Name: _______________________________ Mods: ___________ Honors English I
The Odyssey Study Guide Books 9-16
Book 9
1. In Book 8, after games and songs, Alcinous has said to Odysseus, “Come, my friend, tell us your
own story now, and tell it truly.” In Book 9, Odysseus begins telling the tale of his adventures after the
Trojan War. This telling of the tale is what literary device?____flashback______________________.
2. Write the epithet Odysseus uses for Alcinous: ___majesty, shining among your island people___
3. In introducing himself, Odysseus reveals his name (_Odysseus_____________), his parentage
(___son of Laertes__________________), his occupation (____raider of cities___), and his homeland
(__Ithaca_________). This was a common, formal introduction in ancient Greece.
4. Revealing fidelity to home and family, Odysseus says, “Nothing is as sweet as _a man’s own
country, his own parents__________” (pg. 212, line 38).
5. After winning the battle against the Cicones at Ismarus, Odysseus wisely tells his men to “cut and
run, set sail.” However, the men greedily stay on, feasting on the spoils of war. How does this bring
about their defeat? The Cicones have time to go for help.
6. What simile describes the Cicones’ fighting men? “Packed as the leaves and spears that flower forth
in spring” (pg. 213, line 60), is the simile. It indicates the sheer numbers of the Cicones.
7. How many of Odysseus’ men per ship were killed by the Cicones? ___six________
8. Odysseus demonstrates wisdom by sending how many men to scout the land of the Lotus-eaters?
_3____ How is this wise? Two were scouts, and one a runner. This prevents the entire crew from
being endangered, and allows Odysseus to learn more about what is in that country.
9. What does Odysseus do to his men who have eaten the lotus plant? He forces them back, and ties
them under the rowing benches on the ships.
10. Which details show that Cyclops are uncivilized? No farming, no government, no laws.
11. Write a quote from page 215 which shows the fertility or lack thereof of the land of Cyclops.
Thick with woods. Could bear you any crop you like in season. Harvest on harvest, a man could reap
a healthy stand of grain. Dark earth.
12. To whom does Odysseus give credit when his men capture bags of game (pg. 216)?_some god_
13. On pg. 217, Homer reconstructs past events when he tells where Odysseus obtained a large
amount of wine from a host named Maron, which he now brings to Cyclops’ cave for hospitality.
15. In Cyclops’ cave, Odysseus and his men discover flocks and cheese which the men wish to bring to
their ships. What good advice does Odysseus ignore this time? To steal the cheeses and animals, and
then set sail.
16. What literary device is used in line 259? Foreshadowing. (Be sure you can explain how this is so.)
17. What arrogance does Cyclops display in his talk of the gods on pg. 220? “We Cyclops never blink
at Zeus and Zeus’s shield.” They do not respect the gods.
18. What lie does Odysseus tell to Cyclops (pg. 220)? Their ships are lost.
Why does he tell it? TO protect them.
19. The olive tree is sacred to Athena. For what purpose do Odysseus and his men use the olive
tree ? Spear.
20. What personality trait of Odysseus is shown by his telling Cyclops that his name is “Nobody”?
Cunning
21. What gift does Cyclops say he will give Odysseus? He will eat Odysseus last.
22. Identify these: Cyclops’ name - _Polyphemus___________________________________
Cyclops’ father - _Poseidon___________________________________
23. What is ironic about lines 506-508? Cyclops is talking to ram that helps Odysseus to escape;
Cyclops thinks the ram is lagging behind out of loyalty, while it is really carrying his enemy to safety.
24. Who is described as “headstrong” on pg. 227? __Odysseus______ Why? He is riling the beast.
25. Two concepts are displayed in Odysseus’ taunts toward Cyclops as he and his men sail away:
Hubris = excessive pride, often causing the downfall of a hero;
Kleos = the glory one achieves in the eyes of others by performing heroic deeds.
How does Odysseus display these qualitites?
Hubris - _Taunting Cyclops___________________________________________________
Kleos - __Saves men from Cyclops. ____________________________________________
26. What prophecy does Polyphemus tell?
He would be blinded by Odysseus.
ADDED: Polyphemus’ prayer had 4 requests:
1. Let Odysseus come home late,
2. with all shipmates lost,
3. in a stranger’s ship,
4. and find a world of pain at home.
