| Homer | Who created the Odyssey? |
| Troy | Where did Odysseus go to fight the war? |
| Odysseus | Who is the king of Ithaca? |
| Circe | Who was the enchantress who turned Odysseus’ men into swine, but also helped him on his journey? |
| Zeus | King of the gods |
| Poseidon | god of sea and earthquakes |
| Athena | goddess of wisdom, skills, and warfare, who help Odysseus |
| Polyphemus | The Cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus and his men |
| Laertes | Odysseus’ father |
| Telemachus | Son of Odysseus and Penelope |
| Sirens | Creatures whose songs lure sailors to their deaths |
| Scylla | Sea monster who whisks sailors from their ships |
| Charybdis | Enormous and dangerous whirlpool |
| Antinous | Leader among the suitors |
| Penelope | Odysseus’ wife |
| Lotus Eaters | Creatures who offer the sweet Lotus to travelers which makes the travelers desire to do nothing and stay forever |
| Poseidon | Who is Polyphemus’ father? |
| The Cyclops is the only one strong enough to move the stone slab that is the barrier to exit the cave | Why does Odysseus not kill Polyphemus where he lays? |
| Nohbdy | What fake name does Odysseus give Polyphemus? |
| Polyphemus promises to eat Nohbdy after all his friends have perished | What does Polyphemus promise Odysseus (Nohbdy) as a reward for the sweet liquor? |
| A pike of Olive branch that has been heated | What does Odysseus shove into Polyphemus’ eye? |
| hooks them to sheep | How does Odysseus get his men out of the Cyclops’ cave? |
| Laestrygonians | What creatures are a race of cannibals and destroy all of Odysseus’ ships except the one he is sailing on by throwing rocks? |
| He orders his men to plug their ears with wax and tie Odysseus up on the mast. | What does Odysseus order his men to do before reaching the Sirens? |
| He orders them to NOT eat the cattle no matter how tempting it may be | What does Odysseus order his men to do when they reach the cattle of Helios? |
| It is destroyed by Zeus to appease Helios and Odysseus drifts to where Calypso lives | What happens to Odysseus’ ship after departure from the place where the cattle of the sun god dwell? |
| He orders Telemachus to stow the suitors’ weapons away in a vaulted storeroom. He also orders Telemachus to keep his presence on Ithaca a secret. | What does Odysseus order Telemachus to do? |
| Argos | Who was Odysseus dog? |
| The suitors knew that the gods often came down to Earth in human form and were usually disguised and they knew that there was a possibility that the beggar was one of the gods | Why were the suitors mortified when Antinous threw a stool at the beggar (Odysseus)? |
| He disregards the suitors’ attempt for an apology and kills them all with the help of his servants and Telemachus. | What does Odysseus do after the suitors offer restitution for what they did? |
| Odysseus has changed so much that Penelope cannot believe that the person before her is her husband. | Why does Penelope test Odysseus with the marriage bed? |
| She makes him handsome and young. | What does Athena do to Odysseus appearance after he arrives back on Ithaca? |
| Athena sides for Odysseus, and she represents his cleverness and sharp mind. | Which god takes a side for Odysseus and what does this god represent? |
| 7 | Out of the 10 years Odysseus has been trying to get home after the Trojan War, for how many has he been Calypso’s prisoner? |
| Ithaca | What is the name of Odysseus’s homeland? |
| The men tasted the Lotus offered to them by the Lotus Eaters. They couldn’t stop eating the flowers and didn’t want to go home. | When Odysseus sent a few of his men to explore, what happened to them? What happens if they eat the Lotus? (“The Lotus Eaters”) |
| The Cyclops doesn’t care about Zeus and his rules; he won’t let the men go unless he feels like it. | How does the Cyclops respond to Odysseus’s request to let them go? How does the Cyclops feel about Zeus? (“The Cyclops”) |
| Odysseus says that his name is “Nohbdy” so the Cyclops will yell “Nohbdy is hurting me!” when Odysseus hurts him. | What lie does Odysseus tell the Cyclops about his name? Why? (“The Cyclops”) |
| The men stab the Cyclops’ eye with the hot stake, twisting on it and leaning on it to dig it in. | What happens when the Cyclops falls asleep? (“The Cyclops”) |
| Polyphemus | We finally learn the Cyclops’ name — what is it? (“The Cyclops”) |
| Odysseus is being childish and arrogant. | Odysseus taunts the Cyclops once he and his men are back on their ship, escaping. What might these actions demonstrate about his character? (“The Cyclops”) |
| The Cyclops throws a hilltop at them. | What does the blinded Cyclops do in response to the taunting? (“The Cyclops”) |
| Circe tells Odysseus that the Sirens’ song will lure him in and kill him. | What warning does Circe give Odysseus about the Sirens? (“The Sirens”) |
| He tells them to plug their ears with wax and keep their heads down. | How will Odysseus prevent his men from listening to the Sirens? (“The Sirens”) |
| They should tie him tightly to the ship’s mast and not untie him no matter what he says. | What should the men do if Odysseus wants to listen to the Sirens? (“The Sirens”) |
| Scylla has 12 legs, 6 heads, and 3 rows of fangs; she is very horrific looking. | What does the monster, Scylla, look like? (“Scylla & Charybdis”) |
