** Use 2-3 complete
sentences to answer each
question!
The Odyssey
Study Guide
Name______________________
People and Places: Before reading, identify these characters from pages 647-648
On the Wanderings
Aeaea:
Alcinous:
Calypso:
Charybdis:
Cicones:
Circe:
Cyclops:
Erebus:
Eurylochus:
Lotus Eaters:
Phaeacia:
Polyphemus:
Scylla:
Sirens:
Teiresias:
Thrinakia:
At Home in Ithaca
Antinous:
Eumaeus:
Eurycleia:
Eurymachus:
Eurynome:
Penelope:
Philoetus:
Telemachus:
The Gods
Apollo:
Athena:
Cronus:
Helios:
Hephaestus:
Hermes:
Poseidon:
Zeus:
Tell the Story & “Calypso” pages 651-654
1. The Odyssey opens with an Invocation to the Muses. Who are the muses? Why are they important to
Homer?
2. Homer introduces one of his themes in lines 10-11. What is it?
3. Where is Odysseus? What is he doing?
4. What does Hermes tell Calypso? Why does he tell her this?
5. What does Calypso offer Odysseus to tempt him to stay with her and abandon his quest? What is
Odysseus’ response?
6. Where is Odysseus at the end of the section?
“I am laertes’ son...”
pages 656-658
1. What does Odysseus say cannot be found in foreign lands?
2. How does Odysseus lose a large number of his men in Ismaros?
3. How else are the crew punished for the raid on the Cicones?
4. According to Odysseus, who is punishing them?
The Lotus Eaters
page 658
1. What does the Lotus plant do to those who eat it?
2. What happens to Odysseus’ men in the Land of the Lotus Eaters?
The Cyclops
page 660-670
1. Why is Odysseus the cleverest of all the Greek heroes?
2. How do Odysseus and his men become trapped in the cave of Polyphemus?
3. How does Odysseus treat the Cyclops at first? How does the Cyclops respond?
4. What does the Cyclops do to two of Odysseus’ men?
5. What are the two similes used in lines 279-283? What does each simile describe?
6. What is Odysseus’ first plan for escaping the cave? Why does he decide against it?
7. What three steps do Odysseus and his men take to gain an advantage over Polyphemus?
8. How do Odysseus and his men get out of the cave unnoticed?
9. Who does the Cyclops say tricked him? Who is this really? What is ironic about the response of the other
Cyclopes to Polyphemus’ complaint?
10. What does Odysseus do that nearly gets his men killed?
11. As they sail away, what is Polyphemus’ last desperate effort to repay them? This is not about throwing
rocks!
The enchantress Circe
page 673-675
1. By the time Odysseus arrives on Aeaea, what has happened to the rest of his men and ships?
2. Describe the house of Circe.
3. How does Circe lure the men into her home?
4. What happens to them once they are inside?
5. How is Odysseus able to resist Circe’s magic? What is the result?
6. After many years of feasting, Odysseus and his men want to go home. Where does Circe say they must now
travel?
The Land of the Dead
page 675-677
1. What does Odysseus do to honor the dead and to gather them so that he can find Teiresias?
2. What does Odysseus mean in line 618 when he calls Teiresias the “prince of those with gift of speech”?
What exactly is Teiresias’ gift (talent)?
3. What is Teiresias warning Odysseus about when he describes the “god who thunders on the land”?
4. In prophesying the outcome of his voyage, what does Teiresias say Odysseus must avoid doing?
5. What will happen if he does not avoid that?
6. In that case, how far must Odysseus travel and what should he do when he gets there?
The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis
page 678-683
1. What is the goal of the Sirens? How can Odysseus keep his men safe?
2. What does Circe advise if Odysseus still wishes to listen to the Sirens?
3. According to Circe, what does Scylla look like? Describe in detail.
4. What danger does Charybdis pose to Odysseus and his men?
5. What information does Odysseus keep from his men?
6. How does Odysseus react to the Siren song? What saves him and his men?
7. What comparison does Homer make in describing how Scylla takes Odysseus’ men from the ship?
The Cattle of the Sun God
pages 684-686
1. What tremendous temptation faces Odysseus’ men on Thrinakia?
2. What step does Odysseus take? Is it helpful? Why or why not?
3. What happens while Odysseus is away? Who is responsible?
4. Whom does Odysseus blame for his own sleep?
5. How are Odysseus and his men punished?
6. Where does Odysseus end up?
The Meeting of Father and Son
pages 690-694
1. As he arrives in Ithaca, how is Odysseus now disguised and why? Who advised this?
2. Who entertains Odysseus? Does he recognize the hero?
3. Who advises Telemachus to go home, and why?
4. What does Athena do to Odysseus, and why? How does Telemachus at first react?
5. Describe the embrace of father and son after twenty years.
The Beggar and the Faitfhul dog
pages 694-696
1. What does Odysseus now look like?
2. Describe the life of Argos: what has it been like and what is it like now?
3. What has Argos waited for? What happens to him afterwards?
4. Argos is symbolic of something much greater. What idea or concept does he represent?
5. How do the suitors treat Odysseus when he first enters the hall?
6. What two things does Penelope do that please Odysseus?
7. Who recognizes Odysseus, and how? How is this kept from Penelope?
The Test of the Great Bow
pages 698-702
1. What is Penelope’s challenge to the suitors? What will the winner receive?
2. To what two people does Odysseus reveal himself? What does he ask of them?
3. What type of irony do we find in line 1180 when the suitors say, “Maybe he has one like it
at home!”? Why is this ironic?
Death at the Palace
pages 703-705
1. Whom does Odysseus attack first, and why?
2. How does Antinous die?
3. What do the other suitors imagine about Antinous’ death?
4. How does Eurymachus try to excuse the suitors’ behavior? How does Odysseus respond?
5. What simile describes the suitors after Athena’s sign appears in the hall?
6. What simile describes Odysseus and Telemachus?
Odysseus and Penelope
pages 706-709
1. What does Odysseus do to the maids who cooperated with the suitors?
2. Why is Penelope not convinced Odysseus is her husband? What does she decide to do?
3. What does Telemachus want Penelope to do? How does she respond?
4. What does Penelope say to test Odysseus?
5. What does Odysseus know that reveals him to truly be her husband?
6. What simile describes how much Odysseus has longed to return to his wife?