Cyclops also acknowledges that fate is stronger than the gods, when he changes his original request,
that Odysseus NEVER reach home, to that he comes home late. See pg. 228.
Book 10
1. Aeolus had power over what element of nature? ___wind______________
2. Why do Odysseus’ men open Aeolus’ bag and ruin the gift? They suspect Odysseus is keeping a
treasure from them.
3. Write the example of alliteration in the first 10 lines of pg. 232.
Look it up.
4. Odysseus and his men are blown back to the Aeolian island. The people will not accept them now
because __they believe Odysseus’ men are cursed by the gods._________________________.
5. What word choice between lines 104 – 106 implies a threatening aspect of the harbor?
“harbor’s jaws”
6. What is the most noticeable physical attribute of the Laestrygonians? _They are giants._______
7. What simile describes how most of Odysseus’ men are killed (pg. 234)?\
“They speared the crews like fish.”
8. Draw a family tree for the
two sisters, Circe and Aeetes:
grandfather = Ocean
father = Sun
mother = Perce
10. Showing his reverence for the gods, Odysseus gives credit to “a god” for what good fortune (pg.
235)? The appearance of a wild stag to hunt.
11. At what activity is Circe when Odysseus’ men come upon her? __singing and weaving (p.237)__
12. Which man sensed a trap and did not enter Circe’s palace? __Eurylochus (line 254)______
13. Although Circe has turned the men into __swine___________, they still have their minds.
14. Eurylochus flings his arms around Odysseus’ knees while begging to set sail, rather than go to try
and save the men from Circe. Throwing arms around someone’s knees is a gesture signifying what?
Begging
15. Because Eurylochus is frightened, Odysseus will approach Circe’s house alone to rescue his men.
This shows Odysseus’ heroic character.
17. What epithet describes Hermes (pg. 239)?__god of the golden wand___________________
18. Hermes gives Odysseus advice and moly to protect him against Circe. What is moly? A magic
herb with black root and white flower that prevents Circe’s potion from working on Odysseus. He
receives this from Hermes.
19. Before he will eat and drink with Circe, Odysseus requests what? That men be set free. (p. 242)
20. On pg. 244, which of Odysseus’ men is describing him as rash? __Eurylochus______________
21. After spending a year with Circe, what gesture does Odysseus use as he begs her to help him get
home? Hugs her by the knees.
22. Fill in the names:
___Persephone___________ - “awesome one” in the House of Death, and gives wisdom to prophet
___Tiresias_______________ - a blind prophet who is now in the House of Death and will give
Odysseus wisdom for his journey home
___Thebes_______________ - the city in which the blind prophet lived during his lifetime
___Elpinor_______________ - the youngest of Odysseus’ men, who died falling off a roof
Book 11
1. What metaphor is used for the “fresh following wind” which Circe sent?__hearty shipmate______
2. Odysseus follows intricate instructions provided by Circe in order to summon the ghosts of the dead.
He must not allow any soul to drink of the blood he has provided until after he receives his prophecy.
3. Describe Elpinor’s request. “Perform proper funeral rites for me.”
4. Odysseus’ mother is named _Anticleia___________. Her ghost is among the dead.
5. Tiresius prophesies: “You and your crew may still reach home, suffering all the way, if you only
have the power to curb their wild desire and curb your own.” What must the men leave unharmed?
Helios’ cattle
6. How is Odysseus’ death prophesied? P. 253 gentle, painless, far from sea, in ripe old age, with all
his people there in blessed peace around him.
7. To obtain truth from anyone in the House of Death, Odysseus must allow the soul to _drink blood_.
8. Odysseus’ mother tells him what about each of these:
Penelope - __faithful, beset by suitors_____________________________________________
Laertes - ___old & sad________________________________________________________________
How she herself has died - _longing___________________________________________________
9. Agamemnon speaks this phrase to Odysseus: “His trustiest weapon women’s twisted wiles.” Whose
weapon?__Zeus_______ Agamemnon is advising Odysseus never to trust whom? _women________
10. The story of Tantalus (pg. 268) exemplifies the word “___tantalize_____________”.
11. Sisyphus is tortured by the impossible task of ___rolling a boulder up a large mountain_________
______________________________________________________________________________.
12. Heracles (another name for Hercules) also appears to Odysseus and comments on his life.
13. The fear of what staring face finally sends Odysseus rushing back to his ship?_medusa_______
Legend says that one look at this face will turn a person to stone.
