| Who does Homer ask for inspiration? | Homer asks Muse for inspiration. |
| Why is Odysseus unable to return home after the battle of Troy? | He was captured by Calypso, who craves him for a husband |
| What has happened to Odysseus’ men? | Odysseus’ men were killed in the battle of Troy. |
| Who wants to help Odysseus return home? | The gods want to help Odysseus return home. |
| Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? | Poseidon is angry with Odysseus because he blinded Polyphemus; his Cyclops son. |
| Who will tell Calypso of the god’s decision to help Odysseus return home? | Hermes will tell Calypso of the god’s decision to help Odysseus return home |
| Who will Athena talk to about Odysseus’ return? Why? | Athena will talk to Odysseus’ son Telemachus about Odysseus’ return home because she has a plan for him to go through with |
| When Athena arrives in Ithaca, what are the suitors doing? | The suitors are eating all their food and messing up their house. |
| How does Telemachus treat Athena? | Telemachus treats Athena warmly and welcomes her nicely. |
| Does Telemachus recognize Athena? Why or Why not? | Telemachus does not recognize Athena because she looked like Mentes, Lord of the Taphian men. |
| . How does Telemachus describe the suitors? | Telemachus describes the suitors as lazy, who take everyone else’s stuff and slaughters his animals as if the palace belongs to them. |
| Who does Athena tell Telemachus she is? | Athena tells Telemachus that she is Mentes, Lord of the Taphian men. |
| As part of his plan to rid the house of suitors, what must Telemachus do first? | Telemachus must first get rid of all the suitors, have an assembly, and be brave about it. |
| What must Telemachus do second? | He must go to Sparta to see if anyone has news about his father. If his father is alive he goes home and waits for him to come back. If his father is dead he goes home to build a monument and throw him proper funeral rites to honor him. |
| Why does Penelope want the Bard to stop singing? | Penelope tells the bard to stop singing because the songs he is singing reminds he of Odysseus. |
| What is the reaction of Telemachus? | Telemachus tells his mother that the bard can sing whatever he wants to entertain them with. He tells Penelope to straighten up. |
| What does he tell Penelope to do? | He tells Penelope to go back to her room and tend to her things, especially the loom. |
| What does Telemachus say to the suitors? What do they do? | Telemachus tells the suitors to leave at once and to leave Penelope alone because she is not going to marry any of them. They do not leave and they mock him. |
| What does Telemachus do at the end of book 1? | At the end of book 1 Telemachus falls asleep peacefully. He tells his nurse that he is leaving. He’s thinking about the plan. |
| From whom does Zeus take the throne? | Zeus takes the throne from Cronus. |
| Who asks Zeus to free Odysseus so that he might return home? | Athena asks Zeus to free Odysseus so that he might return home? |
| Who is holding Odysseus captive? | Calypso is holding Odysseus captive. |
| Describe her cave? | The cave has a cloud-like fragrance and there are great woods all around the cave and a fire in her hearth. |
| Why does Odysseus’ captor let him go? | Odysseus’ captor lets him go because Hermes tells from Zeus Calypso that Odysseus must go back to Ithaca |
| How does his captor help Odysseus sail away? | She helps build his raft and stocks it with everything he will need. |
| What does Odysseus’s captor swear by that she will not keep him from going? What is it? | Calypso swears by the Styx that she will not keep Odysseus from going. The Styx is a river in between earth and the underworld. |
| What statement from the book foreshadows that trouble is ahead? | “If only you knew down deep what pains are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore” |
| Who sees Odysseus sailing away from his captor? | Poseidon sees Odysseus sailing away from his captor. |
| What does Poseidon do? | Poseidon sends crashing waves and thunder towards Odysseus. |
| Who helps Odysseus survive the waves? | Ino the sea-nymph helps Odysseus survive the waves. |
| To whom is Odysseus telling his story to at the beginning of book 9? | Odysseus is telling his story to King Alcinous at the beginning of book 9. |
