All 6 Uses of
guile
in
The Odyssey
- This was her latest masterpiece of guile:
she set up a great loom in the royal halls
and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun,
the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: 'Young men,
my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more,
go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until
I can finish off this web ...
so my weaving won't all fray and come to nothing.†p. 96.4
- And these brutes here, just wait, the moment you're gone
they'll all be scheming against you. Kill you by guile,
they will, and carve your birthright up in pieces.p. 104.9 *guile = cunning (shrewdness and cleverness) and deceit
- This snare the Firegod forged, ablaze with his rage at War,
then limped to the room where the bed of love stood firm
and round the posts he poured the chains in a sweeping net
with streams of others flowing down from the roofbeam,
gossamer-fine as spider webs no man could see,
not even a blissful god—
the Smith had forged a masterwork of guile.†p. 200.6
- Her words went flying straight toward Odysseus:
"Any man—any god who met you—would have to be
some champion lying cheat to get past you
for all-round craft and guile!†p. 296.1
- Odysseus' heart went out to his grief-stricken wife
but under his lids his eyes remained stock-still—
they might have been horn or iron—
his guile fought back his tears.†p. 397.6
- This was her latest masterpiece of guile:
she set up a great loom in the royal halls
and she began to weave, and the weaving finespun,
the yarns endless, and she would lead us on: 'Young men,
my suitors, now that King Odysseus is no more,
go slowly, keen as you are to marry me, until
I can finish off this web ...
so my weaving won't all fray and come to nothing.†p. 472.4
Definition:
cunning (shrewdness and cleverness) and deceitful