ANSWER KEY
The Odyssey – Study Guide 1, p.751-754
1. Whom does Homer ask for help in telling his tale? The Muse
2. How long has Odysseus been gone? 20 years
3. What is Odysseus doing when we first meet him? Crying on Calypso’s island
4. Which god is most against Odysseus? Poseidon
5. Who is the goddess that helps Odysseus? Athena
6. Which god is sent to tell Calypso to release Odysseus? Hermes
7. Where does Odysseus go after leaving Calypso? Scheria, King Alcinous’ court in Phaeacia
The Odyssey – Study Guide 2, p. 756-775
1. Who is king of the Phaeacians? King Alcinous
2. What happens to the men who ate the lotus? They forget their desire to go home.
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3. Why does Odysseus call himself “Nohbody”? to trick Polyphemus & allow for their escape
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4. What is the Cyclops’s name? Polyphemus
5. Who is the father of the Cyclopes? Poseidon
6. Who is Aeolus? King of Aeolia who gives Odysseus a bag of all the winds to aid in his trip
7. Where is Odysseus when cannibals attack him? Island of the Laestrygonians
8. Where does Circe live? Aeaea
9. What does Circe turn Odysseus’s men into? Swine/pigs
10. What does Hermes give Odysseus to protect him from Circe? Magical plant (moly/garlic)
The Odyssey – Study Guide 3, p. 775-786
1. Whom does Odysseus seek in the Underworld? Teiresias, blind prophet of Thebes
ANSWER KEY
2. What are the Sirens? Half-bird, half-women who music/song lures men to their death
3. How do the men face and overcome the Sirens’ song? Plug their ears with beeswax, tie
to the mast of the ship so he can hear it, but not steer the ship there
4. What is Charybdis? Giant whirlpool, female monster
Draw a picture.
5. What is Scylla? Female monster, cliff-dweller, 6 heads with triple rows of fangs in each
Draw a picture.
6. What choice must Odysseus make? Be sucked in by Charybdis or lose 6 men to Scylla
7. What happens as the ship passes between “a rock and a hard place”? Scylla swoops down and
eats 6 of Odysseus’s best men as they avoid Charybdis.
8. Where does Helios keep his cattle? Thrinakia
9. Who convinces the men to disobey Odysseus? Eurylochus
10. What is Helios’s threat to the gods? he won’t raise the sun again if the men aren’t killed
11. What happens to Odysseus’s men? Zeus sends down a lightning bolt, killing them all
12. Where does Odysseus swim to? Calypso’s island
The Odyssey – Study Guide 4, p. 790-796
1. What does Athena advise Odysseus to do? Arrive in Ithaca disguised as a beggar
2. Who is Odysseus’s faithful swineherd? Eumaeus
3. Where does Telemachus go in search of news of his father? Pylos & Sparta
4. What does Eumaeus call Telemachus? “Light of my days”
5. How does Athena transform Odysseus? Turns his clothing white, makes him clean
6. What happens when Odysseus sees his dog? Argos takes his last breath & dies
7. How does Eurycleia recognize Odysseus? Sees scar on his leg while washing his feet
8. Athena says the suitors will DIE.
The Odyssey – Study Guide 5, p. 798-809
ANSWER KEY
1. What impossible task does Penelope propose for the suitors? must string Odysseus’s bow and
shoot an arrow cleanly through a row of 12 axe handles
2. Whom does Odysseus trust to help him defeat the suitors? Telemachus, Eumaeus (swineherd) &
Philoeteus (cowherd)
3. How does Odysseus prove his true identity? strings the bow & shoots the arrow
4. Who does Odysseus kill first and why? Antinous, because he was cruel towards Odysseus
disguised as a beggar & was the leader among the suitors
5. What sign shows Athena is helping Odysseus win? The aegis, her shield appears in the hall
6. What happens to the disloyal maids? They have to clean up the massacre & are hanged
7. How does Athena help Odysseus win over Penelope? Makes him look more handsome
8. What was special about Penelope and Odysseus’ bed? It was carved from the base of an olive tree
that their house/palace was built around, and therefore, immovable