The Odyssey Chapters 1-5

Question 0

kleos

Answer 0

The Greek word often translated to “renown”, or “glory”.

Question 1

in media res

Answer 1

Latin phrase for “In the midst of things”

Question 2

Achaeans

Answer 2

Achaeans were the inhabitants of the region of Achaea, a region in the north-central part of the Peloponnese.

Question 3

Antinous

Answer 3

Son of Eupeithes; Antinous is presented as a violent, mean-spirited, and overly-confident character who willfully defiles Odysseus’ home while the hero is lost at sea.

Question 4

Calypso

Answer 4

She was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained Odysseus for several years. She is generally said to be the daughter of the Titan Atlas.

Question 5

Eurycleia

Answer 5

The daughter of Ops and granddaughter of Peisenor, as well as the wet-nurse of Odysseus.

Question 6

Lacedaemon

Answer 6

Was mythical king of Laconia and son of the chief god Zeus and the Pleaid Taygete.

Question 7

Orestes

Answer 7

He was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.

Question 8

Telemacus

Answer 8

He was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.

Question 9

Nestor

Answer 9

He was the son of Neleus and Chloris and the King of Pylos. He became king after Heracles killed Neleus and all of Nestor’s siblings.

Question 10

Epic Poem

Answer 10

It is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation

Question 11

Epithet

Answer 11

As in “rosy-fingered” dawn or “swift-footed” Achilles.

Question 12

Aegisthus

Answer 12

He’s the son of Thyestes and of Thyestes’ daughter, Pelopia.

Question 13

Athena

Answer 13

She’s the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

Question 14

Clytemnestra

Answer 14

In ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, ruler of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. Her role in Agamemnon’s death is unclear and her character is significantly more subdued.

Question 15

Helen

Answer 15

She was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was a sister of Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnestra. In Greek myths she was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War.

Question 16

Menelaus

Answer 16

He was a king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, and a central figure in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus and Aerope, brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and, according to the Iliad, leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the War.

Question 17

Penelope

Answer 17

She is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually reunited with him.

Question 18

Odysseus

Answer 18

He was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and a hero of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer’s Iliad and other works in that same Epic Cycle.

Question 19

Athene(a)

Answer 19

Zeus’s daughter Athene may be the patroness of warfare but she’s also the goddess of wisdom. And having Athena on your side is a definite plus: she helps him do everything from winning favors to devising plans.

Question 20

Hubris

Answer 20

Excessive pride or self-confidence

Question 21

Epic Simile

Answer 21

A formal sustained comparison of two subjects that elaborates the secondary subject so vividly that it temporally eclipses the primary subject.

Question 22

Agamemnon

Answer 22

He was the son of king Atreus and queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra and the father of Iphigenia, Electra or Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. When Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was abducted by Paris of Troy, Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed forces in the ensuing Trojan War.

Question 23

Atreus

Answer 23

He was a king of Mycenae, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Question 24

Eidothea

Answer 24

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Question 25

Ithaca

Answer 25

An island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece

Question 26

Mentor

Answer 26

He was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus or Heracles and Asopis. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus’ foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus’ palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.

Question 27

Proteus

Answer 27

It is an early sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the “Old Man of the Sea”.

Question 28

Eurymachus

Answer 28

Son of Polybus; he is arrogant, disrespectful, and consumes food and drink without the slightest reciprocation. He is noteworthy for being manipulative and deceitful, at one point even fooling Penelope into thinking him without ill-intent.