The Odyssey

Question 1

Who is Antinous?

Answer 1

Leader of the suitors

Question 2

Who is Argus?

Answer 2

Odysseus’s loyal dog

Question 3

Who is Athena?

Answer 3

She is a goddess of strategy that helped Odysseus

Question 4

Who is Calypso?

Answer 4

Sea goddess that loved Odysseus

Question 5

Who is Charybdis?

Answer 5

It was a dangerous whirlpool that Odysseus avoided

Question 6

Who is Circe?

Answer 6

Enchantress who helped Odysseus, ruled Aeaea, and turned half of the men to swine

Question 7

What is an Epithet?

Answer 7

Descriptive phrase of a quality of a person or thing mentioned

Question 8

What is a flashback?

Answer 8

Someone thinking of their past

Question 9

Who is Helen?

Answer 9

She started the Trojan War because she was the most beautiful woman in the world

Question 10

Who is Helios?

Answer 10

He is the Sun god and Odysseus killed his cattle

Question 11

Who is Laertes?

Answer 11

Odysseus’s Father

Question 12

Who is Odysseus?

Answer 12

Protagonist of The Odyssey; King of Ithica

Question 13

Who is Penelope?

Answer 13

Odysseus’s wife

Question 14

Who is Polyphemus?

Answer 14

Cyclops that imprisoned Odysseus

Question 15

Who is Poseidon?

Answer 15

god of sea, earthquakes, horses, and storms, and he hated Odysseus

Question 16

Who is Scylla?

Answer 16

The sea monster that ate Odysseus’s men

Question 17

Who are the sirens?

Answer 17

Creatures who sing songs to lead sailors to there death

Question 18

Who is Telemachus?

Answer 18

Odysseus’s and Penelope’s son

Question 19

Who is Zues?

Answer 19

King of all gods

Question 20

How did Odysseus try to avoid war?

Answer 20

By pretending to be insane

Question 21

How did Telemachus help Odysseus get his revenge?

Answer 21

He took the suitor’s weapons (all but 2 of each thing) so they could use them to win. He waited for Odysseus’s signal

Question 22

How does Odysseus defeat Polyphemus? Why does he allow him to live?

Answer 22

He blinds him by stabbing hot coals in one of his eyes. He then hides all of his men underneath the sheep and rides out the next morning

Question 23

How does Penelope deceive the suitors?

Answer 23

She pretends to be weaving everyday. She tells the suitors to let her finish, and then she will marry. But everyday, she un-weaves her work, so she will never finish.

Question 24

How is Lotus a threat to Odysseus and his men?

Answer 24

It makes them lose their desire to go home

Question 25

How is the land of Cyclopes described and how is it different from traditional Greek culture of this time?

Answer 25

All the Cyclops live in their own caves, according to their own rules. There is no civilization

Question 26

In which places does Odysseus lose all of his men?

Answer 26

Passing by Scylla, in te Cyclops cave….etc

Question 27

What are myths?

Answer 27

a traditional story involving supernatural beings or events

Question 28

What contests or impossible task does Penelope propose for the suitors?

Answer 28

They have to string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow through 12 ax handles

Question 29

What do Circe and the Sirens have in common?

Answer 29

They both tempt men

Question 30

What does Circe turn Odysseus’s men into?

Answer 30

Swine (pigs)

Question 31

What does Odysseus try to do when he meets the ghost of his mother?

Answer 31

He tries to hug her, but fails because she is only a ghost

Question 32

What gift does the Cyclops promise to Odysseus in return for the wine?

Answer 32

That Odysseus will be eaten last

Question 33

What happens in the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Answer 33

The men don’t want to leave

Question 34

What happens to Argos when he finally sees his master?

Answer 34

He dies

Question 35

What happens to the suitors?

Answer 35

Odysseus kills them

Question 36

What is an epic?

Answer 36

A long narrative poem that tells of the adventures of Heroes across great spans of time and place

Question 37

What is Odysseus best known for during the Trojan war?

Answer 37

The Trojan Horse

Question 38

What leadership quality does Odysseus portray when he chooses Scylla over Charybdis?

Answer 38

Sacrifice

Question 39

What literary device is used in the curse of the Cyclops?

Answer 39

Foreshadowing

Question 40

What role does Athena play at the resolution of the epic?

Answer 40

She demands peace in the Kingdom after the slaughter

Question 41

What was his biggest mistake on his journey home?

Answer 41

Telling Polyphemus his name

Question 42

Where do Telemachus and Odysseus finally meet?

Answer 42

Odysseus’s hut in Eumaeus

Question 43

Where does the Beggar go after Antinous hits him with a stool?

Answer 43

To penelopes palace to “evaluate” her loyalty

Question 44

Where is Odysseus when he is first introduced?

Answer 44

At sea on his way to Cyclopes

Question 45

Where is Odysseus home?

Answer 45

Ithaca

Question 46

Which god works against Odysseus?

Answer 46

Poseidon

Question 47

Which of Homer’s epics is a primary model for a long journey or for War?

Answer 47

The Illiad or The Odyssey

Question 48

Who composed the Odyssey?

Answer 48

Homer

Question 49

Why does Penelope not trust Odysseus when he first reveals himself to her?

Answer 49

He had been gone for so long and there had been previous imposters

Question 50

Why is the story of Argus important?

Answer 50

It shows that the dog was more loyal than the men

Question 51

What are some characteristics of a hero?

Answer 51

• often of obscure or mysterious origin
• neither fools or invincible
• called upon to make a journey or follow a goal or quest
• Their ways are not always direct or clear to themselves
• beset to danger, loneliness and temptation

Question 52

What are some characteristics of an epic

Answer 52

• A vast setting
• Supernatural Forces
• Actions that consist of deeds or great valor or those requiring superhuman courage or strength
• A hero or imposing stature, broad Importance and/or legendary status