Odyssey

Question 1

muse

Answer 1

goddess made to be an inspiration for the arts

Question 1

what does the cover of the Odyssey represent

Answer 1

a long way home

Question 2

bard

Answer 2

acted out story

Question 3

what happened to the Library of Alexandra

Answer 3

burnt down

Question 4

how was the Odyssey told?

Answer 4

• sung/acted by a bard
• formulae and epithets
• long repetitions

Question 5

formulae

Answer 5

set of words or phrases that are used repeatedly in a particular context

Question 6

epithets

Answer 6

adjectives or phrases that are used to describe a person, place, or thing in a vivid and memorable way

• Wide-seeing Zeus.
• White-armed Hera.
• Bright-eyed Athena

Question 7

Odysseus’ time

Answer 7

• end of the Mycenaean period
• around 1120 BCE

Question 8

Mycenaean Civilization

Answer 8

• military culture, tall walls lots of weapons
• Trojan War was at the end of the Myceneaen

Question 9

what is the validity of the Odyssey

Answer 9

not myth or history, but a communal understanding of their shared past

Question 10

In Medias Res

Answer 10

in the middle of things

Question 11

Background of the Odyssey

Answer 11

• Achilles parents got married but didnt invite Eris
• she brought an apple for the most beautiful and the goddesses fight
• Paris gives the apple to Aphrodite because she offers his the most beautiful women
• Paris steals Helen from Menelaus
• 10 years at Troy!

Question 12

what does Paris “acquiring” Helen from Menelaus demonstrate?

Answer 12

• crime against xenia (sacred institution of hospitality; guest/host bond)
• problematic marriages

Question 13

how must an epic end

Answer 13

when the critical issue(s) pertaining to the first word somehow finds resolution

Question 14

xenia

Answer 14

sacred institution of hospitality; guest/host bond

Question 15

“Into the woods”

Answer 15

• metaphor for “shit is gonna go down”
• dangerous things in the woods
• no civilization
• “woods”: mountain, desert, sea
• dangers: losing life and oneself

Question 16

Odysseus and Calypso eating

Answer 16

• odysseus eats normal food and calypso eats food for gods
• they can never “share” a meal

Question 17

Lotus eaters

Answer 17

when you eat lotus you lose your will to keep going

Question 18

Polyphemus

Answer 18

• Cyclops
• lives on an island blessed by the gods
• eats people

Question 19

what did Odysseus do wrong at cyclops island?

Answer 19

• he broke xenia by going into the cave and taking cheese
• he blinded the cyclops
• he taunted the cyclops
• he lost many men and the cyclops threw rocks at them

Question 20

What does Polyphemus have to eat and why is that important?

Answer 20

• he eats cheese they make and lambs provided by the gods
• also kids
• it is important because he doesn’t have to work for it

Question 21

what was odysseus big mistake with polyphemus?

Answer 21

• His men told him to leave but he wanted to see if polyphemus would show him xenia
• but ofc he doesnt because he is a cyclops

Question 22

what happens with the bag of wind and why is it important

Answer 22

• Aeolus gives Odysseus the bag of wind to get home
• when they are close to ithaca Odysseus falls asleep
• his crew think he has treasure in the bag and doesn’t want to share
• they open the bag while he is asleep and they get blown back to Aeolia
• it is important because it shows Odysseus lack of trust in his men, he didn’t sleep because he wanted to sail

Question 23

what happens on the island of Laestrygones?

Answer 23

• they sail here after being kicked out by Aeolus
• they are attacked by the giants who destroy 11/12 ships
• after this they reach Aeaea where Circe lives

Question 24

what happens on Aeaea?

Answer 24

• they meet Circe
• she turns Odysseus’s men into pigs (hermes helps O not turn into a pig)
• He makes her turn all his men back
• they stay for a year and then she tells him to go to the underworld to find his way home

Question 25

what happens in the underworld?

Answer 25

• he performs a sacrifice and summon the prophet Tiresias
• he tells odysseus how to get home

Question 26

what does odysseus do in between the underworld and returning to ithaca?

Answer 26

• Sirens
• Island of Helios
• Island of Phaeacians

Question 27

what happens with the sirens?

Answer 27

Odysseus ties himself to the mast but puts wax in his crews’ ears

Question 28

what happens on the island of Helios?

Answer 28

• Odysseus and his crew are stranded there for a month due to storm
• O tells his men not to eat the cattle, but while O is praying they kill and eat one
• Zues then strikes his ship killing everyone but him
• he eventually washes up on Calypso’s island

Question 29

what happens on calypso’s island?

Answer 29

• she keeps him captive for 7 years
• she offers him him a plentiful life but he decides he needs to go home
• he makes a raft but Zeus wrecks it and he washes up on the land of the Phaeacians

Question 30

what happens on Scheria (land of Phaecians)?

Answer 30

• he is rescued by Nausicaa (daughter of king Alcinous)
• they welcome O and he tells them his story of the Trojan war and adventures
• they build him a ship and give him food and supplies
• he arrives home to ithaca after 10 years

Question 31

Epic Heroism Goal

Answer 31

• tangible items: war prizes, trophies, and xenia gifts which show what you have accomplished
• acquiring these items leads to the acquisition of glory/fame
• goal is to get enough glory and you can become “immortal”, meaning people remember you
• Dark irony of an afterlife where you—and everyone else—can’t remember who you are

Question 32

what is the problem with Odysseus’s leadership?

Answer 32

• he gives into the need for glory
• gloats at Polyphemus and then Zues makes a bad storm
• can he control his men?
• they don’t have total faith in him
• they opened the bag of wind neat ithaca because they thought he was hiding treasure
• they ate the sacred cattle when he told them not to

Question 34

is Odysseus shown xenia at home?

Answer 34

not by the suitors but by penelope

Question 35

why does Odysseus fight a beggar?

Answer 35

because Irus is a beggar known for picking fights

Question 36

Penelope Question

Answer 36

• When exactly does Penelope know the Stranger is Odysseus?
• Is she faking not recognizing him?
• She asks for a challenge (who can shoot the arrow through the axes) to decide who she marries

Question 37

how is the epic resolved?

Answer 37

When Odysseus kills the suitors and takes back his kingdom he becomes a man again resolving “The man”

Question 38

what happens with Telemachusand the challenge/

Answer 38

• he wants to string the bow to be man-like and like Odysseus
• it looks like he is about to do it and then Odysseus tells him no

Question 39

Polis

Answer 39

• city state
• community with shared customs, laws, army, etc.