Odyssey by Homer: The Famous Arrow Shot Contained Therein

The Greek mythology is – and always was – a synonym for incredibly silly gossip.

Here is such a pathetic effort from the bottom drawer of the storage cabinet that houses antique junk. As a special annoyance to us archers, bow and arrow have been misused in the plot for a silly trick shot, as we learn from that insane story.

The myth called ‘Odyssey’ is the second epic besides the ‘Iliad’ that is attributed to the poet Homer. Written down in the late 8th century, the Odyssey belongs to the oldest and most influential works of the cultural heritage of literature in the Occident. This gives the part of bow and arrow, contained in this grotesque and shoddy tale, an elevated level of importance.

Odysseus was ruling over Ithaca, an island in the Ionian Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. He was married to Penelope and they had a son named Telemachus. The long lasting war against Troy kept him away from home, wife and child, for many years.

The Greeks were not able to reach inside the town of Troy, yet they finally succeeded through cunning and trickery. Some of their soldiers cramped themselves in a wooden horse, which was constructed in just three days with the help of the goddess Athena.

They placed the oversized nag before the city gate and feigned their withdrawal. The Trojans thought that it was a farewell gift from the Greeks to their god Poseidon, who had supported them in the battle.

The Troy soldiers neglected the warning calls of Cassandra and pulled the horse into the town, perhaps with the intention to insult Poseidon, who was not very well respected in Troy.

At night, the hidden soldiers crept from the horse, opened the town gates and the Greek troops stormed in. Odysseus thought that this was his own bril...

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...h endless repetitions, even when participating in a nymph’s favorite pastime, and Odysseus left.

According to Homer, this wild lifestyle remained childless. After the time of Homer, this was somewhat corrected and children were added, resulting from this seven-year-long party in the cave.

Apollodorus, one of the archetypes of a rainbow press journalist, had named Latinus as a son of Odysseus and Calypso and totally ignored that he was already the son of Kirke.

Hesiod, another one who prefers gossip over facts, is blustering about two sons, Nausithoos and Nausinoos. This was probably the version that came to the ears of Penelope.

In summary: This is one of the stories, constructed in a totally confused fashion, as we know them in great numbers from the Greek mythology; an antique myth-hoax, including the famous (and impossible) arrow shot contained therein.