The odyssey
book 9
study guide
1. How does odysseus identify himself when
the king asks his identity?
Also, what does he tell the king about
himself?
i am laertes’ son
i am odysseus
formidable for guile in peace and war
famous
home is in ithaca
has been detained by calypso
longs for home
2. reread lines 24-26. what does odysseus
value most highly?
“Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass
his own home and his parents? in far lands he
shall not, though he find a house of gold.”
home and family
3. what happened in the land of the lotus
eaters? why didn’t they stay there?
they live all day eating the honeyed flower
lotus
but those who eat this plant never care to
report or return
they become forgetful of their homeland
4. how does Odysseus describe the
cyclopes people?
giants
louts
without a law to bless them
they don’t plow or sow, everything grows
untended
no muster or meeting
5. in lines 80-86, what did osysseus see as
they approached land?
a cavern
with many rams and goats
inside a sheepfold made from slabs of stone
6. How does odysseus describe the
cyclops?
a prodigious man (meaning remarkably great
in size)
a loner
savage and brutish
he seemed more like a shaggy mountain than
a man
7. odysseus has been referred to as “the
strategist”. How does he reveal that trait in
lines 96-115?
he plans for potential conflict
he takes a select group of his best fighters
he leaves guards with his ship
he takes maron’s irresistible drink to use as a
possible weapon against the giant
8. what did odysseus’ men plead with him to
do?
to take the cheeses
and the kids and the lambs aboard their ship
and to quickly escape by setting sail once
again
9. how did he respond and why did he
respond that way?
he knew that was sound advice
but he refused because he wanted to see the
caveman and what he had to offer
10.how is the rock described that the
cyclops used to close off the cave?
a slab of solid rock
so large that two dozen (24!!)four-wheeled
wagons, with heaving wagon teams, could not
have stirred it
11. reread lines 163 - 169. Agamemnon was
the greek king who led the war against the
trojans. consider what odysseus says about
agamemnon. What point is he making about
himself by claiming this association?
he is making sure that the cyclops knows he
was integral to the greeks great victory at troy
he is suggesting that he is a warrior to be
reckoned with
he may not be humble but what he says is
true! the three greatest warriors for the greeks
in the trojan war were achilles, ajax, and
odysseus
12.what is odysseus warning the cyclops
about at the bottom of page 1115?
the concept of honoring strangers and seeing
to their needs even before any questions are
asked is of utmost importance in this culture
he is warning the cyclops not to defy zeus by
not seeing to the needs of the strangers in his
home now (meaning odysseus and his men)
13. how does the cyclops respond to this?
he tells odysseus “you are a ninny...coming
here from the other end of nowhere telling me
to mind the gods!”
14. reread lines 185-190. Why does
odysseus lie to the cyclops about his ship?
he thought he’d find out, but i saw through this,
and answered with a ready lie:
‘my ship?
poseidon lord who sets the earth a-tremble,
broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end.
a wind from seaward served him, drove us there.
we are survivors, these good men and I,’
14. reread lines 185-190. Why does
odysseus lie to the cyclops about his ship?
odysseus now knows with certainty that
the cyclops has no qualms about
mistreating his guests or their property
so he lies to protect his ship and the men
on it
15. how does the cyclops respond to what
odysseys told him in the previous question?
he didn’t say anything, but...
he grabbed two men like squirming
puppies
beat their brains out (which splattered on
the floor)
dismembered them and had them for his
meal
gaping and crunching like a mountain
16. what is odysseys contemplating in lines
203-210? why does he not do it?
he took out his sword and was going to
stab the cyclops in his midriff - right
where the liver is
but he doesn’t do it because he realizes
they would perish if he did because...
they could not move the ‘ponderous door
slab’
17. identify the simile in lines 214-224. what
does this tell us about the cyclops?
the cyclops opened the door slab to let
the sheep out, and then
‘reset the stone as one would cap a
quiver’
meaning: the cyclops reseals the cave
with the massive rock as easily as an
ordinary human places the cap on a
container of arrows
18. what three things happened in lines 225
- 255 that indicates that luck is on the side
of odysseus?
first: he found the olive tree in the cave
second: the four men odysseus would
have chosen to help him all won the toss
third: the cyclops brought all the rams
into the cave, not just the youngest
19. why does odysseus offer the cyclops the
liquor he brought from the ship?
he offers the wine, knowing that cyclops
won’t be able to resist
and counting on its sleep-inducing effect
20. what question does the cyclops ask odysseus in lines
264-65? how does odysseus respond? what can the reader
infer about the plans of odysseus based on this response?
he asks his name
odysseus responds ‘nohbdy’
the reader knows this is not his name
the reader could realize that nohbdy sounds like
nobody
so, the reader could infer that he purposely planning
ahead, concealing his identity, and possibly setting a
trap for the cyclops
21. what happens to the cyclops in lines 282-299? how
does odysseus demonstrate characteristics of a hero in this
section?
odysseus and his men heaved a burning hot spike in
the eye of the cyclops thereby blinding him
odysseus ‘cheered my men along with battle talk to
keep their courage up’
also, he joined his men in the maneuver
he leaned on the spike himself, rather than removing
himself from harm’s way
thereby he is acting as an inspiring role model and
leader for his men
22. find the epic similes in lines 292-297 and lines 299-303.
what two things are being compared in each case? what
are the effects of this figurative language?
