The Odyssey – Video Guide
Name:
1. What does Odysseus say is "the proudest day of my life"?
2. To what city do Odysseus' ships sail so that the men may fight an opposing army?
3. What does Odysseus tell Penelope she must do if he has not returned before their son has a
beard on his face?
4. On the ship, what does the goddess Athena tell Odysseus he is to do?
5. Who is the "defender of Troy"; its greatest warrior?
6. Finish the words of the soothsayer: "Beware the ___________________ and their
_______________________.
7. What do Odysseus and his men build that finally allows them to enter the gates of the
opposing army?
8. How many years have they fought the war?
9. What credit does Odysseus take?
10. What does Poseidon say Odysseus will do as a result of Odysseus' pride and arrogance?
11. What does Odysseus’ mother tell Penelope about raising Telemachus – must raise him as a
“
.”
12. When the Cyclops asks for his name, what does Odysseus answer? Why doesn't he give his
real name?
13. How does Odysseus blind the Cyclops?
14. What does the Cyclops say after he is blinded? “
has blinded me.”
15. What does the Cyclops call on his father, Poseidon, to do to Odysseus?
16. How do Odysseus and his men escape the Cyclops' cave?
17. Who speaks to Odysseus at the waterfall where Odysseus collects water? Aeolia, the god of
the
.
18. What does the god at the waterfall give Odysseus?
19. Why does he want to help Odysseus?
20. What happens just as Odysseus and his man almost reach Ithaca? Describe with specific
detail.
21.
22. On the island of the goddess Circe, one of O's men is turned into a _______________.
23. How does O's mother die?
24. How long do O and his men remain on the island of Circe? How is she able to keep them
there for so long?
25. Where must O travel to gain information on how to return home?
26. Why have the noblemen come to see Penelope?
27. What was the one item that O carried into the Underworld?
28. Tiresias: "It is the __________________ itself that makes up your life."
29. What does Tiresias say the O should look for in order to find his way home?
30. What person from his past does O see in the Underworld?
31. Penelope promises the noblemen that she will choose a husband from among them when she
finishes _______________________________________________________ .
32. Describe the monster that O and his men encounter in the Straits of Scylla.
33. How many of O's men are lost traveling through the Strait of Scylla?
34. Why do Calypso's maids giggle when they see O?
35. Athena: "The gods must ________________ for man what man _________________ for
himself."
36. Where does Athena tell Telemachus to sail to in search of his father?
37. How does Penelope keep O's shroud in an unfinished state?
38. After O returns to the island of Ithaca, how does Athena change his appearance so he won't
be recognized?
39. What are the suitors' plans for Telemachus?
40. How is the woman servant able to identify O?
41. What task does Penelope tell the suitors that they must perform to win her hand in marriage?
42. What happens to the suitors at the end of the film?
43. According to O, what was the suitors' crime?
A Quick Summary of The Odyssey
For all practical purposes, the Odyssey is the "sequel" to the earlist well-known
surviving work in Western literature, the Iliad. Odysseia—the poem's name in Greek—
means simply "the story of Odysseus." The word "odyssey" that derives from this name
has come to mean any significant and difficult journey. This epic poem was written in the
8th century BC, although the written version was probably alive much earlier than that
through the tradition of storytelling.
In the tenth year of the Trojan War, the Greeks tricked the enemy into bringing a
colossal wooden horse within the walls of Troy. The Trojans had no idea that Greek
soldiers were hidden inside, under the command of Odysseus. That night they emerged and
opened the city gates to the Greek army. Troy was destroyed. Now it was time for
Odysseus and the other Greeks to return to their kingdoms across the sea. Here begins
the tale of the Odyssey, as sung by the blind minstrel Homer.
