In Book 21 of The Odyssey, Ulysses is shown to be the only one capable of stringing and drawing his old bow to emerge victorious in the test that spectacularly reveals his identity to the suitors of his wife and kingdom, whom he later massacres. That moment of reunion with the formidable weapon is one of Homer’s finest moments (and the poet had many): “So did Odysseus string the great bow, with effortless ease. Shifting the grip to his right hand he tested the string. With a pluck: it twanged, shrill, like a twittering swallow.” The scene is simultaneously moving and foundational in The Return, the extraordinary film by Uberto Pasolini that recreates the final section The Odyssey, starring Ralph Fiennes as a broken Ulysses covered in physical and emotional scars, his eyes still red with the blood of Troy, who nevertheless regains his integrity and power with the bow in his hands.

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