Horror swept through the suitors, faces blanching white,
and Zeus cracked the sky with a bolt, his blazing sign,
and the great man who had borne so much rejoiced at last
that the son of cunning Cronus flung that omen down for him.
He snatched a winged arrow lying bare on the board –
the rest still bristled deep inside the quiver,
soon to be tasted by all the feasters there.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 21, lines 459-465. With none of the suitors capable of stringing Odysseus’ bow and shooting an arrow through all the axes, Odysseus-the-beggar manages to do so. The suitors’ faces turn white with fear and Zeus sends down a thunderbolt as an omen. We are told that the arrows in Odysseus’ quiver are bristling to be tasted by all the feasters. This suggests the deserved end that will be served up to the suitors for their gluttony and greed in Odysseus’ house.