Book 12
1. Identify these:
__Scylla________________ - 6-headed dog which eats one man per mouth?
__Charybdis____________ - watery whirlpool which may kill an entire boat of men
__Thrinaciea_____________ - the island where the cattle of the Sungod graze
__Circe_________________ - awesome nymph with golden braids who speaks with a human voice
__Helios_______________ - Sungod who loves his cattle
___Sirens_______________ - nymphs whose voices are irresistible
2. Odysseus fulfills his promise to do what for Elpenor? _funeral rites__________________
3. What moral dilemma does Circe leave it to Odysseus to solve? (Line 64 ff) Choice of Scylla or
Charybdis.
4. What will happen if Odysseus’ men harm the Sungod’s cattle in any way?
Ship and men will be destroyed; he will come home late and a broken man. (p. 275)
5. What literary device is used in line 154? __personfication (Dawn) ________________________
6. What detail from line 188 shows how quickly Odysseus’ men rowed their ship? “Frothing the water
white.”
7. How can listening to the Sirens help Odysseus? Wisdom. Self knowledge.
What do they know? They know all of men’s deeds.
8. What is Odysseus trying to do for his men when he says lines 226 – 232? To build their confidence.
9. What simile describes Scylla as she flings her heads down to take men from the ship? Lines 271279. An angler (fisherman) is compared to Scylla catching the men.
10. Of all the pitiful things Odysseus has had to watch, what has wrenched his heart the most?
His men being eaten by Scylla, calling his name for the last time.
11. Tiresius and Circe have both advised Odysseus to avoid which island? The green island of Helios
12. Name 2 times when Eurylochus has been insubordinate to Odysseus:
A. __Objecting to not stopping at Helios’ island________________________________
B. __Convincing the men to eat Helios’ cattle_________________________________
C. __ Open the wind bag__________________________________________________
13. Why do Odysseus’ men weep (pg. 280)? In mourning for Scylla’s victims
14. Before praying, what does Odysseus do (line 363)?_Rinses his hands in a sheltered spot, and prays
15. What will Helios do unless he gets vengeance for his cattle (pg. 283)? Line 402: “Down I go to the
House of Death and blaze among the dead!” IN other words, he threatens never to light the earth
again.
17. What does Zeus promise to do as vengeance? Line 418-9: “I’ll hit their racing ship with a whitehot bolt; I’ll tear it into splinters.”
18. What bad omen occurs with the cattle as they are being roasted? The hides begin to crawl; the meat
makes sounds while it is cooking.
19. Read the account of the shipwreck (lines 439-452) aloud in your group.
20. Who survives the shipwreck?__Odysseus__________________________________
21. How did Odysseus survive Charybdis? He jumped and caught hold of a fig tree above until his
pieces of the ship came back to the surface.
22. Why does Scylla not eat Odysseus on his return voyage? Zeus hides him. Lines 481-2.
Book 13
1. What is personified in line 69? Old age & death
2. The ship in which the Phaeacians are sailing Odysseus home moves quickly through the waters. It is
described as bearing “a man endowed with __the gods’ own wisdom___________________.”
3. What tree stands at the harbor’s entrance? _olive_ Why is this significant? Sacred to Athena
4. Odysseus, who is sound asleep, and his treasures (gifts of the Phaeacians) are left on the shore.
5. Poseidon grumbles to Zeus because Odysseus is being sent home. Zeus gives Poseidon permission
to do “whatever warms your heart.” What does Poseidon decide to do? Crush the Phaeacian ship.
6. Zeus mitigates Poseidon’s decision by advising him to have the ship strike against a rock and pile
huge mountains around the port. Strangely, this punishment convinces the Phaeacians not to escort
weary travelers anymore.
7. When Odysseus first wakes, he does not recognize Ithaca because Athena has wrapped it in _mist_.
8. Athena gives Odysseus what appearance (pg. 292)? _old man________________________
9. Athena now looks like a ___shepherd boy (line 253)______________________________ .
10. Once he realizes where he is, Odysseus attempts to conceal his identity from Athena, by telling her
a fantastic – and fictitious – tale, until she reveals her own identity. This again displays his cunning.
11. Notice the alliteration and parallel structure in this line (299):
“Cleaving my way through wars of men and waves at sea.”
