Axes of the Contest

In Book 21 the twelve axes are set in a straight line in the hall. The test is not only to string the bow but to shoot an arrow through the aligned sockets of all twelve. The arrangement turns the floor of the hall into a visible test of skill. The educational point is the clarity of the challenge that only Odysseus can meet. — Material culture — Scholarly debate exists on exact form. Reading adopted here: twelve bronze axe-heads set in a trench or in the earth of the hall so their sockets (or rings) form a continuous line through which a single arrow must pass. Visual must make the precision test legible. Bronze, not later iron forms. Uncertainty of exact axe type is preserved rather than invented. Books (Butler): 21 Epithet: The twelve aligned axes