The Wanderings of Odysseus

Question 1

After the fall of Troy what did Odysseus do?

Answer 1

Odysseus spent 10 years sailing back to his home in Ithaca.

Question 2

What land did he come to first?

Answer 2

The land of the Lotus Eaters.

Question 3

What did eating the Lotus Flower do to people?

Answer 3

Made them lose all desire to return home.

Question 4

What land did he come to after the Lotus Eaters?

Answer 4

The land of the Cyclopes.

Question 5

Which cyclops did he meet?

Answer 5

Polyphemus.

Question 6

Where was Odysseus trapped with Polyphemus?

Answer 6

In his cave.

Question 7

How many of Odysseus’s men did Polyphemus eat?

Answer 7

6 men.

Question 8

What did Odysseus tell Polyphemus that his name was?

Answer 8

Nobody.

Question 9

What did Odysseus blind Polyphemus with?

Answer 9

A stake.

Question 10

What did Polyphemus say when people came to help him?

Answer 10

Nobody was hurting him.

Question 11

How did Odysseus and his men escape from the cave?

Answer 11

Tied under the bellies of Polyphemus’s sheep.

Question 12

What did Polyphemus do after Odysseus sailed away?

Answer 12

He asked Poseidon, his father, to put a curse on him.

Question 13

Which land did Odysseus come to after he left Polyphemus?

Answer 13

The island of Aeolus, king of the winds.

Question 14

What was in the bag that Aeolus gave to Odysseus?

Answer 14

Every wind was trapped in it other than the one needed to travel home to Ithaca.

Question 15

What did Odysseus’s men think the bag from Aeolus contained?

Answer 15

Gold. They opened it and were promptly blown back to Ithaca.

Question 16

What happened when he reached the land of Laestrygonians?

Answer 16

Almost all his men were eaten and all by Odysseus’s ship was destroyed.

Question 17

Where did he go after the land of the Laestrygonians?

Answer 17

They came to the island where the enchantress Circe lived.

Question 18

Who did the enchantress Circe turn into pigs?

Answer 18

A band of men led by Eurylochus.

Question 19

How did Odysseus help the men that Circe had turned into pigs?

Answer 19

Odysseus, Hermes and a magic plant called Moly turned the men back into humans.

Question 20

what did Circe advise Odysseus to do?

Answer 20

Visit the underworld and consult Tiresias the prophet.

Question 21

What advice did Tiresias give to Odysseus?

Answer 21

He warned Odysseus of the dangers ahead and not to harm the cattle of the Sun.

Question 22

What measures did Odysseus take when he sailed past the sirens?

Answer 22

He told all his men to put wax in their ears and to tie him to the mast of the ship.

Question 23

Where did Odysseus sail to after he had passed the sirens?

Answer 23

He sailed past Scylla and Charybdis.

Question 24

After they past Scylla and Charybdis which island did they land on?

Answer 24

They landed on the island of the sun god where Odysseus warned his men not to harm the cattle.

Question 25

What happened after Odysseus’s men ignored his advice not to harm the cattle and ate some?

Answer 25

When they sailed on Zeus destroyed their ship with a massive storm - only Odysseus survived.

Question 26

Where was Odysseus washed up after the storm that killed all his men?

Answer 26

He was washed up on the island of Calypso. He spent 7 years there.

Question 27

where did he sail to when he left Calypso?

Answer 27

Odysseus sailed to the land of the Phaeacians where he was well received and sent on to him own home of Ithaca.

Question 28

What did Odysseus discover when he reached home?

Answer 28

He discovered that his wife Penelope had been besieged by suitors, all keen to marry her.

Question 29

How did his son Telemachus help Odysseus?

Answer 29

He disguised himself as a beggar and overcame the suitors, Then he was reunited with his wife, Penelope.