第二十一卷，好戲登場，射箭大賽即將展開，Penelope準備拿出Odysseus家藏的彎弓和灰色鐵斧：
τῇ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,
κούρῃ Ἰκαρίοιο, περίφρονι Πηνελοπείῃ,
τόξον μνηστήρεσσι θέμεν πολιόν τε σίδηρον
ἐν μεγάροις Ὀδυσῆος, ἀέθλια καὶ φόνου ἀρχήν.
κλίμακα δ᾽ ὑψηλὴν προσεβήσετο οἷο δόμοιο,
εἵλετο δὲ κληῗδ᾽ εὐκαμπέα χειρὶ παχείῃ
καλὴν χαλκείην: κώπη δ᾽ ἐλέφαντος ἐπῆεν.
βῆ δ᾽ ἴμεναι θάλαμόνδε σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξὶν
ἔσχατον: ἔνθα δέ οἱ κειμήλια κεῖτο ἄνακτος,
χαλκός τε χρυσός τε πολύκμητός τε σίδηρος. (Odyssey 1-10)
Bright-eyed Athena then placed inside the heart
of wise Penelope, Icarius’ daughter,
the thought that she should set up in Odysseus’ halls
the bow and the gray
iron axes for the suitors,
as a competition and the prelude to their deaths.
She climbed the lofty staircase to her chamber,
picked up in her firm grip a
curved key made of bronze—
beautifully fashioned
with an ivory handle.
With her attendants she went off to a storeroom
in a distant corner of the house, where they kept
her king’s possessions—bronze and gold and iron,
all finely crafted work.
這些器具應該是放在Odysseus宮殿的儲藏室，Penelope先上樓上她的房間拿鑰匙，這把鑰匙很特別: 彎曲，青銅製，象牙把手。然後到最遠的一間存放Odysseus收藏銅、金、鐵等撞要金屬與製品的儲藏室，這裡也可能是收藏武器的地方。
Odysseus的弓真的太特別了，而且大有來頭:
ἔνθα δὲ τόξον κεῖτο παλίντονον ἠδὲ φαρέτρη
ἰοδόκος, πολλοὶ δ᾽ ἔνεσαν στονόεντες ὀϊστοί,
δῶρα τά οἱ ξεῖνος Λακεδαίμονι δῶκε τυχήσας
Ἴφιτος Εὐρυτίδης, ἐπιείκελος ἀθανάτοισι.
τὼ δ᾽ ἐν Μεσσήνῃ ξυμβλήτην ἀλλήλοιϊν
οἴκῳ ἐν Ὀρτιλόχοιο δαΐφρονος. ἦ τοι Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἦλθε μετὰ χρεῖος, τό ῥά οἱ πᾶς δῆμος ὄφελλε:
μῆλα γὰρ ἐξ Ἰθάκης Μεσσήνιοι ἄνδρες ἄειραν
νηυσὶ πολυκλήϊσι τριηκόσι᾽ ἠδὲ νομῆας.
τῶν ἕνεκ᾽ ἐξεσίην πολλὴν ὁδὸν ἦλθεν Ὀδυσσεὺς
παιδνὸς ἐών: πρὸ γὰρ ἧκε πατὴρ ἄλλοι τε γέροντες.
Ἴφιτος αὖθ᾽ ἵππους διζήμενος, αἵ οἱ ὄλοντο
δώδεκα θήλειαι, ὑπὸ δ᾽ ἡμίονοι ταλαεργοί:
αἳ δή οἱ καὶ ἔπειτα φόνος καὶ μοῖρα γένοντο,
ἐπεὶ δὴ Διὸς υἱὸν ἀφίκετο καρτερόθυμον,
φῶθ᾽ Ἡρακλῆα, μεγάλων ἐπιίστορα ἔργων,
ὅς μιν ξεῖνον ἐόντα κατέκτανεν ᾧ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ,
σχέτλιος, οὐδὲ θεῶν ὄπιν ᾐδέσατ᾽ οὐδὲ τράπεζαν,
τὴν ἥν οἱ παρέθηκεν: ἔπειτα δὲ πέφνε καὶ αὐτόν,
ἵππους δ᾽ αὐτὸς ἔχε κρατερώνυχας ἐν μεγάροισι.
τὰς ἐρέων Ὀδυσῆϊ συνήντετο, δῶκε δὲ τόξον,
τὸ πρὶν μέν ῥ᾽ ἐφόρει μέγας Εὔρυτος, αὐτὰρ ὁ παιδὶ
κάλλιπ᾽ ἀποθνῄσκων ἐν δώμασιν ὑψηλοῖσι.
