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.