| How does Odysseus introduce and describe himself? | Odysseus introduces himself as Odysseus Son of Laertes and boasts his fame. |
| Who does Odysseus blame for many disasters that befall during his journeys? | Odysseus blames Zeus for the many disasters that befall him during his journeys. |
| After escaping the charms of Calypso, where does Odysseus sail? | After escaping the charms of Calypso, Odysseus sails to Ismarus |
| What happens there? | Odysseus ransacks the city of Ismarus and kills all the men and steals the wives and all their riches. |
| After escaping the gale of the North Wind, where does Odysseus sail? | Odysseus sails to the Lotus eaters land. |
| How does he escape? Where does he go next? | He escapes by not eating any of the lotuses and forcing his men to to stop eating it and makes them go on the ship and sail to the Land of the Cyclops |
| Describe the Land of the Cyclops? | They end up in the home of Polyphemus and at night Polyphemus starts eating Odysseus’ men. They escape by waiting until Polyphemus is asleep and blind the Cyclops and run out of the cave and get to their ship. |
| What does Poseidon do? Why? | Poseidon gets very mad at Odysseus because he blinded Polyphemus, his son, and he prays to Zeus that he wants Odysseus to never reach Ithaca. |
| What island does Odysseus and his crews reach next? What happens when they leave the island to cause their journey to be difficult? | They reach the Aeolian Island next. They are given a sack and when they open it they let all the wind out at once and are swept right back to the Aeolian Island. |
| What land do they reach next? What people do they meet and how do they escape? | Next they reach the Laestrygonian land. They meet shepherds and Laestrygonians. The people throw boulders at them smashing their ship and the crew is taken for their next meal. |
| What island do they reach next? Who lives there? What happens to Odysseus’ men? | They then reach the Aeanen Island, which is home to Circe the nymph. Odysseus’ men’s memories were erased by Circe. |
| Who does Odysseus meet on his way to to rescue his men? What is the plan for escape that the God gives to Odysseus? | Odysseus meets Hermes on his way to rescue his men. Hermes tells him to take a drug to Circe and she will mix him a brew and when she takes her wand, draw your sword, go to bed with her and make her promise to never harm anyone again. |
| Odysseus begs Circe to help him return home. What does she tell him he must do first? | Circe tells him that he must go down to the house of Hades and consult with the blind prophet Tiresias. |
| How does Circe describe the journey that Odysseus must make to him? | She describes the journey as making a raft and digging a trench and sprinkling milk and honey and barley in the trench and kill the nicest ram for Tiresias. |
| As Odysseus and his crew are leaving Circe’s Island, what happens to the youngest their ranks? Why do you think Odysseus mentions this incident? | Elepnor the youngest in their ranks gets vey drunk and falls asleep on the roof and fell to his death. Odysseus tells them about this incident because he doesn’t want anymore men in his crew being foolish like this and reminds them that could have been them if they don’t smarten up. |
| After arriving on Circe’s island, what is the first thing Odysseus does? | After arriving on Circe’s island , the first thing Odysseus does is have a proper funeral and rites for Elepnor. |
| Circe sets the course of Odysseus. What island must he visit first on his journey home? What precautions must be taken in order to sail safely? | They must visit the Island of the Sirens. The precautions that must be made are that they must race past this island. |
| Once past the Sirens what are Odysseus’ choices as he continues his voyage? | Odysseus’ choices are to go through the moving rocks that are impossible to get out of, or to face Skylla the sea monster and being sucked into the Charybdis whirlpool. |
| What are the two dangers he will face? | The two dangers Odysseus will face are Skylla the sea monster and the Charybdis whirlpool. |
| Once past the two dangers, what island will he reach? What must Odysseus and his crew absolutely not do? | They will reach the island of Thrinacia. They must not steal any of the island’s livestock. |
