Odyssey Study Questions Flashcards
What is Odysseus motivation for getting home?
Penelope and his child.
To whom is Homer praying?
A muse, epic poetry
Who is Odysseus divine guardian, and what effect does this have on him?
Athena, she gives him protection
Why is Odysseus held captive by calypso? How long was he with her?
She wanted to be loved/ lust… She had him for 7 years
Why do the gods help Odysseus?
They felt bad because there supposed to help the humans.
Where is Odysseus when the readers are first introduced to him? What is he doing? How is he treated?
He’s with a king telling him a story. He was treated kindly
What happened at the land of the Cicones?
They got attacked when the were drunk and lost 100 men
What happens to the men who eat the lotus and where is this plant found later in the story?
The men lose there desire to go home. The lotus flower was seen on the ship
Why does Odysseus go to the cyclops cave?
Curiosity
How does Odysseus greet Polyphemus upon first meeting him?
He talks about wining the battle of Troy
Why can’t Odysseus and his men leave the cave?
The rock is covering the entrance and they can’t push it.
In the Cyclopes episode, how does Odysseus show that he is clever with language?
When he first greeted him he said his name was “nohbody”
How does Odysseus trick Polyphemus to get out of the cave?
He tried him and his men to the sheep so Polyphemus (blind) couldn’t feel him.
What ultimately leads to the downfall of Polyphemus and Odysseus?
Polyphemus got drunk
What is Odysseus attitude when leaving the Cyclops’ island?
He’s prideful
What curse at the end of the cyclops adventure foreshadows trouble?
He hopes he gets home and every thing is different that his wife will remarry and his son won’t remember him.
Why doesn’t Poseidon want Odysseus to succeed?
He just blinded Poseidons kid
What conclusion about the deceptive nature of beauty can you draw from the episode involving Circe?
The beauty is dangerous
Why is Odysseus to with stand the magical powers of Circe
He ate what a God gave him
What did Odysseus learn from Teiresias in the land of the dead?
How to get home and to avoid Helios island
What did Teiresias and Circe warn Odysseus about Helios cattle
Don’t eat the cattle
Why doesn’t Odysseus tell his men that they won’t make it home alive?
Because they would panic
Faded with the choice between Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus choices Scylla. He knows that six of his men will not make it yet he withhold this information from the crew, why?
If the men knew that they would die they wouldn’t go so there scared
While him men are getting eaten by Scylla, Odysseus believes This is the worst sight he had witnessed?
Because this is his fault
