Name: ________________________ Date: ______ Mods: ______
The Odyssey – Chapter Seven Study Guide
1. How does Circe again help Odysseus in the first paragraph of the
chapter?
She provides them with a helpful breeze.
2. Who live at the very boundaries of the ocean where the sun never
shines?
Cimmerians
3. Who is the first soul to come that Odysseus recognizes? What does this
soul ask of Odysseus?
Elpenor. He asks Odysseus to burn his body with all his armor, build
a monument by the seashore for him, and place his oar above his tomb as
the grave marker.
4. Who is the next soul to come before Odysseus? What does Odysseus do
about this soul?
Odysseus’s mother comes next. Odysseus keeps her away from the
blood until Tiresias arrives.
5. Who finally comes? Why does he drink the blood from the trough?
Tiresias. He drinks the blood so that he may “prophesy true.”
6. What does Tiresias say will happen if Odysseus or his men touch the
cattle of the sun?
He will lose ship and comrades, and even if Odysseus escapes death,
he’ll get home after many years on a foreign ship only to find troubles at
home from suitors trying to marry Penelope.
7. What will Odysseus have to do so he can still live to a ripe old age?
Odysseus must avenge himself on the suitors, then make fitting
sacrifices to Poseidon
8. Who comes back again to see Odysseus and drink from the blood? What
does she tell him about his family back in Ithaca?
His mother. She tells him that Penelope has remained faithful to him,
Telemachus is a good manager, his father stays in the country weakened
by age, and she died from worrying about him.
9. When Odysseus pauses in telling his story, what do the Phaeacians say
about him?
They call Odysseus a remarkable man and wish to stay one more
day, so they can give him even more gifts than before.
10. What two epithets does Odysseus use to address Agamemnon?
Glorious son of Atreus; King of Men
11. How did Agamemnon die? Who killed him?
He was murdered upon his return home from Troy by his wife,
Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus.
12. What advice does Agamemnon give Odysseus regarding women?
“Don’t be gentle with your wife. Don’t tell her all your business. Tell
some things and conceal the rest.”
13. What epithet describes Achilles?
Son of Peleus
14. What does Achilles tell Odysseus he would rather be? What does he
mean by this?
“I would rather be the lowliest person on earth alive than rule over all
the dead.” He is telling Odysseus that he would give anything to still be
alive, even if that meant he was just a beggar on earth rather than being
the most important dead person.
15. What is the name of Achilles’s son? Why was he considered a hero at
the battle of Troy?
Neoptolemus. His advice was excellent, he slew many heroes, and he
never showed fear in battle.
16. What is the epithet that describes Ajax? Why is Ajax mad at Odysseus?
Son of Telamon. Odysseus had once won a victory over Ajax for the
arms of Achilles, which ultimately led to Ajax’s death, so he has never
forgiven Odysseus.
17. What must Tityus suffer for eternity? Why must he suffer this
punishment?
Two vultures continually tear away at Tityus’s liver every day because
he tried to kidnap Latona, one of the wives of Zeus.
18. What punishment must Tantalus suffer for eternity?
Tantalus will forever be hungry and thirsty because he cannot reach
the fruit above him or the water below him.
19. What must Sisyphus do for eternity?
He must roll an enormous stone up a hill to try to get it over the top
of the hill. If he succeeds, he would be released from the land of the dead.
20. What terrifies Odysseus at the end of the chapter and causes him to
rush back to his ship?
“A great army of the dead assembled around him with frightening
outcries.”
Major characters introduced in this chapter: (give a short
description)
Tiresias: blind prophet who foretells Odysseus’s future to him after drinking
the blood of the sheep
Odysseus’s mother: she tells Odysseus of what has been happening back
on Ithaca and how she died from worrying about him
Agamemnon: King of all men; son of Atreus; murdered by his wife and her
lover
Clytemnestra: Agamemnon’s wife who murdered him
Aegisthus: Clytemnestra’s lover who helped her murder her husband
Achilles: son of Peleus; hero among the greeks; wishes he were still alive
Neoptolemus: son of Achilles; hero during battle of Troy
Ajax: son of Telamon; lost contest to Odysseus for Achilles’s armor which
eventually led to Ajax’s death
Tityus: has liver constantly eaten by vultures as punishment for trying to
steal a wife of Zeus
Tantalus: will forever be hungry and thirsty because he can’t reach the
food or water surrounding him as punishment for killing his son and trying
to feed him to the Gods
Sisyphus: will forever be rolling an enormous stone up a hill as punishment
for tattling on Zeus
Important Greek Themes demonstrated in this chapter: