Question

Which sentence best summarizes this excerpt from Book 21 of the Odyssey?

This gift, long since when Sparta's shore he trod,
On young Ulysses Iphitus bestowed:
Beneath Orsilochus' roof they met;
One loss was private, one a public debt;
Messena's state from Ithaca detains
Three hundred sheep, and all the shepherd swains;
And to the youthful prince to urge the laws,
The king and elders trust their common cause.
But Iphitus, employed on other cares,
Search'd the wide country for his wandering mares,
And mules, the strongest of the labouring kind;
Hapless to search; more hapless still to find!
For journeying on to Hercules, at length
That lawless wretch, that man of brutal strength,
Deaf to Heaven's voice, the social rites transgress'd;
And for the beauteous mares destroy'd his guest.
He gave the bow; and on Ulysses' part
Received a pointed sword, and missile dart:
Of luckless friendship on a foreign shore
Their first, last pledges! for they met no more.
The bow, bequeath'd by this unhappy hand,
Ulysses bore not from his native land;
Nor in the front of battle taught to bend,
But kept in dear memorial of his friend.

1. Ulysses gets the bow from Iphitus as a token of their friendship.
2. Ulysses avenges Iphitus by attacking his murderer Hercules.
3. Ulysses marks his vow to see Iphitus again by gifting him a sword.
4. Ulysses helps Iphitus search for his strongest horses and donkeys.

Answer 1

I believe the answer is: 2. Ulysses avenges Iphitus by attacking his murderer Hercules.

Pay attention to these lines:

On young Ulysses Iphitus bestowed:

Beneath Orsilochus' roof they met;

One loss was private, one a public debt;

This lines indicated that the following action which made by the Ulysses would be driven by Ulysses' act of friendshup toward Iphitus who somehow loss in battle.

Now, pay attention to these lines:

For journeying on to Hercules, at length

That lawless wretch, that man of brutal strength,

Deaf to Heaven's voice, the social rites transgress'd;

And for the beauteous mares destroy'd his guest.

He gave the bow; and on Ulysses' part

Received a pointed sword, and missile dart:

These lines conveys that the target of Ulysses' action is Hercules who can be inferred as the one who defeat Iphitus in battle.

Answer 2

Based on Book 21 of the Odyssey, the sentence which best summarizes the excerpt is:

2. Ulysses avenges Iphitus by attacking his murderer Hercules.

In the first half of the excerpt the friendship between Ulysses and Iphitus was described as long-lasting. On the second half of the excerpt, when Iphitus was killed by Hercules, Ulysses vowed to avenge for his friend's death by journeying to the enemy's homeland.