Homework Review
• Who is “the Wayfinder”? What kind of literary
element is it?
• Describe one Homeric simile from this section.
• How does Odysseus become free of Calypso’s spell?
• After he leaves her island, what happens to him?
pp 1037-1058: Calypso and the
Cyclops Questions Review
• Who is “the Wayfinder”? What kind of literary element is it?
Hermes—epithet
• Describe one Homeric simile from this section. A man in a
distant field, no hearth fires near, will hide a fresh brand in
his bed of embers to keep a spark alive for the next day; so
in the leaves Odysseus hid himself, while over him Athena
showered sleep… (ll 119-123, p 1042)
• How does Odysseus become free of Calypso’s spell? Athena
gets Zeus to demand his release, through Hermes
• After he leaves her island, what happens to him? Poseidon
crashes the raft and Athena and sea nymph help him to
island of Scheria, where he falls asleep
Homework Review Continued
• Whose son is the Cyclops? How does this explain Odysseus’
struggle to get home?
• According to Greek customs, how should the Cyclops treat
Odysseus and his men? How does he treat them?
• What lie does Odysseus tell the Cyclops? Why?
• Why didn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops when he had the chance?
• Who is the “shepherd with his flock”(line 330)? What literary
element is this?
Homework Review Continued
• Whose son is the Cyclops? How does this explain Odysseus’
struggle to get home? Poseidon’s; Poseidon dislikes Odysseus, so
he gets his son to create an obstacle to his journey
• According to Greek customs, how should the Cyclops treat
Odysseus and his men? How does he treat them? He should give
them food before even asking who they are—he does so first and
then says he doesn’t care how the gods are offended at
unwelcoming people—he then beat and ate two men
• What lie does Odysseus tell the Cyclops? Why? That his ship was
crashed, so that he wouldn’t go against them in that way
• Why didn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops when he had the chance? He
was afraid that they would die in the cave since they wouldn’t be
able to move the boulder
• Who is the “shepherd with his flock”(line 330)? What literary
element is this? Polyphemus, the Cyclops (epithet)
Homework Review continued
• What name does Odysseus give the Cyclops? How does
this help Odysseus later in the section?
• Describe the irony from line 404.
• How do Odysseus and his men escape?
• Was Odysseus’ taunting of the Cyclops a good idea? Why or
why not?
Homework Review continued
• What name does Odysseus give the Cyclops? How does
this help Odysseus later in the section? Nohbdy; he
tells the other Cyclopes that nobody harmed him, so
they don’t come to help him
• Describe the irony from line 404. They make a “wise”
reply, but they don’t truly understand the situation—
he’s in pain, yet they let his answer turn them away
• How do Odysseus and his men escape? They hide under
the rams and get out when the Cyclops lets them out
to graze
• Was Odysseus’ taunting of the Cyclops a good idea?
Why or why not? Probably not—Odysseus’ pride might
lead to future difficulties in getting home
Poetic and Literary Elements
• Epic Hero: The central hero of an epic, the epic hero has
larger-than-life powers. Achilles fulfills this role in the Iliad;
Odysseus in the Odyssey. Epic heroes are not perfect, but
are courageous
• Epithet—term or phrase accompanying or in place of name
– "The man of twists and turns" ( Odysseus)
– "wine-dark sea "
– "The bewitching nymph" (Calypso)
– "Son of Cronos" (Zeus)
– "Cool headed" (Telemachus)
– "Lord of the war cry" (Menelaus)
Poetic and Literary Elements (cont’d)
• Imagery: Descriptions appealing to the five senses; helps the
reader experience what he or she reads.
A radiance as strong as the moon came flooding
through the high roofed halls of generous Alcinous.
Walls plated in bronze, crowned with a circling frieze
glazed as blue as lapis ran to left and right
from outer gates to the deepest court recess
and solid gold doors enclosed the palace.
Up from the bronze threshold sliver doorposts rose
with silver lintel above, and golden handles, too.
And dogs of gold and silver were stationed on either side.
• In Media Res- “in the middle” in Latin; technique where author
starts telling story in middle and then goes back via flashback and
fills in the events that happened before
Poetic and Literary Elements (cont’d)
• Simile—comparison using like or as
Weak as the doe that beds down her fawns
in a mighty lion's den - her newborn sucklings then trails off to the mountain spurs and grassy bends
to graze her fill, but back the lion comes to his own lair
and the master deals both fawns a ghastly, bloody death,
just what Odysseus will deal that mob - ghastly death.
• Flashback- when the narrative goes back in the chronology of the story
to a crucial moment.
• Personification—a nonhuman object is given human characteristics.
ex: When "Dawn" arises with her "rose-red fingers".
• Pun - A play on words based on similarity of sound between two words
with different meanings (By giving Nobody as his name, Odysseus
cleverly creates a pun for the unsuspecting Cyclops who shouts the
Nobody is injuring him.)
Hero Cycle
• Archetype—a recurring pattern of
character, symbol, or situation found in
the literature of all cultures
• archetypal hero appears in all religions,
mythologies, and epics of the world.
• All archetypal heroes share certain
characteristics. (Campbell)
Traits of a Hero (Campbell)
• Unusual circumstances of birth; sometimes in danger
or born into royalty
• Leaves family/land &lives with others
• An event, sometimes traumatic, leads to adventure or
quest
• Special weapon only he can wield
• Supernatural help
• Must prove himself many times on adventure
• Journey and Unhealable Wound
• Hero experiences atonement with the father
• When the hero dies, he is rewarded spiritually