τῷ δ᾽ Ὀδυσεὺς ξίφος ὀξὺ καὶ ἄλκιμον ἔγχος ἔδωκεν,
ἀρχὴν ξεινοσύνης προσκηδέος: οὐδὲ τραπέζῃ
γνώτην ἀλλήλων: πρὶν γὰρ Διὸς υἱὸς ἔπεφνεν
Ἴφιτον Εὐρυτίδην, ἐπιείκελον ἀθανάτοισιν,
ὅς οἱ τόξον ἔδωκε. τὸ δ᾽ οὔ ποτε δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἐρχόμενος πόλεμόνδε μελαινάων ἐπὶ νηῶν
ᾑρεῖτ᾽, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοῦ μνῆμα ξείνοιο φίλοιο
κέσκετ᾽ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι, φόρει δέ μιν ἧς ἐπὶ γαίης. (Odyssey 11-41)
His well-sprung bow was there,
and quivers, too, with lots of painful arrows,
gifts he had received from Iphitus, his friend,
son of Eurytus, a man like the immortals,
when they’d met in Lacedaemon, in Messene,
at the home of wise Ortilochus. Odysseus
had gone there to collect a debt the people owed—
Messenian men had run off with three hundred sheep
and seized the shepherds, too, leaving Ithaca
in their ships with many oars. Because of this,
Odysseus, who was just a boy, had been sent
a long way by his father and other senior men,
part of an embassy. Iphitus was searching
for twelve mares he’d lost and sturdy mules, as well,
still on the teat. Later on these animals
led him to a fatal destiny, the day he met
the mortal Hercules, Zeus’ great-hearted son,
who knew all there was to know about great exploits.
Hercules slaughtered him, although he was a guest
in his own home—a cruel man who didn’t care
about the anger of the gods or the dining table
he’d set before him. After their meal, he killed him
and kept the strong-hoofed mares with him at home
for his own use. While Iphitus was enquiring
about these horses, he got to meet Odysseus
and gave him the bow. In earlier days, this weapon
had been used by mighty Eurytus, and when he died,
he’d left it for his son in his high-roofed home.
Odysseus had given him a keen-edged sword
and a powerful spear, as well. This was the start
of their close friendship. But they never bonded
as mutual dinner guests—before that happened
Zeus’ son had murdered Iphitus, son of Eurytus,
a man like the immortals, who gave Odysseus
that bow of his. Lord Odysseus never took it
whenever he went off to war in his black ships.
It lay there in his home as a memorial
to a dear friend. He carried it in his own land.
這一套箭弓，還有箭壺，可裝好幾支箭，但也裝著無限悲愴，武器無情，多少生死都在一箭之間！
接下來的故事，說出這箭的典故，總之，是Odysseus和Iphitus交換的禮物，是友情的象徵，也是hospitality的展現。28-29行提到τράπεζα，是餐桌，也是待客之展現。
下面圖片出處: http://people.duke.edu/~wj25/UC_Web_Site/epic/odys21-24.html
故事說完，回頭看Penelope走進木製樸實的門檻，用鑰匙打開門，因為久未使用，還發出聲響，最後，Penelope正式宣布射箭大賽:
κέκλυτέ μευ, μνηστῆρες ἀγήνορες,
οἳ τόδε δῶμα
ἐχράετ᾽ ἐσθιέμεν καὶ
πινέμεν ἐμμενὲς αἰεὶ
ἀνδρὸς ἀποιχομένοιο πολὺν
χρόνον: οὐδέ τιν᾽ ἄλλην
μύθου ποιήσασθαι ἐπισχεσίην
ἐδύνασθε,
ἀλλ᾽ ἐμὲ ἱέμενοι γῆμαι
θέσθαι τε γυναῖκα.
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγετε, μνηστῆρες, ἐπεὶ
τόδε φαίνετ᾽ ἄεθλον.
θήσω γὰρ μέγα τόξον Ὀδυσσῆος
θείοιο:
ὃς δέ κε ῥηΐτατ᾽ ἐντανύσῃ
βιὸν ἐν παλάμῃσι
καὶ διοϊστεύσῃ πελέκεων δυοκαίδεκα πάντων,
τῷ κεν ἅμ᾽ ἑσποίμην,
νοσφισσαμένη τόδε δῶμα
κουρίδιον, μάλα καλόν, ἐνίπλειον
βιότοιο,
τοῦ ποτὲ μεμνήσεσθαι ὀΐομαι
ἔν περ ὀνείρῳ.
(Odyssey 21. 68-79)
“Listen to me, bold suitors, who’ve been ravaging this home
with your incessant need
for food and drink,
since my husband’s now
been so long absent.
The only story you could
offer up
as an excuse is that you
all desire
to marry me and take me as
your wife.
So come now, suitors,
since I seem to be
the prize you seek, I’ll
place this great
bow here
belonging to godlike
Odysseus. And then,
whichever one of you can
grip this bow
and string it with the
greatest ease, then
shoot
an arrow through twelve axes, all of them,
I’ll go with him, leaving
my married home,
this truly lovely house
and all these goods
one needs to live—things
I’ll remember,
even in my dreams.”
這就是有名的一箭穿十二心，誰做到，就可以娶Penelope。聽起來很簡單? 接下來就看群無賴，一一失敗。
these
type of battle-axe are also attested in other Achaean settlements. With these
specimens we can understand the feat of Odysseus in sending an arrow through
the rings of twelve axes set up in a row (*2)
