All 4 Uses of
invoke
in
The Odyssey
- And once your prayers
have invoked the nations of the dead in their dim glory,
slaughter a ram and a black ewe, turning both their heads
toward Erebus, but turn your head away, looking toward
the Ocean River.†p. 246.9 *invoked = called upon
- And once my vows
and prayers had invoked the nations of the dead,
I took the victims, over the trench I cut their throats
and the dark blood flowed in—and up out of Erebus they came,
flocking toward me now, the ghosts of the dead and gone ...
Brides and unwed youths and old men who had suffered much
and girls with their tender hearts freshly scarred by sorrow
and great armies of battle dead, stabbed by bronze spears,
men of war still wrapped in bloody armor—thousands
swarming around the trench from every side—
unearthly cries—blanching terror gripped me!†p. 250.7
- No, row for your lives,
invoke Brute Force, I tell you, Scylla's mother—
she spawned her to scourge mankind,
she can stop the monster's next attack!†p. 275.3invoke = call upon
- He stood on native ground at last
and he replied with a winging word to Pallas,
not with a word of truth—he choked it back,
always invoking the cunning in his heart:
"Ithaca ...yes, I seem to have heard of Ithaca,
even on Crete's broad island far across the sea,
and now I've reached it myself, with all this loot,
but I left behind an equal measure for my children.†p. 294.9invoking = calling upon
Definition:
to call upon
The exact meaning of invoke can depend upon its context. For example:
- "invoking God's help"; or "invoking the spirit of the dead" -- to call upon a great or magical power
- "I invoke the First Amendment"; or "I invoke the words of Thomas Jefferson" -- to cite or call upon for validation
- "She invoked his sympathy and family memories." -- to call upon someone's feelings or memories
- "She invoked his assistance." -- to call earnestly for
- "The program invokes the subroutine" -- to call up a computer program