292-297 odysseus compares pushing and turning the
spike in the cyclops’ eye socket to a ship carpenter
turning a drill in a plank on a ship’s deck
299-303 he compares the hissing of the cyclops’ eye to
the steam given off by a white-hot axe head that is
dipped in a cold tub of water
discuss effects of this figurative language
23. “then he sent up a howl for Cyclopes who lived in caves
on windy peaks nearby” Who sent up a howl? WHy? what
happened when the neighboring cyclopes come to him?
how does this reinforce the idea of odysseus as epic hero?
the cyclops sent up a howl
he sent up a howl because he was gravely injured and
wanted help
when the neighbors came they were on the outside of
the cave and calling to him saying ‘what ails you? why
do you cry? no man has tricked you or ruined you?’
he responded nohbdy
as a result the neighbors left
this reinforces the idea of odysseus as epic hero
because his lie about his name paid off
24. what is learned about polyphemus (cyclops) from the
allusion in lines 321-322?
“let it be your father , poseidon lord, to whom you pray”
the reader learns that the cyclops is the son of
poseidon
25. how does odysseus again demonstrate qualities of an
epic hero in lines 325-336?
odysseus and his men are at a stalemate with the
cyclops
the have now neutralized him but not defeated him
odysseus again thinks of a trick this time to deceive
the cyclops
once again his clever planning will fool a formidable
foe
26. what plan does odysseys devise to escape the cave of
the cyclops?
the rams of the cyclops were handsome, fat and had
heavy fleeces
so he used twines of willow to tie them together, three
abreast
then slung a man under each middle one to ride there
safely, shielded on the left and right
27. explain what is happening in lines 358-374. Why is this
ironic?
this is the part where the rams were going out to
pasture in the morning
the last ram to go out was the wooliest one, the
choicest one, the leader
the cyclops patted him and speaks to him saying, why
are you the last one to go out? that’s not like you. are
you grieving over my eye? well i swear that nohbdy will
not get out alive! If only you could speak and tell me
where he is! he would not escape my fury!
this is ironic because odysseus is escaping under the
belly of this very ram!
28. how does the crew react when odysseus and his men
at last return?
we saw, as we came near, our fellows’ faces shining
then we saw them turn to grief tallying those who had
not fled from death
29. explain who says the following and why: “Godsake
captain! why bait the beast again? let him alone!”
this was the crew of odysseus speaking
they are saying this because odysseus keeps taunting
the cyclops shouting things like “How do you like the
beating we gave you, you damned cannibal?”
these taunts so enraged the cyclops that he broke off
the top of a hilltop in heaved it after them as they set
sail causing a spuming geyser and giant wave that
could have easily sank the ship
30. notice that odysseus used the warlike epithet “raider of
cities” in his second boast to the cyclops. What trait is
displayed here?
in revealing this information, odysseus displays his
pride
but in this instance it is a rash foolhardy action
because the cyclops might use this info to cause
odysseus trouble with his father, poseidon, who is
already angry with the greeks
31. what is revealed in lines 421-430?
the cyclops tells of a prophecy made long ago by a
prophet named telemus
telemus predicted that the cyclops would lose his eye
at the hands of odysseus
the cyclops said he always thought that this odysseus
would be a giant, armed in great force, not someone
small, pitiful, and twiggy like odysseus
32. reread line 437-452 and explain them. How is odysseus
responsible for this?
this is where the cyclops beseeches his father
poseidon to curse odysseus
so that he will never see home again
and if he does return home, he prays that it will be a
day far far from now and the time in between should
be dark
and if he ever comes home may it be strange and
chaotic
and may he be alone
32. reread line 437-452 and explain them. How is odysseus
responsible for this?
odysseus had brought this curse on himself by
provoking the cyclops with his boasting
not once - but three times!
and despite the warnings of his men
33. what did odysseus and his crew do after they landed?
they evenly divided the cyclops’ flocks
they gave odysseus the prize ram
he slew it and offered it to zeus as a peace offering
34. what is foreshadowed in lines 470-473?
“but zeus disdained my offering; destruction for my
ships he had in store and death for those who sailed
them, my companions.”
this lets us know that zeus is angry with odysseus
it foreshadows that the things the cyclops prayed for
might actually all come to pass