Both Uses of
wield
in
The Odyssey, by Homer (translated by: Butcher & Lang)
- 'There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a golden sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the dead, while they sat and stood around the prince, asking his dooms through the wide-gated house of Hades.†
Book 11 *wielding = holding and using, or having with the ability to use
- And as for thee, helmsman, thus I charge thee, and ponder it in thine heart seeing that thou wieldest the helm of the hollow ship.†
Book 12wieldest = hold and use, or have and are able to usestandard suffix: Today, the suffix "-est" is dropped, so that where they said "Thou wieldest" in older English, today we say "You wield."
Definition:
to have or use
The exact meaning of wield can depend upon its context. For example:
- "to wield an ax" -- to have it in hand
- "to wield power or influence" -- to have or exercise power or influence