| How does Odysseus encourage his crew not to be afraid when they hear the thunder of breakers? | He encourages them not to be afraid because of his presence of mind and optimism. |
| What “good green island” do they reach next? | The “good green island” they reach next is The Island of the Sun. |
| What had Tiresias and Circe told Odysseus about this island? | They had told him and his crew to shun The Island of Sun. Also to not even touch the sheep and cattle. |
| What was the plan of Eurylochus? Why was he able to carry out his plan? | The plan of Eurylochus was to wait until Odysseus was asleep and off the ship at daybreak and steal all the finest livestock. They were able to carry out with his plan because Odysseus was sleeping on the ground next to the dock and they took the cattle with no problem. |
| How did Zeus punish Odysseus and his crew? | Zeus punished Odysseus and his crew by tearing their ship to splinters with a lightning bolt. |
| How does Odysseus survive? | Odysseus survives because he built his own raft. |
| Where did he end up? | He ended up on Calypso’s Island. |
| Why does Telemachus go into town? | Telemachus goes into town to present himself to his mother. |
| Who has seen Odysseus? Where? | Proteus has seen Odysseus at Calypso’s island, Oygigia. |
| What is the prophecy of Telemachus? | The prophecy of Telemachus is that Odysseus is alive and is planning revenge on the suitors. |
| Who goes into the city with Eumaeus? What does he look like? | Odysseus goes into the city with Eumaeus and he looks like an old and broken beggar. |
| Odysseus, as a beggar is begging for meat and bread. Who insults Odysseus? What does he throw at Odysseus? | Antinous insults Odysseus and throws at Odysseus a stool. |
| What is Penelope’s reaction? Who does she want to see and why? | Penelope’s reaction is “May Apollo the archer strike you just as hard”. Penelope is very mad at Antinous. Penelope wants to see the beggar because she wants to know if he has any news on Odysseus. |
| Odysseus, still disguised as a beggar, has his bow. What happened? | Odysseus shoots his arrow through the 12 axes with tiny holes in it, and proves it’s him and he is back |
| Odysseus strips himself of his rags and sends an arrow into whom? | Odysseus sends an arrow into Antinous |
| Who do the suitors blame for their behavior while Odysseus was away? | They blame their behavior on Antinous. |
| What do they offer to do? | They offer to repay all of Odysseus’ stuff and pay him back all his value and worth. |
| There is a battle inside the palace. Who joins the battle? How is the intruder disguised? | Athena joins the battle and is disguised as Mentes. |
| After all the suitors are slain, Odysseus calls for Eurycleia, the old nurse. What does he ask her to do? | Odysseus asks Eurycleia to report on all the women in the hall who have been disloyal to him. |
| What will happen to the women, maids, of the palace? | They will have to clean up all the dead bodies and then their heads will be chopped off with swords. |
| What does Odysseus do to the house? | Odysseus purges his house with cleansing fumes. |
| Who leads the suitors to Hades? | Cyllelian Hermes leads the suitors to Hades. |
| Who does Odysseus visit? | Odysseus visits his father Laertes |
| How does Odysseus prove to his father, Laertes, that he is his son? | Odysseus proves to his father that he is his son by showing him the scar on his foot and memories. |
| What does Laertes fear that the Ithacans will do? | Laertes fears that the Ithacans will attack at any time through every island town. |
| Who tells the Achaeans what has happened at Odysseus’ palace? | Eupithes tells the Achaeans what has happened at Odysseus’ palace. |
| The Achaeans hold an assembly. What do they decide to do? | They decide to attack Odysseus. |
| What does Athena ask Zeus? What is his answer? | Athena asks Zeus if he will continue to let the fighting happen. He answers that no, there needs to be peace and it’s all Athena’s fault. |
| How does Athena appear? How does she stop the fighting? | Athena appears as Mentes. She stops the fighting by commanding no more war. |
| How does the story end? | The story ends as Odysseus obeying Athena’s command and is Athena who is the shield for Zeus’ thunder and storm still as the form of Mentes |
The Odyssey
April 24, 2020