The Odyssey – Study Guide (50 pts. Due on test day)
Part 1 Summary
A. Sailing from Troy
 Who does Homer ask for inspiration at the beginning of the story?
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Who is Homer?
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Who is Calypso and what does she do to Odysseus?
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Does Odysseus give his heart to Calypso?
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What happened at the island of the Cicones? Be specific.
B. The Lotus-Eaters
 How long did they drift after Zeus created a storm?
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What is a lotus?
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What effect does the lotus have on the people who eat it?
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How does Odysseus’ crew escape the lotus eaters?
C. The Cyclops
 What is the Cyclops’ name? What does it mean?
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Why is the Cyclops immediately angry with Odysseus and his men?
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What is the Greek custom of hospitality?
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How can hospitality be applied in this story?
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What plan does Odysseus come up with to escape the cave?
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What does Odysseus tell the Cyclops his name is?
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Why was this a good idea? What happened?
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What is hubris? How does this apply to
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What does Odysseus do to the Cyclops when he leaves?
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How does the Cyclops react? What happens as a result?
D. The Land of the Dead
 What happens in Aeolia?
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What does King Aelous give Odysseus? Be specific.
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In regards to the gift, how does Odysseus’ men act mutinous?
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What happens as a result?
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Who are the Laestrygonians?
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What does Circe do to half of Odysseus’ men?
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Circe tells Odysseus to go to the Land of the Dead to meet with who??
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What is this person going to do for Odysseus?
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Besides Tiresias, who does Odysseus see in The Land of the Dead? How did
those people die?

List all parts of the prediction Tiresias tells Odysseus:
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Circe told Odysseus he would encounter three more dangers. What were they?
o
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E. The Sirens
 What are the Sirens?
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What effect do they have over the men?
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What does Odysseus have to do to avoid the Sirens. There are TWO things.
F. Scylla and Charybdis
 Describe Scylla?
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Describe Charybdis?
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Why does Odysseus not tell his crew about Scylla and Charybdis?
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Odysseus gives his men a “pep talk”. What examples does he use?
G. The Cattle of the Sun God
 Who is the Sun God?
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What did Tiresias tell Odysseus about the cattle?
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
What happens with the cattle? Why?
How does Zeus react?
Part 2: The Return of Odysseus
A. Twenty Years gone; and I am Back Again…
 Odysseus finally arrives on the shores of Ithaca through the help of Athena
 She disguises him as a beggar and tells him to reveal himself to his son
Telemachus
 Odysseus is transformed into himself in front of his son, and Telemachus
does not believe him when Odysseus says that he is his father
 Odysseus explained what had happened, and how they have to defeat the
suitors
 Telemachus is to go into the palace and hid all of the suitors’ weapons
 Odysseus is going to enter the palace as a beggar
B. Argus
 Still disguised as a beggar, Odysseus is lead by his herdsman into the palace
grounds where he sees his old hound that he had left as a puppy
 Even through Odysseus is disguised, and the dog is lying on a pile of dung, it
remembers its master’s voice and dies peacefully
C. The Suitors
 Odysseus goes into the palace as a beggar and asked for food
 Antinous, a haughty suitor, disrespected him by throwing a stool at Odysseus; the
other suitors rebuked him saying that he is bringing a curse upon himself
D. Penelope
 Penelope asks to speak to the beggar; she asks him to tell her his story
 The beggar says he has a painful past and does not want to talk about it
 Penelope tells him that her past has been very painful also, and she has been
deceiving the suitors: she was making a blanket for Laertes, Odysseus’ father,
and has been undoing the weaving so that she could buy more time. This has
been going on for four years and someone has ratted on her, now she has to
choose one of the suitors
 The beggar tells her that Odysseus will soon be home
E. The Challenge
 Penelope decided to make an ultimatum: whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and
shoot am arrow through twelve axhandle sockets, she will marry
 When none of the suitors was able to do so, Odysseus asks for a chance and was
able to do what Penelope wanted
F. Odysseus’ Revenge
 Odysseus asks Apollo for help/strength to kill the suitors
 Suitors are unarmed because Telemachus had removed all of their weapon
 Odysseus kills all of the suitors with the help of Athena, Zeus, and Telemachus
G. Penelope’s Test
 Penelope at first is unsure this once beggar is her husband – Odysseus is frustrated
 Penelope realizes this is her husband when he was able tell her what their bed was
made of, and how no man was able to move the bed
 Thus she knew he was indeed her husband
H. The Ending
 After going to far away land to make the peace sacrifice to the gods, Odysseus
returns home to reunite with his wife and family
 Athena grants peace between suitors’ family and Odysseus
 Odysseus once again reigns over his kingdom