12. Once he has told his fictitious tale, Athena reveals her identity. She says Odysseus is best among
mortal men at __tactics and spinning yarns (telling stories)_, while she is famous among gods for
__wisdom and cunning wiles_____________.
13. Athena advises Odysseus not to reveal what just yet (pg. 296)? _his identity______
14. Why is it that Athena cannot forsake Odysseus in all his troubles (pg. 297)? She admires his “wary
turn of mind”.
15. Notice again, alliteration and parallel structure here (383-385):
“She waits in your halls, as always, her life an endless hardship . . .
wasting away the nights, weeping away the days.”
16. List 3 epithets for Athena from pg. 299: my bright-eyed one____________,
__great goddess_______, ___comrade-in-arms in battle____________.
17. Athena changes Odysseus’ appearance in 4 ways: 1)____shrivel skin________________,
2)___remove his hair___________, 3)_____put him in rags_________,
4)____dim his eyes_____________.
18. Who are the “young lords” to whom Athena refers in line 485? ___suitors_______
She predicts they will not succeed in their intention.
Book 14
1. The loyal swine herd is named ___Eumaeus________________.
2. What lines explain the ancient Greeks’ reason for their custom of hospitality? _64-68
3. Read lines 158 through 174. In one word, describe Eumaeus’ feelings about Odysseus:_longing,
grief___
4. In what lines on pg. 306 does Odysseus foretell his return? _188-191_______________
5. Odysseus tells Eumaeus a fictitious story about himself, to avoid revealing his true identity, and
claims that, “The ship’s hauled down … to take Odysseus home to native land.” Eumaeus does not
believe him, because other strangers have made the same claim, and yet Odysseus has not returned.
6. Who is the “crafty man” referred to in line 443 (pg. 314)? __Odysseus______________________
7. What is it that “warmed Odysseus’ heart” on pg. 318? The way Eumaeus took such good care of
Odysseus’ animals.
8. Where does Eumaeus sleep (pg. 318)? Outside with animals
Book 15
1. What warning does Athena give in lines 31-35? Suitors’ ambush
2. Who is the “lord of the warcry” referred to in line 73? _Menelaus_________________
3. What does he say is “best in all things”? __balance________________
4. Telemachus receives 3 parting gifts from Menelaus & Helen. They are __bowl_________,
_2-handled cup_______, and _robes_____. The last of these gifts is to be saved for what day?
__wedding____________________________________.
5. What omen is sent from the gods on pg. 324? ____eagle clutching white goose in its talons__.
__Helen__ interprets this to mean __Odysseus will return and be victorious over suitors in his house.
6. What 2 adjectives are used on pgs. 324 & 325 to describe the maturing Telemachus?
___tactful____________________ and __pensive___________________________
7. Telemachus, in his hurry to get home, asks Pisistratus to take him directly to his ship, not stopping
to bid farewell to Nestor, for fear that Nestor, in his hospitality, will further delay Telemachus.
8. Draw a tree showing the genealogy of the prophet Theoclymenus:
9. Who is the “precious toddler” referred to in line 505? __Eumaeus_________. Why was this child
not raised by his biological mother and father? Nurse sold him away.
What is the name of the woman who did raise this child? ___Anticleia______________
10. Who is the “decent, kindly man” referred to in line 548? ___Laertes_________________
11. What is the second omen sent in this Book? _____hawk with dove in claws_____________
Book 16
1. How does Odysseus know that a familiar person is approaching Eumaeus’ shed? Animals reaction
2. Give 3 examples of the “line of only sons” which Telemachus mentions in line 131. Laertes,
Odysseus, Telemachus
3. How do the dogs react to Athena’s appearance at the farm? Cringing
4. Athena has made Odysseus look wrinkled and poor to hide his identity. On pg. 344, she alters his
appearance again, and tells him to reveal his identity to Telemachus. Read the description of him in
lines 194-200. Telemachus, upon seeing his sudden changed appearance, claims what? Odysseus
must be a god______________________________________
6. Telemachus gives Odysseus a report of the numbers of suitors at the palace. Nevertheless, Odysseus
is confident that he and his son will be victorious with the help of whom? __Zeus,
Athena_____________________ Odysseus advises Telemachus to hide most of the
__weapons____________, which adorn the palace walls.
7. In the story that she tells of Odysseus’ kindness to Antinous’ father, Penelope intends for Antinous
and the suitors to feel what? Remorse or guilt