Winnowing Oar

The Winnowing Oar (athereloigos - Greek ἀθηρηλοιγός) is an object that appears in Books XI and XXIII of Homer's Odyssey.

[1] In the epic, Odysseus is instructed by Tiresias to take an oar from his ship and to walk inland until he finds a "land that knows nothing of the sea", where the oar would be mistaken for a winnowing shovel.

At this point, he is to offer a sacrifice to Poseidon, and then at last his journeys would be over.

I'm marching inland from the shore, over m' shoulder I'm carrying an oar, When someone asks me: "What - is that funny thing you've got?"

Then I know I'll never go to sea no more, no more, Then I know I'll never go to sea no more!

Oar-shaped winnowing shovels