Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
Book I (1)
1. Summarize the introductory invocation:
2. The first page of Book 1 summarizes the premise of The Odyssey. What happened to Odysseus after the fall
of Troy? What happened to his companions on his journey home?
3. Book I also includes the council of the gods. Give two traits that describe Zeus and then provide a quote
proving one of the traits you have given.
Zeus: ___________________ & ________________________
Quote:
4. Give two traits that describe Athena, then provide a quote proving one of the traits you have given.
Athena:___________________ & ________________________
Quote:
5. Which god is responsible for Odysseus’ plight? Why does he bear a grudge against Odysseus?
6. Where does Athena ask Zeus to send Hermes? What is Hermes to do when he gets there?
6. In order not to be recognized, Athena takes on the guise of whom?
7. Describe the suitors. Give three traits to describe them and provide specific details from the reading to prove
each trait.
Name: _____________________________
___________________ =
__________________ =
__________________ =
8. Who is Telemachus? Describe him using two traits. Provide a quote to prove each trait.
____________________ Quote: __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________ Quote: __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What advice does Athena give him?
10. Who is Penelope? Describe her using no less than two adjectives and providing details from the text to prove
your claim.
11. How does Homer show that Telemachus has changed? Provide a quote to prove your claim.
11. What is Divine Intervention and what examples of it have we seen thus far?
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK II (2)
1. What prompts Telemachus to call an assembly? What does he plan to do afterward?
2. Describe Telemachus’ handling of the meeting. What impression do you get of him as a leader?
3. What clever scheme has Penelope used to delay her marriage?
4. Compare Antinous and Telemachus as they reveal themselves in this scene. Provide at least two similarities
and three differences.
5. Why does Athena say that Telemachus must go on a journey to find his father? What does she know the
journey will accomplish for him personally?
6. What two pieces of evidence do you find in this book that Odysseus will return to Ithaca?
a.
b.
Name: _____________________________
*Read summaries for Books III and IV
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK V (5)
1. List two epithets found in Book V. Why are these appropriate epithets?
2. What is Zeus’ command to Kalypso? What literary device does Homer use to emphasize Zeus’ words?
3. What is Kalypso’s response to this command? Why does she call the gods “jealous?” (I.24).
4. Odysseus is referred to as “the strategist” (I.23). Considering the lines he speaks after this, explain why this
title is an appropriate one.
5. How does Ino help Odysseus?
6. Briefly explain what happens to Odysseus at the end of Book V.
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK VI (6)
1. As Nausikaa plays soccer, Homer describes, “Nausiikaa flashing first her white
arms. So Artemis goes flying after her arrows flown down some tremendous
valley-side, Chasing the mountain goats or ghosting deer, with nymphs of the wild places
Flanking her…for, taller by a head than nymphs can be, the goddess shows more stately, all being beautiful.
So one could tell the princess from the maids” (VI. 109-118). What literary device is used in this quote? What
point is Homer making about Nausikaa? What qualities are most prized in women?
2. Explain how divine intervention has brought this person near the river.
3. An epic simile is used to describe Odysseus’ appearance as he moves toward the girls. Explain this simile.
What is Odysseus being compared to?
4. What does Odysseus’ discoverer do for him?
5. Why doesn’t Odysseus’ helper bring him to the palace in person?
6. What epithet is used to describe Nausicaa? What point is being made about her through this epithet?
7. What evidence of the importance of Hospitality to the Greeks can be found in the epic thus far? Give at least
two examples of the importance of hospitality, using specific details from the text.
Name: _____________________________
*Read summary for Book VII
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK VIII (8)
1. Describe the King’s hospitality. Why does Odysseus cry?
2. What athletic skills do the men exhibit?
3. How does Odysseus react to Broadsea’s insults? How does he prove himself?
4. What point does the Harper’s song about Aphrodite and Ares make about love and justice? What function
might this have in Homer’s tale?
5. How does Odysseus react to the Trojan horse story? What does the King do about his reaction?
6. What is foreshadowed by King Alcinous’ telling what his father had predicted?
7. How have Books V-VIII formed a bridge from Telemachus’ story to the stories that Odysseus is about to tell?
8. What physical qualities and personality characteristics do the Greeks admire most? List at least FOUR of each
and provide a quote to prove the importance of a physical trait and another to prove the personality
characteristic.
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK IX (9)
1. Why is it necessary for Odysseus to take some of his men by force away from the land of the
Lotus-Eaters?
2. Describe the Cyclops using no less than two adjectives. Provide a quote to prove at least one of the qualities
you state.
3. What happens when Polyphemos finds Odysseus and his men in the cave? Explain how the word choice in
these lines helps to contribute to the imagery of the scene. Provide quotes.
4. How is Odysseus able to wound Polyphemos? What injury do Odysseus and his men inflict? Why is it ironic
that Odysseus had told Polyphemos that his name is “Nohbdy?”
5. How do they escape from the cave?
6. What mistake does Odysseus make at the end of the chapter? What character trait does Odysseus reveal in his
actions at the end of this chapter? Provide a quote to prove your claim.
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK X (10)
1. What natural phenomenon is controlled by Ailos?
2. How does Ailos show his good will when Odysseus is about to leave?
3. Odysseus and his men come within sight of Ithaca. Why do they not land? Odysseus is their commander – is
he at fault or not? Why do you think so?
