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English 9
Reading Questions for “An Introduction to the Odyssey”
INSTRUCTIONS: Open your textbooks to page 640. Read the article “An
Introduction to the Odyssey” by David Adams Leeming. As you read, answer the
questions below in complete sentences. And yes, the questions are in the same
order as the reading. Good luck! 
1. Who wrote The Odyssey? What other epic is he known for? What is each
about?
2. Define epic. What are two modern examples of epics?
3. What happens in The Illiad to set the stage for The Odyssey?
4. Who is the subject of The Odyssey? What is he known for?
5. List three ways we can relate to Odysseus.
6. What did Odysseus do to avoid the war? Why?
7. What was the wooden-horse trick (the Trojan horse)?
8. What is the theme of the epic?
9. Define myth.
10. Who did ancient Greeks think Homer was? What do scholars think?
11. How were epics told?
12. Define and give an example of a Homeric or epic simile.