Odyssey Study Guide
Terms to know
Catalogue: list of stuff
Epic simile: a long and detailed comparison using like or as
Epithet: a brief desciptive phrase about a character
Foreshadowing: hints that hint about what will happen later in a story
In medias res: in the middle of things
Invocation: prayer
Flashback : a scene that interrupts a sequence of events in a narrative to relate to earlier events
1.
Which of the suitors was the first to die because of the way he treated Odysseus?
2.
How does Odysseus prove to Penelope who he is?
3.
How does Odysseus beat the Cyclops?
4.
Which goddess turns Odysseus’ men into pigs?
5.
How long did Odysseus stay on Calypso’s island?
6.
How did Odysseus keep from getting turned into a pig?
7.
Why did the sailors open the bag of wind?
8.
When Odysseus strings the bow, the skill is compared to what?
9.
Who is Polyphemus?
10.
How does Odysseus get past the Sirens?
11.
What are Sirens best know for?
12.
When the crew encounter the Scylla, what do they do?
13.
The crew violates a directive from a god telling them not to eat Helios’ cattle and what happens to them?
14.
Athena disguises as what when he finally returns home?
15.
What 3 things does Odysseus use to trick Polyphemus?
16.
Why does Calypso finally let Odysseus leave her island?
17.
How did Odysseus get his crew to leave the land of the Lotus eaters?
18.
When did Homer write the Odyssey?
19.
How many men made it back to Ithaca with Odysseus?
20.
What war did Odysseus fight in?
21.
Odysseus is crying when he hears someone telling the story of the battle he was in is compared to what?
22.
At the end of the Cyclops adventure, what does Polyphemus do that has an important impact that has an important impact on future events in the epic?
23.
Why does Odysseus blind the Cyclops rather than kill him while the giant is asleep?
24.
What is the “Homeric Question”?