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Homer’s Odyssey Study Guide
The Odyssey: Book 1—p.1-9: The Gods Must Be Crazy
1. Who is currently preventing Odysseus from returning home, and why?
2. With whom is Athene arguing, and for whom is she arguing?
3. Who does Athene leave Olympus to go see, and why?
4. Who does Athene pretend to be, and what does she say of Odysseus?
5. Who are the suitors, and what does Telemachus have to say about them?
6. What two people does Athene tell Telemachus to go see, and why?
7. What does Penelope tell the bard, and why does Telemachus disagree?
8. How do the suitors treat Telemachus, and how does he react?
9. Who is Eurycleia, and what is her relationship to Telemachus?
The Odyssey: Book 2—p.10-18: Daddy Wasn’t There
1. Who attends the assembly, and what does Telemachus tell them?
2. Who defends himself, and what trick does he accuse Penelpoe of?
3. What sign do the suitors receive from Zeus, and how does Halitherses interpret it?
4. How does Eurymachus respond to the interpretation, and what does he advise Telemachus to do?
5. Who speaks up on Odysseus’s behalf, and what does he say?
6. Who shows up again, and how does this person help Telemachus?
7. How do the suitors respond to Telemachus’s travel plans, and why?
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8. Whom does Telemachus tell of his plans, and from whom does he keep it a secret?
9. What does the crew do with the wine, and why?
The Odyssey: Book 3—p.19-28: Road Trip
1. What ritual does Telemachus join when he arrives at Pylos, and which god is being honored?
2. To whom does Telemachus explain himself, and why does he say he has come?
3. Who are the sons of Atreus, and what did they disagree about?
4. Which two gods, besides Poseidon, opposed the Greeks’ easy return home, according to Nestor?
5. Whose “deadly plot” killed Agamemnon, and who avenged his death?
6. Who does Nestor tell Telemachus to go visit, and why?
7. For what does Nestor rebuke Telemachus, and why?
8. Describe two interesting things about the sleeping arrangements at Nestor’s home that night.
9. How does Telemachus travel from Pylos, and with whom?
The Odyssey: Book 4—p. 29-44: There’s Something About Helen
1. Who are the two couples being married in Lacedaemon when Telemachus arrives?
2. How does Menalaus respond to the comparison of his wealth to Zeus’s, and what would he exchange for
two-thirds of his wealth?
3. Who recognizes Telemachus, and what is this person’s relationship to Menalaus?
4. What does Helen add to the wine, and for what purpose?
5. What story does Helen tell about seeing Odysseus in Troy, and how did she help him?
6. What analogy does Menalaus make to the suitors, and what does he predict?
7. Where was Menalaus held back, and which goddess helped him?
8. Who is the old man of the sea, and what special ability does he have to avoid capture?
9. What does the old man say happened to Ajax, and why?
10. What information does the old man give Menalaus about Odysseus, and about his own fate?
11. Meanwhile, what information do the suitors receive, and how do they react?
12. What does Antinous plan, and who does Medon tell of the plan?
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13. Why does Penelope call her maids hard-hearted, and who confesses?
14. Who does Penelope appeal to for help, and what do the suitors think she is doing?
15. Who comes to Penelope in a vision to calm her, and what information won’t she give?
The Odyssey: Book 5—p. 45-54: Leaving Fantasy Island
1. Where does Zues send Hermes, and to do what?
2. Describe two details about Calypso’s island.
3. List two reasons Calypso gives Hermes for her anger at his request.
4. What does Odysseus think when Calypso tells him he may leave, and what does he have her swear?
5. List two ways Calypso helps Odysseus with the raft?
6. Who gets angry at seeing Odysseus nearing his home, and what does he do?
7. What is Odysseus’s dilemma when he gets within calling distance of land?
8. What two things does Odysseus do when he finally reaches land?
9. What metaphor is used to describe how Odysseus finds shelter?
The Odyssey: Book 6—p.55-61: The Princess Diaries
1. Whose chamber does Athene go to, whose daughter is she, and what kingdom is this?
2. What does Athene scold her for, and what chore does Athene tell her to do?
3. List two things the girls do while waiting for the clothes to dry.
4. What about Odysseus causes the girls to run, and who is the exception?
5. How does Odysseus transform, and who helps him?
6. What special instructions does the princess give Odysseus about walking through town, and why?
7. What special instructions does the princess give Odysseus about meeting her parents, and why?
The Odyssey: Book 7—p.62-68: Meet the Parents
1. How does Athene disguise herself and protect Odysseus from the Phaeacians?
2. What is the queen’s name and who is her great-grandfather?
3. What are Phaeacian men famous for? And Phaeacian women?
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4. Where is Athena’s human-world retreat where she goes after guiding Odysseus to the Palace?