| Charybdis is a whirlpool that is even too dangerous for Poseidon to deal with. She is supposedly a monster who lurks below the water, sucking water 3 times to create her whirlpool. | How does Homer describe Charybdis? (“Scylla & Charybdis”) |
| Going between Scylla and Charybdis is like going between “a rock and a hard place”. Odysseus’ decision in this situation is a metaphor for difficult decisions in our everyday life. | What does the narrow passage that Odysseus must take between Scylla and Charybdis represent? (“Scylla & Charybdis”) |
| 6 men are grabbed by Scylla and die. | Odysseus decides to sail closer to Scylla. What happens? (“Scylla & Charybdis”) |
| They insist on landing on Thrinacia, Helios’ island. They eat the immortal cattle that they were told not to, angering Helios and dooming themselves to death. | Once they pass Scylla and Charybdis, where do Odysseus’ crew insist on landing? What do they do there? |
| Helios threatens to stop the sun from shining. To placate Helios, Zeus sends down a thunderbolt that sinks Odysseus’ ship and kills all his remaining crew. | What does Helios threaten to do if payment is not made for the loss of his cattle? How does Zeus respond? |
| King Alcinous’ men row him home. | After Odysseus finishes telling King Alcinous his story, he finally goes home to Ithaca. How does he get there? |
| Athena disguises him as an old, homeless man so he can surprise the suitors at his house. | How and why does Athena disguise Odysseus? |
| He dies. | What happens to Argos after he recognizes his old master, Odysseus? |
| Ithaca | Odysseus’s home and kingdom |
| Trojan War | This story is based on Odysseus’s return from the ________ . |
| Tricks Polyphemus with a false name and wine, then blinds him and escapes under the bellies of sheep. | How does Odysseus win the battle with the Cyclops? |
| long narrative poem about a hero | An epic is best described as a: |
| 10 years | How long was the Trojan War? |
| 20 years | How long was Odysseus gone TOTAL from home? |
| Nohbdy | what name Polyphemus thinks Odysseus’ real name is |
| they think that “nobody” has hurt him, so he is fine | what Polyphemus’ neighbors think when he screams at night |
| Odyssey | long journey |
| Antinous | leader among the suitors |
| Penelope | Odysseus’ wife |
| Eumaeus | old swineherd and friend of Odysseus |
| Charybdis | enormous and dangerous whirlpool |
| Scylla | a monster of grey rock with 6 heads |
| Telemachus | Odysseus and Penelopes’ son |
| Laertes | Odysseus’ father |
| Polyphemus | the Cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus, man eating one eyed monster |
| Athena | goddess of wisdom, warfare and the city |
| Poseidon | god of sea, earthquakes, horses, and storms at sea |
| Zeus | king of the gods |
| Circe | enchantress who transformed the crew into swine |
| Calypso | sea nymph who keeps Odysseus captive for 7 years because she loves him, Hermes tells her she must let him go |
| Odysseus | king of Ithaca and hero of the epic |
| The whole journey Odysseus is trying to get to his home in Ithaca. | What significant role does Ithaca play in Odysseus’ epic journey. |
| They expect to be treated like honored strangers. | How do Odysseus and his companions expect to be treated by the Cyclops? |
| Anticlea | Odysseus’ mother |
| Eurycleia | Loyal servant to Penelope, helped raise Odysseus and Telemachus |
| Eurylochus | Second in command on the voyage home from Troy; one who told Odysseus that their comrades were turned into swine by Circe; also provoked men to eat Helios’ cattle |
| Eurymachus | Antinous’ sidekick basically |
| Menelaus | King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, husband of Helen, offers to help Telemachus |
| mentor | male disguise athena sometimes takes |
| Tiresias | prophet Odysseus meets in Land of the Dead |
| Aeolus | God of the windshelps Odysseus by bagging all winds except West wind |
| epic | a long narrative poem about a hero’s journey |
| Helen | Wife of Menelaus, Queen of Sparta, her abduction by Paris started the Trojan war |
| helios | sun god |
| hermes | messenger of the gods |
| homer | wrote iliad and odyssey |
| Lotus eaters | live on an island with lotuses that if you eat them you will forget your home |
| Paris | takes helen, starts trojan war |
| Melanthius | goat herd-evil and not loyal to Odysseus |
| Philoetius | Cow herd-loyal to Odysseus |
| Eumaeus’ house | Where do Odysseus and Telemachus go when Odysseus reaches Ithaca? |
| Athena | Who tells Telemachus to go the the swineherd(Eumaeus) house |
| hubris | confidence |
| Ithaca | what is the known world? |
| Ismarus | Where do the Cicones live? |
| Laestrygones | Who cause Odysseus to lose all of his ships except his own(with only 45 men left) |
| 2 | How many times does Odysseus visit Circe? |
| circe’s | Who’s island does Odysseus approach the inmost cave at? |
| Scylla and Charybdis | What is the supreme ordeal? |
| humility | What is the “prize” that Odysseus receives? |
| Alcinous | Who does Odysseus tell his story to? |
| Antinous | Who is the 1st suitor killed? |
| relentless | What does implacable mean |
| He gave them weapons | How did melantius help the suitors? |
| Telemachus | Who wanted to kill Melanthius and the bad female servants in an un-honorable way? |
| His hubris came back | Why did Athena get mad at Odysseus? |
| epithet | Odysseus, sacker of cities |
| Phemius(minstrel), and Medon(herald) | Who did Telemachus ask Odysseus to save? |
The Odyssey review
April 18, 2020