Read the excerpt from The Odyssey. Reaching the gate, Odysseus and the forester halted and stood outside, for harp notes came around them rippling on the air as Phemios picked out a song. Odysseus caught his companion's arm and said: "My friend, here is the beautiful place-who could mistake it?" In this excerpt, the harp's music is a symbol of Odysseus's patience and endurance. long journey back home. reunion with old colleagues. happiness upon returning home.