5. What are two thing Alcinous decrees that the heart within him bids?
6. What does Odysseus tell Arete about himself, and what does he leave out?
The Odyssey: Book 8—p.69-79: Phaeacian Men Can’t Jump
1. What does the bard sing about, and how does Odysseus react?
2. List three different games the Phaeacians compete in.
3. How does Euryalus insult Odysseus, and what does Odysseus do in response?
4. How does Alcinous say Phaeacian men surpass all others?
5. Which gods and goddess does the bard sing about next?
6. What did Apollo ask Hermes, and what was his response?
7. List two gifts Odysseus receives from the Phaeacians.
8. Why does the Odysseus start crying again, and who notices it?
9. What did Alcinous’s father Nausithous predict, and what does Alcinous ask Odysseus?
The Odyssey: Book 9—p. 80-90: One-Eyed Purple People Eater
1. Where does Odysseus go first from Troy (Ilios), and what mistake does he make there?
2. What danger do the Lotus-eaters present, and how does Odysseus save his men from them?
3. List two things that make Odysseus think the Cyclops are uncivilized.
4. What gift from Maron does Odysseus bring with him, and what makes it so special?
5. What do Odysseus’s men want to do when they enter the cave, and why does Odysseus refuse?
6. What lie does Odysseus tell the Cyclops about his ship, and what does the Cyclops do in response?
7. What does Odysseus say his name is, and what “stranger’s gift” does he get from the Cyclops?
8. What does Odysseus do with the olive stake, and why don’t the other Cyclops help Polyphemus?
9. How does Odysseus use the sheep and the ram for his men’s and his own escape?
10. What information does Odysseus shout to Polyphemus, and why is this reckless?
11. Who is Polyphemus’s father, and what prayer does he make to him?
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The Odyssey: Book 10—p. 91-101: Season of the Witch
1. What is in the sack that Aeolus gives Odysseus, and why do his men open it?
2. What do the Laestrygonians look like, and what does Odysseus lose to them?
3. What happens to the men who ate Circe’s food, and who remained behind because he was suspicious?
4. What herb does Hermes give Odysseus, and what is its power?
5. What does Odysseus require before he will bed Circe, and how does he convince her to release his men?
6. Who calls Odysseus foolish for going back to Circe, and how does Odysseus respond?
7. How long does Odysseus stay with Circe, and where does she say he must go next?
8. List two parts of Circe’s instructions to Odysseus on how to reach the prophet Tiresias.
9. What happened to Elpenor, and why?
The Odyssey: Book 11—p. 102-113: Highway to Hell
1. Who is the first spirit Odysseus sees, and what does he request?
2. What new, personal loss does Odysseus learn of next, and what does he refuse this spirit?
3. What does Tiresias say will happen to Odysseus if he leaves the kine unharmed, or if he harms them?
4. How does Odysseus’s mother say she died, and what news does she give him of his father?
5. Who is Epicaste’s son, and what monstrous deed did they do?
6. Odysseus tells Alcinous he will stay with the Phaecians for another year to get what, and why?
7. Who is the next spirit Odysseus speaks to, and what advice does he give Odysseus about marriage?
8. How does Odysseus try to comfort Achilles’s spirit, and how does Achilles respond?
9. What is Tantalus’s torment? What is Sisyphus’s torment? Which is worse?
The Odyssey: Book 12—p. 114-122: Beasts of Burden
1. What instructions does Circe give Odysseus for himself and his crew to avoid the Sirens?
2. Describe Scylla and Charybdis.
3. List two things you think Odysseus found appealing about what the Sirens had to say?
4. What information does Odysseus not give his men, and what warning of Circe’s does he ignore?
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5. What does Scylla do to Odysseus’s men, and what metaphor is used to describe it?
