Fall Final Exam - The Odyssey Character Description

Question 1

Aeolus

Answer 1

lord of the winds; gave Odysseus a bag of winds to sail home

Question 2

Scylla

Answer 2

6 headed monster lives on this island

Question 3

Charybdis

Answer 3

female monster who sucks water to form a deadly whirlpool

Question 4

Polyphemus

Answer 4

was blinded and said “No man” hurt him

Question 5

Tiresias

Answer 5

the blind prophet Odysseus sought in the Underworld

Question 6

Circe

Answer 6

turned Odysseus’ men into pigs

Question 7

Helios

Answer 7

owner of the sacred cattle that Odysseus’ men ate

Question 8

Persephone

Answer 8

Daughter of Demeter, Goddess of Harvest, and lived on Olympus with her mother

Question 9

Antinous

Answer 9

leader among the suitors

Question 10

Phaecia

Answer 10

Last destination of Odysseus in his 10-year journey before returning home to Ithaca.

Question 11

Laestrygonians

Answer 11

giant cannibals

Question 12

Homer

Answer 12

A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Question 13

Argus

Answer 13

Faithful dog of Odysseus who recognizes his master upon his return to Ithaca after 20 years of absence.

Question 14

Elpenor

Answer 14

Odysseus’ young soldier that appeared to him in the Underworld

Question 15

Sirens

Answer 15

half bird, half woman creature that lures sailors with their song

Question 16

Laertes

Answer 16

Odysseus’ father whose health is failing

Question 17

Anticlea

Answer 17

Odysseus’ mother, whom he didn’t know was dead, until he saw her in the Underworld

Question 18

Poseidon

Answer 18

god enemy of Odysseus; father to Polyphemus

Question 19

Penelope

Answer 19

weaves a funeral shroud by day, unweaves it by night

Question 20

Telemachus

Answer 20

the son who the suitors are plotting to murder

Question 21

Why is The Odyssey considered an epic?

Answer 21

• In the Odyssey it was believed through Greek culture that the Gods weren’t only there, but also influenced everyday lives of humans
• Odysseus was a great hero that was already famous to the Greeks
• Greeks believed in the same Gods that the characters believed in
• The Odyssey itself was written in an elevated (poetic) style, however our translation is not written this way

Question 22

What was the cause of the Trojan War?

Answer 22

According to the ancient Greek epic poet Homer, the Trojan War was caused by Paris, son of the Trojan king, and Helen, wife of the Greek king Menelaus, when they went off together to Troy.

Question 23

Troy is located in what modern area?

Answer 23

Troy was located along the northwest coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey.

Question 24

What is another name for Troy?

Answer 24

Ilion

Question 25

Who is the author of The Odyssey?

Answer 25

Homer

Question 26

What is an epic simile?

Answer 26

Epic simile. A detailed, often complex poetic comparison that unfolds over the course of several lines.

Question 27

What is personification?

Answer 27

Personification is a type of metaphor that gives human characteristics to inanimate objects and animals, such as emotions and behaviors.

Ex/ Darth Vader: Star Wars personification of the ‘dark side’.

Ex/ In the Odyssey, dawn is called ‘rosy-fingered’ and ‘child of the morning’. The Odyssey tells us that dawn ‘appeared’ in the early hours of the morning. Dawn was actually a goddess in Greek mythology, called Eos (Aurora in Latin). That is why dawn is personified and given human characteristics - because she was considered a goddess in a human-like form and with human-like traits.

Question 28

What is a metaphor?

Answer 28

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Ex/ In Star Wars, The struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire has been used as a metaphor for the struggle between oppressed and oppressor groups.

Ex/ In The Odyssey: “Nine years we wove a web of disaster.” (130) This metaphor is talking about the nine years that Odysseus and the Greeks fought the Trojans; pelting them with every tactic that they knew, being relentlessness and unforgiving.