“Sailing from Troy”
Summary: At the beginning of the epic, Odysseus is in Phaeacia (ruled by Alcinious) recounting the ten years that have passed since he
fought in the ten year
. The reader learns that Odysseus has been away from his home in Ithaca and his
wife, ___________________________, and son, _______________________________for almost twenty years. After the Trojan War
and his long journey trying to get home, he is finally captured by
, an enchantress and sea
nymph (this was his final stop before landing on Phaeacia and then getting home). While with Calypso, Odysseus misses his home so
much that he desires nothing else but to return to it, even though the enchantress puts a spell on him trying to make him stay. When he is
finally released from the island, he has one final battle with Poseidon, the god of _________________________. The first half of his story
is told as a flashback by Odysseus while on the island of Phaeacia. He is telling the people of Phaeacia where he has been for the past
10 years. Prior to landing on Calypso’s island, Odysseus has several conflicts with Poseidon and Zeus. Immediately after leaving Troy,
Zeus gets angry with Odysseus and his men for
.
“The Lotus Eaters”
Summary: When Zeus punishes the men by sending both an army and then ____________, they are blown off course. Before coming
to the land of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus and his men spend ________days at sea and must land in order to get food and water. The
inhabitants, Lotus Eaters, are friendly and offer them the lotus which is a ____________________ which three of the men eat; once they
taste the plant, they do not want to leave the island. Odysseus drags the men to the boat and
order to get them to leave. Odysseus clearly warns his men not to taste the Lotus or they will
_________
___ in
_____________.
“The Cyclops”: Literature Book pp. 987-997
1. Who is the Cyclops’ father?
2. Who is Odysseus’ divine guardian? Because of this guardian, what is Odysseus said to be?
3. What does his curious nature lead him to do when they land on the Cyclops’ island?
4. What did the men do when the Cyclops returned to his cave?
5. What animal did the Cyclops bring in the cave with him? Why?
6. What does he seal the cave with? How is it described?
7. When the Cyclops eventually sees the men, what does he ask them?
8. In lines 211-216, what does Odysseus ask of the Cyclops? What hidden threat does he give if the Cyclops refuses?
9. How does the Cyclops react to Odysseus’ threat? What is his opinion of the gods?
10. How does Odysseus respond when the Cyclops ask about their ship?
11. After Odysseus’ reply, what does the Cyclops do?
12. Why does Odysseus’ refrain from killing the Cyclops at this point?
13. Why can’t the men escape the next morning when the Cyclops leaves?
14. What do the men make? What do they plan to use it for?
15. How many men are to help Odysseus with the plan?
16. What does Odysseus offer to the Cyclops?
17. What does the Cyclops ask Odysseus and what is Odysseus’ reply?
18. Why do you think Odysseus answers in this way?
19. After the Cyclops falls asleep, what do the men do? Describe.
20. Who does the Cyclops howl for?
21. Why do they go away without helping him?
22. Why does Odysseus laugh? Do you think this is smart for him to do?
23. Why does Odysseus not try to escape when the Cyclops opens the cave?
24. What does Odysseus do to escape?
25. What happens as the last ram leaves the cave? Why is this ironic?
26. Who do Odysseus and his men take with them?
27. What does Odysseus yell back to Cyclops? How does the Cyclops respond?
28. When Odysseus goes to speak again, how do his men react? What do they say?
29. What information does Odysseus reveal to the Cyclops?
30. In lines 472- 473, what does Cyclops say? What is he trying to do?
31. How does Odysseus respond?
32. Who does Cyclops then pray to? What does he ask for?
33. What happens once they leave the Cyclops’ island?
The Land of the Dead & The Witch Circe
Before the men reach the witch Circe, what happens to them? (read intro portion and put into your own words):
Summary: After Circe turns Odysseus’ men into swine, Hermes (the messenger of the gods who has been sent from Athena), gives
him a
that will weaken Circe’s power. When Circe realizes she has
__, she frees the men from her spell and gives them the free will to stay or go. The men decide to
,
and after a few seasons, Odysseus begs Circe to get them home. She commands that Odysseus must journey to the
and consult a
_named Tieresias. Once Odysseus reaches the Land of the
Dead, he encounters Tieresias. He warns Odysseus about several hardships that he will face including:
Tieresias then tells Odysseus that he will be
a strange spell. Yet, he will find his home filled with
___, lost for years, but will arrive home after being under
in the form of
,
courting his wife Penelope and eating his livestock. Odysseus will have to make the men pay in blood and then later, make a
sacrifice to Poseidon; should he do that, he will grow to be an old man and his land will be filled with peace. Odysseus then returns
to
__ island where she reveals his course to him. She gives him a few words of warning including:
The Sirens – p. 1005-1007
1. What are the Sirens? How are they dangerous to sailors?
2. What does Odysseus do to ensure that they pass the Sirens safely?
Scylla and Charybdis – p. 1007-1010
1. As the boat nears Scylla and Charybdis, how does Odysseus try to raise the spirits and lessen the fear of the men?
2. What is Scylla?
3. What does Scylla do as the ship passes?
4. What is Charybdis?
5. Why do they choose to sail near Scylla instead of Charybdis?
Cattle of the Sun God – p. 1010-1017
Summary: After Odysseus and his remaining men have traveled safely through the deathly strait of Scylla and Charybdis, they land
where the God of the Sun, Helios, keeps his _____________. Odysseus has been told by Circe to beware of Helios’ cattle. So Odysseus
gathers his men and tells them that if they eat the cattle here, ___________________________. All the men agree. But after
__________________ (time period) staying in the same place (they could not leave because of __________________), the men are
starving to death. So Odysseus goes into the island alone to pray to the gods for ____________________.
