The Odyssey Vocab

Question 1

Ilium

Answer 1

A name for the city of Troy.
The wind drove me out of Ilium and on to Ismarus.
Most people who watch the movie Troy don’t know that city is also known as Ilium.

Question 2

unscathed

Answer 2

Unharmed; Uninjured.
“And now, at long last, I might have reached my native land unscathed”.
It was a miracle that the man escaped the fight uninjured.

Question 3

lashed

Answer 3

to bind or fasten with a rope, line, or the like
“I hauled them fast under the rowing benches, lashed them fast and shouted out commands.”
The captives were bound with a rope to the tree.

Question 4

foreboding

Answer 4

an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil
I had a sudden foreboding that I would face a powerful enemy.
The Yankees see Rivera injury as a presentiment of coming problems.

Question 5

ruddy

Answer 5

of or having a fresh, healthy red color
But this time I lifted a carved wooden bowl, brimful of my ruddy wine.
The apple had a fresh, healthy red color.

Question 6

bolted

Answer 6

to proceed or move rapidly
The Cyclopes bolted down a bucket of human flesh.
When the bell rang, the students moved rapidly out of the school.

Question 7

libation

Answer 7

A pouring out of wine or other liquid in honor of a deity
I brought it here to make you a fine libation.
That pouring out of fine wine was wonderful.

Question 8

geyser

Answer 8

a spring that throws forth jets of water
From the cyclops eye came a geyser of blood
The volcano erupted and threw forth a jet of lava.

Question 9

prow

Answer 9

the forepart of a ship or boat; bow.
“He haved it sohard th boulder landed just in front of or dark prow.”
The bow of the boat crashed into the rocks.

Question 10

ramparts

Answer 10

a broad elevation or mound of earth raised as a fortification around a place and usually capped with a stone or earth parapet.
“and roundit all huge ramparts rise of indestructible bronze ad sherrock cliffs shoot up from sea to sky.”
The men charged up the elevated mound of earth.

Question 10

stern

Answer 10

the after part of a vessel
“And the boulder crashed close, landing just in the wake of our dark stern,”
It is usually smelliest part of a ship is in the after part of a vessel.

Question 11

sired

Answer 11

to beget; procreate as the father
“The king had sired twelve children within his halls”
He begot many children during his long life.

Question 12

waft

Answer 12

to carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water
Yet he set the West Winds free to blow us on our way and waft our squadron home
The boat floated on the water all the way home

Question 13

folly

Answer 13

stupidity, or a stupid action, idea, etc
His curses drove me from his halls and from there we pulled away with heavy hearts, with the crews’ spirit broken under the oars’ labor thanks to our own folly.”
Because of my own stupidity, I failed a test on The Odyssey.

Question 14

fathom

Answer 14

a unit of length equal to six feet
“… twisted a rope about a fathom long. “
My dad is a unit of six feet tall

Question 15

swine

Answer 15

pigs
The sorceress Circe turned “all of them bristling into swine”
The pigs rolled in the mud.

Question 16

sere

Answer 16

being dried and withered
Your spirits are haggard, sere, always brooding over your wanderings long and hard.
Dried and withered grapes become raisins.

Question 17

supplication

Answer 17

to ask humbly and earnestly of
“and the godess heard my winging supplication”
I ask you humbly and earnestly to please stop interrupting me.

Question 18

flitting

Answer 18

to move around rapidly and nimbly
“around his image he flitted to and fro.”
The birds moved around rapidly and nimbly.

Question 19

desolate

Answer 19

barren or laid waste; devastated
Your vessel will raise a desolate coast.
The place was empty and barren and nobody wanted to go in.

Question 20

Persephone

Answer 20

daughter of Zeus and Demeter
“You will raise a desolate coast and Persephone’s Grove…”
In Greek mythology, Persephone is queen of the underworld and a vegetation goddess.

Question 20

Gorgon

Answer 20

any of three sister monsters commonly represented as having snakes for hair, wings, brazen
claws, and eyes that turned anyone looking into them to stone.
“-panicked now that Queen Persephone might send up from Death some monstrous head, some Gorgon’s staring face!”
Perseus avoided eye contact Medusa, deadliest of the three sister monsters with eyes that turn anyone looking into them to stone and eventually beheaded her.

Question 21

transfix

Answer 21

to make or hold motionless with amazement, awe, or terror
The thrilling of the sirens will transfix him.
The shark was motionless because of the blinding light.

Question 21

grisly

Answer 21

inspiring disgust or distaste, inspiring horror or intense fear
“but she’s a grisly monster, I assure you.”
I saw a very disgusting and scary looking man in a white van the other day.

Question 21

maw

Answer 21

The mouth, throat or gullet of an animal, especially a carnivorous animal.
“Down her gaping maw the whole abyss lay bare.”
The man looked in the mouth of the carnivorous animal before he was bitten.

Question 21

angler

Answer 21

One who is fishing
An angler, poised on the rock, fligs his bait into the offshore swell.
The fisherman caught a nice 14 inch rainbow trout.