As The Odyssey begins, ten years have passed since the fall of Troy, and the Greek
hero Odysseus still has not returned to his kingdom in Ithaca. A large and rowdy mob of
suitors who have overrun Odysseus’s palace and pillaged his land continue to court his wife,
Penelope. She has remained faithful to Odysseus. Prince Telemachus, Odysseus’s son,
wants desperately to throw them out but does not have the confidence or experience to
fight them. One of the suitors, Antinous, plans to assassinate the young prince, eliminating
the only opposition to their dominion over the palace.
Unknown to the suitors, Odysseus is still alive. The beautiful nymph Calypso,
possessed by love for him, has imprisoned him on her island, Ogygia. He longs to return to
his wife and son, but he has no ship or crew to help him escape.
While the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus debate Odysseus’s future,
Athena, Odysseus’s strongest supporter among the gods, resolves to help Telemachus.
Disguised as a friend of the prince’s grandfather, Laertes, she convinces the prince to call
a meeting of the assembly at which he reproaches the suitors. Athena also prepares him
for a great journey to Pylos and Sparta, where the kings Nestor and Menelaus, Odysseus’s
companions during the war, inform him that Odysseus is alive and trapped on Calypso’s
island. Telemachus makes plans to return home, while, back in Ithaca, Antinous and the
other suitors prepare an ambush to kill him when he reaches port.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus sends Hermes to rescue Odysseus from Calypso. Hermes
persuades Calypso to let Odysseus build a ship and leave. The homesick hero sets sail, but
when Poseidon, god of the sea, finds him sailing home, he sends a storm to wreck
Odysseus’s ship. Poseidon has harbored a bitter grudge against Odysseus since the hero
blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, earlier in his travels. Athena intervenes to save
Odysseus from Poseidon’s wrath, and the beleaguered king lands at Scheria, home of the
Phaeacians.
Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, shows him to the royal palace, and Odysseus
receives a warm welcome from the king and queen. When he identifies himself as
Odysseus, his hosts, who have heard of his exploits at Troy, are stunned. They promise to
give him safe passage to Ithaca, but first they beg to hear the story of his adventures.
Odysseus spends the night describing the fantastic chain of events leading up to
his arrival on Calypso’s island. He recounts his trip to the Land of the Lotus Eaters, his
battle with Polyphemus the Cyclops, his love affair with the witch-goddess Circe, his
temptation by the deadly Sirens, his journey into Hades to consult the prophet Tiresias,
and his fight with the sea monster Scylla.
When he finishes his story, the Phaeacians return Odysseus to Ithaca, where he
seeks out the hut of his faithful swineherd, Eumaeus. Though Athena has disguised
Odysseus as a beggar, Eumaeus warmly receives and nourishes him in the hut. He soon
encounters Telemachus, who has returned from Pylos and Sparta despite the suitors’
ambush, and reveals to him his true identity. Odysseus and Telemachus devise a plan to
massacre the suitors and regain control of Ithaca.
When Odysseus arrives at the palace the next day, still disguised as a beggar, he
endures abuse and insults from the suitors. The only person who recognizes him is his old
nurse, Eurycleia, but she swears not to disclose his secret. Penelope takes an interest in
this strange beggar, suspecting that he might be her long-lost husband. Quite crafty
herself, Penelope organizes an archery contest the following day and promises to marry
any man who can string Odysseus’s great bow and fire an arrow through a row of twelve
axes—a feat that only Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. At the contest, each
suitor tries to string the bow and fails. Odysseus steps up to the bow and, with little
effort, fires an arrow through all twelve axes. He then turns the bow on the suitors. He
and Telemachus, assisted by a few faithful servants, kill every last suitor.
Odysseus reveals himself to the entire palace and reunites with his loving Penelope.
He travels to the outskirts of Ithaca to see his aging father, Laertes. They come under
attack from the vengeful family members of the dead suitors, but Laertes, reinvigorated
by his son’s return, successfully kills Antinous’s father and puts a stop to the attack. Zeus
dispatches Athena to restore peace. With his power secure and his family reunited,
Odysseus’s long ordeal comes to an end.