There, as the whirlpool drank the tide, a billow

tossed me, and i sprang for the great fig tree,

catching on like a bat under a bough.

nowhere had i to stand, no way of climbing,

the root and bole being far below, and far

above my head the branches and their leaves,

massed, overshadowing charybdis pool.

but i clung grimly, thinking my mast and keel

would come back to the surface when she spouted.

and ah! how long, with what desire, i waited!

till, at the twilight hour, when one who hears

and judges pleas in the marketplace all day

between contentious men, goes home to supper,

the long poles at last reared from the sea.

–the odyssey,
homer

select the best choice from each drop-down menu.

what is the conflict in this passage?

what theme is best shown by the conflict?