6. Who disagrees with Odysseus about shunning the island of the Sun, and why?
7. How do they get stuck on the island, and what is Eurylochus’s “evil counsel”?
8. Where is Odysseus when the kine are killed, and what is he doing?
9. What does Zeus promise to do as punishment, and what do the gods make the dead kine appear to do?
10. How does Odysseus survive Zeus’s attack and make it past Scylla and Charybdis alone?
The Odyssey: Book 13—p. 123-131: Homeward Bound
1. What departure gifts does Alcinous give to Odysseus?
2. Who is Phorcys, and what is special about the doors to his cave?
3. How does Poseidon punish the Phaeacians, and why?
4. What is Odysseus most concerned with when he awakes, and who helps him?
5. Describe the lie that Odysseus tells the “young shepherd”.
6. What does Athene say “any other man” would have done, and why is it good Odysseus didn’t?
7. Describe two ways that Athene disguises Odysseus.
The Odyssey: Book 14—p. 132-141: Swineherd’s Pie
1. List two ways Eumaeus shows respect to “the stranger”.
2. What limits must Eumaios place on the amount of hospitality he can offer Odysseus? Why?
3. Describe how and why “vagrants seeking hospitality tell lies”?
4. What does Odysseus promise Eumaeus will happen “this very year”, and how does Eumaeus respond?
5. List two details of the lie Odysseus tells Eumaeus about who he is.
6. List two similarities between the lie he tells and the truth of his journey.
7. What “covenant” does Odysseus make with Eumaeus?
8. What two things does Odysseus accomplish by telling the story about the cloak?
9. Where does Eumaeus sleep, and what does Odysseus think of this?
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The Odyssey: Book 15—p. 142-152: Here Comes the Son
1. Who are Penelope’s brothers and father pressuring her to wed, and why?
2. What two faults of hosts does Menalaus point out?
3. What gift does Helen give Telemachus, and for what purpose?
4. What bird sign do they see, and how does Helen interpret it?
5. What promise does Telemachus ask of the son of Nestor, and why?
6. Why does Theoclymenus want to go with Telemachus, and what is Telemachus’s response?
7. What reasons does Eumaeus give why Odysseus should not go to town and see Penelope?
8. What was Odysseus’s sister’s name, and who was brought up with her?
9. What are the Phoenicians like, and how did they alter Eumaeus’s fate?
10 . Why can’t Telemachus receive Theoclymenus at the palace, and where does he send him?
The Odyssey: Book 16—p.153-161: Who’s Your Daddy?
1. How can Eumaeus and Odysseus tell that the person drawing near is not a stranger, and who is it?
2. How does Eumaeus greet Telemachus, and what does Telemachus call him?
3. What reasons does Telemachus give for not taking the stranger (Odysseus) home?
4. What errand does Telemachus send Eumaeus on, and what does he tell him not to do?
5. What is Telemachus’s first reaction when Odysseus reveals his true identity, and why?
6. What are two key instructions Odysseus gives Telemachus?
7. What does Antinous urge the suitors to do to Telemachus, and why?
8. Who lies to Penelope, and what lie does he tell her?
The Odyssey: Book 17—p. 162-173: Stool Softener
1. With what emotion does Telemachus greet his mother, and what instructions does he give her?
2. What does Telemachus tell Peiraeus not to do, and why?
3. How is the story Telemachus tells Penelope different than Theoclymenus’s story?
4. Who insults Odysseus and Eumaeus, and what prediction does he make if they go to Odysseus’s home?
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5. Who recognizes his master, and what happens to him after seeing Odysseus?
