Odysseus's Journey Flashcards
Odysseus
The protagonist of the story. Lives in Ithaca and takes a long journey to return home from Troy.
Troy
The beginning of Odysseus’ journey. He was there because he had fought in the Trojan war.
Ismara
The city that Odysseus and his crew ransacked for their goods. They slept on the beach and the people of Ismara attacked them, killing many.
Island of the Lotus Eaters
The crew stopped at this island to explore it, but the search party never returned, they were found eating lotus flowers with the natives. The flowers caused extreme apathy and no one wanted to continue sailing. Odysseus and his men had to drag the crew against their will to begin sailing again.
The Island of Polyphemus
The crew was captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus and he devoured two of the crew every day. Odysseus tricked him by getting him drunk, and stabbing out his eye.
Aeolia
The crew stopped here to get help from the wind god Aeolus and he gave them a bag of winds that would take them home. The crew were dumb and opened the bag releasing the winds and blowing them all the way back to Aeolia, Ithaca was in sight when this happened. Aeolus refused to help them again due to their stupidity.
Telepylos
They passed the island of the Laestrygonians and all of the ships were sunk except for one. They achieved this feat by throwing rocks at the ships.
Aeaea
This island is the home of Circe, she turned all of the men into pigs except Odysseus who ate moly to resist the magic. Circe turned all of the pigs back into men, and they stayed with her for a year.
Circe
Circe is a cunning witch goddess that has unbelievable magic. She turned all of Odysseus’ crew into pigs.
The Underworld
Odysseus went to the underworld to seek the help of Tiresias
The Sirens
The Sirens were a beautiful group of girls with voices that were so charming and powerful, their prey would come straight to them with no fear or questions asked. Odysseus made his crew plug their ears so they would not hear it, and he ordered them to tie him to the mast so he would not go to the Sirens when he heard their music. When he heard their song, he begged to be cut free, but the men wouldn’t. They all survived.
Scylla and Charybdis
These two monsters guarded the sea. Scylla had 6 heads that picked crew members off of the boat. Charybdis was a giant whirlpool that consumed ships. Odysseus stayed closer to Scylla and lost 6 crew members that day.
Thrinacia
This is the island of the sun god helios. Odysseus and his men ate the sacred cows, and the god killed everyone except Odysseus.
Ogygia
Helios flung him off of the island and he washed ashore on Calypso’s island. She made him prisoner there until Zeus intervened and made her release him. She sent him away on a raft with food, water, and wine
Scheria
On his raft, Odysseus was met with storms, and he washed up on the island of Scheria where the king and queen welcomed him. They also escorted him to Ithaca.
