makes this a simile.
What were the attackers compared to as they went after the suitors?
Falcons: hunting birds that are fierce and prey (hunt) on smaller birds. They are large and fierce hunters.
Talons: claws on an animal or bird.
Eyries: eagle or falcon nests built high in the mountains.
Chutes: long funnels or tunnels that travel down. A laundry chute funnels (drops) clothes to the laundry room in the basement.
Veer: to turn sharply.
Cower: to hunch one’s shoulders or curl up in a ball in anticipation of being hit.
Myths: used for entertainment and used to rationalize things the ancients couldn’t explain.