6. Why does Odysseus risk begging directly from the suitors, and how do most of them react?
7. What does Odysseus say that angers Antinous, and what does Antinous do to him?
8. Why does Penelope laugh, and how does Eumaeus interpret it?
9. Why does Odysseus delay talking to Penelope, and what might be his real reason to wait until sunset?
The Odyssey: Book 18—p. 174-182: Celebrity Smackdown: Beggar Style
1. How does the scavenger Arnaeus (Irus) taunt Odysseus, and how do the suitors react?
2. What oath does Odysseus make the suitors take, and what body part does he show off?
3. In what manner does Odysseus decide to strike Irus, and why?
4. What does Eurynome tell Penelope to do before she goes to the suitors, and why does Penelope refuse?
5. What does Athene do to Penelope, and how do the suitors react?
6. What did Odysseus tell Penelope before he left for Troy, and what instructions did he give her?
7. What does Penolope chide the suitors for, and what is Antinous’s response?
8. Who is the ungrateful maid, and who is her lover?
9. Why does Eurymachus offer Odysseus a job, and what is Odysseus’s response?
The Odyssey: Book 19—p. 183-194: Maid in Ithaca
1. What reasons is Telemachus supposed to give the suitors for moving the armor?
2. What does Melantho say to Odysseus, and who besides Odysseus scolds her?
3. Explain how Penelope “cheated” the suitors for three years.
4. What story does Odysseus tell Penelope about his identity, and why does she cry?
5. How does Penelope test his story, and what is his response?
6. What does Penelope offer Odysseus, and why does he refuse?
7. Who washes Odysseus’s feet, and what does she find?
8. How does Odysseus tell the nurse not to reveal his identity, and what does he threaten?
9. What is Penelope’s dream, and what is its interpretation?
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The Odyssey: Book 20—p. 195-202: Sleeping With the Enemy
1. What do they maids do that upsets Odysseus, and what event does he remind himself of?
2. To what is restless Odysseus compared, and what is his concern?
3. Who does Penelope pray to, and for what?
4. What does Eurycleia have the women do, and why?
5. Who is Philoetius, and what insight does he have when he meets Odysseus?
6. Who interprets the bird sign, and what does he decide?
7. How does Athene cause Odysseus pain, and why do you think she does this?
8. What does Telemachus tell the suitors about his mother marrying, and how do they respond?
The Odyssey: Book 21—p. 203-211: The Dating Game
1. From whom did Odysseus get his bow, and why?
2. What is the “test of the bow”, and what is the prize?
3. What does Odysseus stop Telemachus from doing, and why?
4. What does Antinous tell Melanthius to do, and why?
5. Who does Odysseus finally reveal himself to, and why?
6. What reasons do Eurymachus and Antinous give for not wanting Odysseus to try the bow?
7. What does Telemachus tell Penelope to do and why?
8. What instructions does Telemachus give Eurycleia and Philoetius?
9. What metaphor is used to describe how Odysseus handles the bow, and what omen does Zeus send?
The Odyssey: Book 22—p. 212-221: Sucks to Be a Suitor
1. Who does Odysseus kill first, and how?
2. Who tries to lay all the blame on Antinous, and what bargain does he try to make?
3. What does Odysseus send Telemachus to do, and why now?
4. How does Melanthius aid the suitors, and what is his punishment?
5. Who else comes to help Odysseus, and in what disguise?
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6. Which two people are wounded by the suitor’s attack, and how?
7. Why does Leiodes beg Odysseus for mercy, and why is he refused?
8. Two other men beg to be spared from Odysseus’ revenge. Who are they, and what is their fate?
9. Describe in detail the metaphor Homer uses to describe the dead suitors.
10. What must the women slaves do, and what then is done to them?
The Odyssey: Book 23—p. 222-228: Who’s Your Daddy? Part II
1. What two reasons does Penelope give for why Eurycleia may be wrong about Odysseus’s identity?
2. What two ways of greeting Odysseus does Penelope debate, and which does she choose?
3. What does Odysseus propose to trick passers-by, and what does he want them to think?
4. What does Penelope tell Eurycleia to do, and how does Odysseus react?
5. What was special about Odysseus’s bed, and what does this knowledge prove to Penelope?
6. What metaphor is used to describe the reunion, and how does Athene help them celebrate?
7. What does Odysseus tell Penelope about a journey that he has to take, and how does she respond?
8. What, besides sweet lovin’, do they spend the night doing, and where does he go in the morning?
The Odyssey: Book 24—p. 229-239: Highway to Hell: The Remix
1. Where does this book begin, and who is traveling there?
2. List two things the spirit of Agamemnon (son of Atreus) recalls from Achilles’s death.
3. What two stories does Amphimedon tell Agamemnon?
4. How does Agamemnon feel about Penelope after hearing this, and who does he compare her to?
5. Describe Laertes’s appearance, and Odysseus’s reaction to seeing him.
6. What lie does Odysseus tell Laertes, and why does he decide to tell the truth?
7. What two proofs of identity does Odysseus give his father?
8. Whose father is Eupeithes, and what does he suggest to the assembly?
9. What does Medon the herald say to the angry Ithacans, and what are their reactions?
10. What does Zeus tell Athene when she asks him what to do, and what is his advice?
11. How do Athene and Zeus both help end the rumble between the Ithacans and Odysseus?
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