4. Describe the Lastrygonians. Provide a quote to prove your claims.
5. Explain the epic simile used on page 171.
6. Who protects Odysseus from Circe’s witchery? How?
7. Where does Circe tell Odysseus he must go before he goes home? What will Teiresias tell him?
8. What leadership qualities does Odysseus display in Book X? Provide a quote to prove your claim.
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XI (11)
1. What does Odysseus do to gather the souls of Hades?
2. How does Homer use the story of Elpenor to stress the importance of piety?
3. What does Teiresias tell Odysseus? (Hint: four things of importance)
a.
b.
c.
d.
4. What does Odysseus’ mother, Antikleia, say caused her death? What does she tell Odysseus about
Telemakhos? His father?
5. What two epithets are given for Odysseus and Alkinoos at the bottom of p. 196? In what way are they
appropriate?
6. What epic simile does Agamemnon use to describe his murder on p. 198? What advice does Agamemnon give
to Odysseus?
7. Odysseus also witnesses the fate of two famous characters from mythology- Tanalos and Sisyphos. What are
their eternal punishments?
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XII (12) & XIII (13)
1. Why does Odysseus return to Circe’s island?
2. What are the Sirens and how do they cause men destruction? Why does Odysseus insist on listening to them?
Is this in keeping with his character? How so?
3. What are Skylla and Karybdis? What skill or quality in Odysseus does each creature test?
4. In what way do Eurylokhos and the other men go against Odysseus’ warning? Who else tried to warn
Odysseus that this would happen?
5. What happens to Odysseus’ companions and where does Odysseus land at the end of the book?
BOOK XIII (13)
1. Identify and explain the epic simile used on p. 230.
2. How does Homer manage to get Odysseus to Ithaca without his knowing where he is?
Name: _____________________________
3. How does Poseidon react when he discovers that the Phaeacians have aided Odysseus in reaching Ithaca?
How does Alkinoos interpret Poseidon’s reaction?
4. How does Athena disguise herself? What does she tell Odysseus? What story does he tell her?
5. What does Athena tell Odysseus about the situation at his home? Why is it important that Odysseus knows
this?
6. What disguise does Athena give to Odysseus? Why is this disguise appropriate?
Name: _____________________________
Read the summaries for Books XIV and XV
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XVI (16)
1. Who has come back to Ithaca on p. 289? Explain the epic simile used to describe the way
Eumaios greets him on p. 289-290.
2. How does Telemachus show that he is a thoughtful, polite man?
3. Describe the encounter between Odysseus and Telemachus when Telemachus realizes that the man is his
father. Provide a quote to prove your claim.
4. What new epithet is used for Athena on p. 296? Why?
5. What are the suitors planning to do to Telemachus?
6. What epithet is given for Penelope on p. 303? Why is this epithet appropriate? What plot has she uncovered?
BOOK XVII (17)
1. Give two examples of how Telemachus has changed as a result of his journey.
Name: _____________________________
2. Who is Argos? What does Argos know that the others have not yet figured out? What happens to Argos upon
this discovery?
3. Why does Homer put the story of Argos into the Odyssey? What purpose does it serve?
4. How is Odysseus insulted by the suitors? Why would the Greeks in particular consider this so horrible?
5. What does Penelope make of Odysseus and how does he respond? Provide a quote to prove your claim.
Name: _____________________________
*Read the Summary for Book XVIII
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XIX (19)
1. What does Odysseus instruct Telemachus to do? What reason does Telemachus give the nurse, Eurykleia, for
doing this?
2. Discuss the dramatic irony when Odysseus and Penelope talk.
3. Identify and explain the epic simile on p. 360.
4. Which epithet is used for Odysseus on p. 361? Why is it appropriate?
5. How does Eurykleia discover the identity of Odysseus?
6. What contest does Penelope devise to test the suitors? What trait of hers does this demonstrate? Provide a
quote to prove your claim.
Name: _____________________________
Read the summary for Book XX
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XXI (21) & BOOK XXII (22)
1. Who, other than Odysseus, has the strength and power to string the bow? Why doesn’t he do so?
2. To which men does Odysseus reveal his identity?
3. What is Odysseus’ plan?
4. What is your opinion of Antinoos? Give two quotes to support your response.
5. Find one example of an epic simile in Book XXI. Write it below and explain it.
1. What does Odysseus do to the suitors?
BOOK XXII (22)
2. Which men does Odysseus spare from his revenge? Why?
3. What happens to the disloyal serving women? Do you think this is appropriate? Explain.
Name: _____________________________
The Odyssey Study Guide Questions
BOOK XXIII (23) & BOOK XXIV (24)
1. Why is Penelope so hesitant to greet her husband?
2. How does Penelope test Odysseus? What does he do to prove who he is?
3. Explain how chapters 22 & 23 develop the theme of Loyalty.
1. Who is Laertes?
BOOK XXIV (24)
2. What does Odysseus do when he first encounters Laertes? Why do you think he does this?
3. Why does Laertes wear rags and not bathe?
5. What does Athena do when the families of the dead suitors attack Odysseus?
6. How does the ending of the Epic create Order from Chaos?