Name _______________________________________________________________
The Odyssey Guided Notes
“The Land of the Dead” pp. 1226-1229
Respond to each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed
sentences.
1. Who is Teiresias and what can he do (what archetype is he)? ___________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Who does Odysseus encounter in “The Land of the Dead” that causes him “pang on
pang of tears”? (Lines 57-67) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Teiresias begins to speak at line 68. Complete the summary below:
The great god ________________ is punishing you because you ________________ his
son ________________________. You must avoid the grazing herds of Helios, for if
you don’t, ___________________________________________________. You will
survive _______________, and will return to a home filled with men who
______________________________________________________________________.
Yet don’t worry, because you will make those men pay with their __________________.
Book 12: “The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis” pp. 1230-1237
Respond to each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed
sentences.
1. The section starts with a warning from ___________________________ to beware
___________________________.
2. Anyone who hears the song of the sirens will _______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
3. In order to escape the sirens, she advises to _________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
4. Can anyone choose to listen? Explain. _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
5. Circe next warns of the monster ______________, who looks frightening, having
(describe her) ________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________, but makes sounds like
__________________________________________.
6. Look at lines 45-58. If a “gullet” is a throat, how many men does Scylla take from
each ship? _____________________
7. Line 59 begins describing another monster named ______________________. This is
a whirlpool monster who ______________ times daily, ______________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
8. Lines 89-105 introduce the island where Helios’ cattle graze. Circe warns again what
we already know: If Odysseus’ men “raid the beeves (cattle),
________________________________________________________________________
______________________” (Homer XII. 104-105).
9. What piece of information does Odysseus purposefully omit when passing on the
warnings of Circe? _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.
Why might he have done this? ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
10. How does Odysseus listen to the sirens? (What does he have his crew do to him?)
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________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
11. Line 134 begins the attack made by Scylla. As she rips the men out of the ship, her
movements are compared to something much more mundane. Look at lines 194-199.
The men dangling are compared to____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
12. After escaping these two monsters, Odysseus knows that the next stop will bring his
men to their demise. Read the editors summary of what happens. (Located on p. 1236 in
italics) . Why do the men disobey? __________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.
13. What (sent by whom) destroys them?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Part Two: Homecoming
Book 16 “Father and Son” pp. 1242-1247
Complete each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed sentences.
1. Athena advises and helps Odysseus to disguise himself as a _______________ .
2. Athena appears to Odysseus’ son ___________________ and urges him to rush
home to Ithaca because
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.
3. When Telemachus arrives home, he joins his disguised father and ___________,
the ________________.
4. Athena wants Odysseus to ______________ himself to ____________, so she
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________.
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5. In book 16, Odysseus and his son are finally __________________. Read lines
99-10. Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ emotion reveals _______________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Book 17 “Beggar at the Manor” pp. 1248-1249
Respond to each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed
sentences.
1. Who is Argos? ___________________________________________________
2. How is Argos treated? __________. Give the details that support your claim.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
____________________________________
3. How do we know that Argos recognizes Odysseus? (What body movements does
he make?)
________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
4. Eumaeus tells Odysseus that Argos used to ______________________________
_________________________________, but now that his master is “dead”, the
dog ______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
5. What happens to Argos after seeing his master? (Look at lines 44-46)
_________________________________________________________________.
Book 21 “The Test of the Great Bow” pp. 1250-1255
Complete each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed sentences.
1. Penelope proposes an impossible task: the suitors must ______________
__________________, which is a task that can only be done by Odysseus.
2. Penelope states that any man who can___________________ can ____________
________________________.
3. Look at Lines 16-19. How does this imagery reinforce the theme of loyalty?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
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4. At Line 46, Odysseus asks both the swineherd and cowherd who they support:
Odysseus or the suitors. When they answer that they support
____________________, he decides to let them in on the secret that
______________________________.
5. In lines 84-93, Odysseus gives instructions to the swineherd and cowherd.
Summarize what he has them do below.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
6. How do the men react when the “beggar” wants his turn to try? ______________
________________________________________________________________.
7. Now Odysseus, still disguised as the beggar, takes his turn. Describe below what
happens when he takes the bow.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________.
8. It is at this moment that everyone finally realizes that______________________
________________________________________________________________.
Book 22 “Death in the Great Hall” pp. 1256-1261
Complete each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed sentences.
1. Where on a plotline would this section of the poem be located?
_________________ Where on the Hero’s Journey would it be located?
___________________
2. Antinous is drinking ________________ when Odysseus
____________________________________.
3. What simile is used to describe the wounding of Antinous? (Lines 16-20, copy it
verbatim)._________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
4. How do the remaining suitors immediately react to the death of Antinous?
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
5. What reasons does Odysseus give for killing the suitors?
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
6. The men quickly beg Odysseus for forgiveness, and even begin to use Antinous as
a scapegoat by claiming that _________________________________________
__________________________________and that they would provide Odysseus
with_____________________________________________________________
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__________________________if he would just spare their lives. He won’t.
MwahHaha.
7. Read the italicized paragraphs on pp. 1260-1261. This is the bloodiest scene of
the poem. To what are the attackers (Odysseus and Telemachus) compared? In
what ways are the men similar? _______________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
Book 23: “The Trunk of the Olive Tree” pp. 1262-1265
Complete each of the following questions with thoughtful, detailed sentences.
1. Penelope is having a hard time believing that this stranger __________________
____________________________________________, so she decides to test him.
2. Odysseus cleans himself up, but the true physical transformation was “lent” to
him by the goddess ____________________. What does she do to him?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
3. Look closely at Penelope’s confused shift in pronouns in Lines 23-26. What may
this mean regarding her alternating hopes and fears?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_____________________________.
4. What is the apparent “secret” between the two? (Look at lines 33-53).
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________.
5. Of what material is the bed constructed? ________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
6. Now that she is certain that this man is her husband, Penelope begs his
forgiveness for not believing him. She begins to blame
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________
7. How does the epic poem end? Have all prophesies come true?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
___________.
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