Name ____________________________________
Date _________
Class ______
The Odyssey Part One: The Wanderings
TELL THE STORY p. 890
1. Who is the poet?
2. Homer begins with an ________________________ (or) ___________ to ___________.
3. Why is the Muse important?
4. Which adventures are specifically mentioned in the introduction?
CALYPSO, THE SWEET NYMPH p. 891
5. Define ambrosial.
6. What is the Homeric (epic) simile comparing in lines 41-47?
7. What description is given of Calypso’s island? (49-63)
8. Why is the island described sensually?
9. What role does Hermes play in this scene?
10. How does Calypso respond to Hermes?
11. When Calypso offers Odysseus immortality, what does he say?
“I AM LAERTES’ SON…” p. 895
12. Who finds Odysseus where?
13. How is the rest of Odysseus’s story communicated to us?
14. Odysseus mentions his stays with Calypso and Circe, but says what of their relationships that
is inherent to the theme of his journey?
15. What did the Achaeans do to provoke the Cicones people?
16. What was the consequence?
17. What is personified in this scene? How?
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THE LOTUS EATERS p. 898
18. Define mustered.
19. What is “Lotus”?
20. What happens to the men when they eat the lotus?
THE CYCLOPS p. 899
21. What is Cyclops’s name?
22. What does Cyclops do when he first comes home to his cave before he notices the men?
23. How do we know he is strong?
24. To whom does Odysseus accredit his “uncommon” routes and ways?
25. Polyphemus asks about Odysseus’ ship. What does Odysseus tell him happened to it?
26. How many men does the Cyclops eat?
27. Under what is the pointed stake hidden?
28. What does Odysseus say people call him?
29. How do the Achaeans escape Polyphemus?
30. Why does Odysseus shout his real name?
31. Who does Odysseus anger?
THE WITCH CIRCE p. 911
32. Who is the wind king?
33. Why is the wind king’s gift important?
34. What does the sailors’ opening of the bag suggest about their relationship with Odysseus?
35. How do the Achaeans feel when the first approach Circe’s palace?
36. Define stealth.
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37. Who is suspicious of Circe and her palace?
38. What ingredients are in the wine?
39. What does Hermes give Odysseus?
40. How does it help him?
THE LAND OF THE DEAD p. 914
41. What does Odysseus seek in Hades from whom?
42. Describe the phantoms Odysseus meets in Hades.
43. Define rancor.
44. Which god does Teiresias refer to?
45. What will be the consequence if the Achaeans slaughter Helios’s cattle?
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS p. 916
46. Who warns Odysseus about the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis?
47. How do the sirens seduce sailors?
48. What happens to the sailors because of this?
49. What must the Achaeans do to prevent the seduction?
50. How can Odysseus still enjoy their songs?
51. Define abominably.
52. Describe how the Scylla looks and sounds.
53. Why is she so treacherous? (What will she do to the men?)
54. Define maelstrom.
55. Why is Charybdis so treacherous? (What will she do to the men?)
56. What is Circe’s advice regarding the two monsters?
57. What warning does Circe give about Helios’s cattle?
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58. What important information does Odysseus withhold from his men?
59. Define ardor.
60. How does Odysseus inspire his men? (lines 772-83)
61. Why doesn’t Odysseus warn his men about Scylla?
62. What does Odysseus’s failure to remember Circe’s warning about the uselessness of weapons
reveal about his self-image?
63. What is the Homeric (epic) simile comparing in lines 822-26?
64. Why is watching Scylla eat his men the worst sight Odysseus has suffered?
THE CATTLE OF THE SUN GOD p. 922
65. Since Odysseus is the captain, why doesn’t he just order the men to bypass Thrinakia?
66. What does Odysseus make his men swear?
67. What drives the men to shore?
68. Define insidious.
69. How does Eurylochus convince the men to listen to him?
70. What trouble does Eurylochus cause?
71. What do the Achaeans do the cattle?
72. How does Odysseus respond to what his men have done?
73. Who is Lampetia and what does she do?
74. Who is “overweening”?
75. What does Helios threaten to do if the Achaeans are not punished?
76. Who punishes the Achaeans for their crime against Helios?
77. What happens to the men?
78. Upon whose shore does Odysseus land after this?
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