Odysseus shoots an arrow through twelve axe heads in the bow contest of the Odyssey. Penelope announces the challenge after years of resisting the suitors who have occupied Odysseus's palace.
The contestants must first string Odysseus's exceptionally powerful bow and then send an arrow through the aligned openings of twelve axe heads. These were not twelve solid blades that the arrow had to smash through; the feat is generally understood as a shot through the holes where the axe handles would be fitted.
The suitors cannot even string the bow. Odysseus, still disguised as an old beggar, asks to try. Once the bow is in his hands, he strings it effortlessly and sends the arrow cleanly through all twelve targets. The shot confirms his identity to the audience and marks the beginning of his attack on the suitors.
The scene occurs in Book 21 of the epic. Telemachus helps prepare the contest, and then joins Odysseus in the violent reckoning that follows.