Homer · tr. Bryant, 1871

Book XXI · The Suitors Fail · Scene 1 of 3

Order of the Contest

Antinoüs directs suitors’ attempts

Who is here

The text

10He spoke, and setting down the bow to lean
Against the firm smooth panels of the wall,
And the swift shaft against the bow’s fair curve,
He took again his seat upon the throne
From which he rose. And then Eupeithes’ son,
Antinous, to the crowd of suitors said: —

11“Rise one by one, my friends, from right to left.
Begin where he begins who pours the wine.”

Homer, The Odyssey, translated by William Cullen Bryant, 1871. Public domain.