While Odysseus is gone to pray, one of his men, ___________________, makes a persuasive speech to the men. He tells them
that it is better to die by _____________________ than by __________________. He tells them they will try to appease the god by
burning the cattle as a ______________________. The men all _________________ and do exactly as suggested. It is then that
Odysseus wakes up and smells the aroma of cooking meat. He is immediately _______________ (emotion).
While this is happening, __________________ (a nymph) has gone to tell Helios what has happened. Helios goes immediately
to Zeus to ask for vengeance. Helios tells Zeus that if he does not punish Odysseus, he will go down into the Underworld and stop the
____________from ever ___________________ again. So Zeus tells Helios that he will splinter apart Oydsseus’ ship in the sea.
Odysseus returns to his men and rebukes them for what they have done, but he also knows that ________________________.
Six days later the winds began to blow nicely again, and Odysseus and his men set sail. Very soon, a huge storm comes on them and
_____________ sends a lightening bolt straight for the ship – breaking it into pieces.
When the ship sinks, Odysseus climbs onto a piece of the hull of the ship…. But then it breaks apart. Odysseus
________________ some bits of wood and rides through the storm alone. Then the winds come taking him straight towards
_________________ and _____________________. After drifting all night, Odysseus’ raft is pulled towards Charybdis’ pool….
Odysseus springs from his raft into a fig tree over his head – and hangs there until the whirlpool spits up his make shift boat again. Once
again he drops into the ______________ and climbs on his raft. He says the gods helped him to pass by _______________ without her
noticing. He finally came to the Isle of __________________ where the nymph ________________ lives. There, she welcomed
Odysseus and loved him. And this is the beginning of his ________ year stay with Calypso.
PART 2: THE RETURN OF ODYSSEUS
Twenty years gone, and I am back again…. – p. 1022 – 1027
Summary of background information (in italics): Odysseus is brought by the ______________________ back to Ithaca. The goddess
Athena appears and disguises him as a ______________________ so no one will know he has returned. Odysseus finds that everyone
believes he is dead and that dozens of suitors are courting his wife, ________________________. Disguised as a wandering beggar,
Odysseus first goes to the hut of his old swineherd, _____________________.
Summary: Athena directs Odysseus to reveal himself to _____________________ so that they can resolve the situation together. After
a beautiful father-son reunion, Odysseus tells Telemachus to hide ____________________________________ (so the suitors will not be
able to fight back) and says that he will be coming to the house soon. Telemachus goes home.
Odysseus also makes his son promise not to _________________________, even _______________________, because he is
worried that the women may be ______________________________. What does this say about the Ancient Greeks’ attitude toward
women?
Argus – p. 1028-1029
Summary:
The Suitors – 1029-1031
1. What does Antinous do to Odysseus?
2. Odysseus says, to Antinous, “A pity you have more _________ than ________.”
3. What does Odysseus say is the reason Antinous hits him?
4. How do the other suitors feel about Antinous hitting him?
5.
What reason do the other suitors give for not being mean to the beggar (Odysseus)?
6.
How does Penelope react to the way Antinous is treating the beggar?
7. What reason does Penelope give for summoning the beggar to her?
Penelope – 1031-1033
1. What reason does Odysseus give for not wanting to talk about where he came from?
2. What might be the real reason?
3. What does Penelope reveal about Odysseus being gone? What is the first thing Penelope does to try to buy time with the suitors?
How does she try to trick them?
4. What does the beggar tell Penelope about Odysseus?
5. Why does he tell her this?
The Challenge – 1035-1037
1. What task does Penelope ask the suitors to do and what is the prize for the suitor who is able to achieve the task?
2. Still in disguise, Odysseus asks to try the bow and Penelope agrees. How do the suitors react to his request for a turn?
3. What does Odysseus do after he strings the bow? How do the suitors react?
4. After Odysseus addresses the suitors, he nods to his son Telemachus. What does Telemachus do when he gets this signal?
Odysseus’ Revenge – p. 1039-1042
1. What does Odysseus do to Antinous (be specific)? Why is he the first suitor that Odysseus deals with?
2. What do the suitors look around the hall for when Odysseus begins attacking?
3. In lines 1439-1444, Odysseus tells the suitors why he is getting revenge. Explain his reasons in your own words.
4. In lines 1449-1463, what does Eurymachus try to do? Explain in your own words what he is saying.
5. How does Odysseus respond (lines 1466-1471)? Explain in your own words what he is saying.
And then……the blood bath begins!!!
6. What happens to all the suitors?
Penelope’s Test – p. 1042-1046
32. Summary: Athena removes Odysseus’ disguise and also makes him younger and stronger. He at last appears before
_____________________ in his true form. But she only looks at him silently. He asks her why she is not overjoyed and she says she is
cautious. She tells the maid to make up his bed for him outside of her room. (This is a ________________). Odysseus is enraged and
says that _______________________________________ because it is built into a tree that cannot be moved. When he says this,
Penelope knows that he really is Odysseus and she runs to him. She says that she used the test because she was worried about
_________________. Odysseus has regained his ______________________ and his _________________________.
Quality of a Hero
1.
2.
3.
4.
Additional Notes:
Specific Example from story that shows this quality