Did Shakespeare have the conclusion of the ODYSSEY in mind when he wrote MV? The last line of the first conversation in MV reads: "Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable." Though Nestor only appears briefly in the ODYSSEY, he is a major character in the ILIAD and the last line of Fitzgerald's translation of the ODYSSEY reads: "though still she kept the form and voice of Mentor." Portia disguises herself as a male authority figure. Portia, like Penelope, is beset with many suitors. Shylock's "there be land-rats and water-rats, land-thieves and water-thieves"(1.3.21 or so) corresponds to "master of land ways and sea ways." In the scene that immediately precedes the court scene in MV, we find mention of Scylla and Charybdis, which Professor Bevington noted is found in the ODYSSEY, 12.255.