In his epic poems, Homer often chooses common objects to symbolically encapsulate many story themes. In the Iliad, a golden scepter studded with nails embodies the main themes of the epic, and the marriage bed of Odysseus and Penelope plays the same role in the Odyssey. Through careful examination, it is evident that the themes of both epics are reflected in their respective symbolic objects. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Book XXIII of the Odyssey, Penelope tricks Odysseus into describing their single marriage bed. This is a wise ploy because only Odysseus knows the details of their bed since he built it himself (“I myself, no other man, have made it” Line 189). The bed is unique in construction; one of the uprights is the trunk of an olive tree, thus making the bed immovable. The permanence of the bed is a shadow of the greatness of Ulysses. The bed remained in place for 20 years, and although Odysseus has been gone for 20 years, he has never relinquished control over his property and has now come to re-establish himself as the rightful ruler. Furthermore, the construction of the bed from an olive tree evokes images of home and contentment; Olive trees are native to Greece and often symbolize peace in Greek mythology. The bed represents the intimacy between Ulysses and Penelope; they consecrated their marriage on that bed, and are supposedly the only two people to have ever slept there ("no other mortal near him ever saw him, but only you and I" ln. 226). Odysseus says that the doors of the inner chamber were "[mounted] close together," just as Penelope and Odysseus are metaphorically fitted in their marriage. The bed can be seen to represent the oikos, or home. Ulysses does not speak of "a" bed; he talks about "his" bed, the one that is inside his house. He asks himself: “Who put my bed in another place?” (Ln 184). It is almost as if the house is not important to Ulysses, but rather his bed. The bed is at the center of the house, the oikos, and can be seen as the center of Ulysses. He says, "I laid out my chamber round this, and built it, till I finished it, with stones close together, and covered it well,/And added the doors compacted, which fit closely together" (line 192-194). Physically the bed is at the center, which means that Odysseus' bed is the center of his oikos. Equally important is the role of the bed in representing Ulysses' power. Whoever sleeps in the master's bed is responsible for the estate. Since Penelope has not allowed anyone else to sleep in Odysseus' bed, he is still, albeit in absentia, in power and responsible for his land and home (although the suitors have tested this power). His control is later asserted by the annihilation of the pretenders and his re-establishment as lord. Turning to the Iliad, we see that the scepter that Achilles throws to the ground in Book I is as symbolically important within the epic as Odysseus' bed is in The Odyssey. This unique scepter expresses the importance of Achilles because only a select few can use it. Homer explicitly describes the ownership of the scepter starting from Agamemnon: "The powerful Agamemnon/stood up holding the scepter that Hephaestus had crafted with care/Hephaestus gave it to king Zeus, son of Cronus/and Zeus in turn gave it to the courier Argeiphon,/and the lord Hermes gave it to Pelops, driver of horses,/and Pelops gave it again to Atreus, shepherd of the people" (book II, lns 100-105). Most of its previous owners were gods; the fact that the mortal Achilles is in possession of it amplifies the audience's view of Achilles as divine. Just like the bed of.