Odyssey 8.223 · Book 8, lines 223–228
But not against the men of old
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ἀνδράσι δὲ προτέροισιν ἐριζέμεν οὐκ ἐθελήσω, οὔθʼ Ἡρακλῆι οὔτʼ Εὐρύτῳ Οιχαλιῆι, οἵ ῥα καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν ἐρίζεσκον περὶ τόξων. τῷ ῥα καὶ αἶψʼ ἔθανεν μέγας Εὔρυτος, οὐδʼ ἐπὶ γῆρας ἵκετʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι· χολωσάμενος γὰρ Ἀπόλλων ἔκτανεν, οὕνεκά μιν προκαλίζετο τοξάζεσθαι.
But with the men of former times I will not wish to contend, neither with Heracles nor with Eurytus of Oechalia, who even with the immortals kept contending about the bow. And so great Eurytus quickly died, nor did he come to old age in his halls; for Apollo, grown angry, slew him, because he had challenged him to shoot the bow.
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The setting
Odysseus draws the line of his boast: he will not match himself against the great archers of the past. He recalls Eurytus of Oechalia, who dared to challenge the gods at archery and was killed by Apollo for it.
A note on this passage
Having claimed first place among the living, Odysseus refuses to reach further. The heroes of former days — Heracles, Eurytus — he leaves alone, for they strove even against the gods. Eurytus is the warning: he challenged the archer-god himself and died young for it, cut down by Apollo before old age could find him at home.
The restraint is the point. Odysseus, of all men, knows what the gods do to mortals who forget their place, and he has felt Poseidon's hand at sea. The tale of Eurytus is a small mirror held up mid-boast: pride in the bow is fine, but the man who aims it at heaven does not live to grow old.
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