Name: __________________________________ Mods: _______ Date________ CP English I
Odyssey Study Guide 2B
Penelope
1. Why are lines 1125-1128 ironic? _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. What is Penelope’s “ruse” as described in lines 1160-1180? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
What does this show of her character? ______________________________________________
3. To whom does the epithet “god of the zenith, noblest of the gods” refer? ________________
The Challenge
1. What is the challenge that Penelope poses to the suitors? ______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. In the Homeric simile, lines 1210-1215, ___________________________ is compared to
______________________________________.
3. In lines 1220-1223, Odysseus laughs “within him” at Zeus’ thunderbolt. What epithet
describes Zeus here, and how is that appropriate, considering what Odysseus has just done?
Epithet: ________________________________________________________ is appropriate
because ______________________________________________________________________
4. Indirect characterization: What does the ease with which Odysseus strings the bow show about
him?_________________________________________________________________________
Odysseus’ Revenge
1. Explain how “a rain of arrows” in line 1248 is a metaphor._____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Which god does Odysseus now ask for help as he begins to shoot his arrows? _____________
3. In line 1268, what are the suitors unable to find? ________________________. Why can’t
they find these things? __________________________________________________________
4. The narrator calls the suitors “fools, not to comprehend they were already in the grip of
death.” This is an example of what kind of characterization?
_____ Direct
_____ Indirect
5. Responsibility is a major theme in the Odyssey. We see Odysseus developing greater
responsibility before he arrives at Ithaca. What does Eurymachus say in lines 1290-1305 that
show a lack of responsibility and anger Odysseus?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
6. Who are the 4 men fighting the suitors?_________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Penelope Tests Odysseus
1. This section begins with what epithet? _________________________________________
2. In lines 1405-1411, Penelope tells her maid, Eurycleia, to place the bed that Odysseus made
outside the bedchamber. Odysseus reacts with surprise and indignation that the bed has ever
been moved. This is because he built the original bed using the trunk of an ________________
tree, which was still rooted in the ground.
Penelope has deliberately tested Odysseus. He has passed the test, proving that he truly is
Odysseus, because no one else knew the origin of the bed.
What goddess is honored/invoked by the wood used for this bed? _____________________
3. In the Homeric simile in lines 1453-1463, Odysseus’ longing for Penelope is compared to
_________________________________________________________________________
Postscript
Note that it is ________________________, goddess of war, who commands the relatives of the
slain suitors to make peace with Odysseus and Telemachus.