Odyssey Fill in the Blank Notes
An Odyssey is an extended _________________________ trip. It is also a ________________________ or
_________________________ quest: an odyssey of __________________________.
Homer:
Homer was a Greek ____________________, to whom are attributed the great epics, _________________, the story
and siege of Troy, and ___________________________, the tale of Odysseus and his wanderings.
The Odyssey
The story begins with ___________________, the most beautiful woman in all the land. When Paris, Prince of
_____________, was asked to decide who was the fairest among the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite,
he chose _________________________ because she promised to give him Helen. Helen’s escape from her
husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta, sparked a ten-year battle between the ___________________ and Trojans.
To recover Helen, Menelaus with the help of other Greek kings and warriors like Diomedes, Ajax,
___________________, Nestor and Odysseus launched an expedition under the command of Agamemnon, the
most powerful man in ____________________. King Priam of________________, his eldest son Hector and
Aeneas organized the defense and Troy resisted for ten years.
The gods also took sides: Hera, Athena and Poseidon sided with the ___________________ and Apollo, Ares
and Aphrodite, sided with the _________________________. Zeus remained impartial and asked the gods not
to interfere.
The Land of the Lotus Eaters
Odysseus and his men angered _______________________ by ransacking a city named Ismarus. Zeus sent a storm
which sent Odysseus and his crew sailing across the sea to the land of the __________________________.
The men who tasted the lotus, a strange plant, lost all desire to ______________________________.
The Cyclops
For many days Odysseus and his men were lost at sea. One night they arrived on an island and discovered a cave full
of goats and _______________________. It was the domicile of the Cyclops, _______________________—
son of ________________________. He was a giant with only one eye. Soon they were trapped because the
Cyclops had closed the cave entrance with an enormous rock. Not before long, Polyphemus had eaten two
men for dinner.
Island of the Winds
Next they met ____________________________ and his family who lived on the island of Aeolia. Odysseus told
Aeolus about his adventures and after a month, they finally left the island. As a present, Aeolus gave Odysseus
a bag which contained all the winds except the one that would take them to Ithaca. But, while Odysseus was
sleeping, his men ________________________- the bag and a terrible storm swept them away from the shores
of Ithaca.
Land of the Laestrygones
After sailing for many days, Odysseus and his men ended up among the Laestrygonians. They desperately needed to
escape because the Laestrygonians were unfriendly _________________ who killed most of Odysseus' men
and destroyed many of their _________________________.
Land of Circe
The survivors ended up at Aeaea, the island of the sorceress, Circe. She transformed most of the men into
_______________. The god ______________________ gave Odysseus a herb to help him in the task of
rescuing his crew. They spent a month with her. Finally, she told them they had to travel to the
________________________. There, Tiresias, a dead blind ____________________________ who had
accompanied them to Troy, could tell them how to get home.
The Land of the Dead
The mysterious and horrible Land of ________________________ is the underworld where people go when they
die. Odysseus found there the spirits of people he knew, like Achilles and his ________________________.
Tiresias, a blind prophet who had gone with them to Troy, showed him the way to reach Ithaca safely. He also
told him that ____________________________ has decided to revenge Polyphemus and provided him many
other warnings—one of which included the sirens.
Sirens
Odysseus explained to his men what Tiresias had told him. Before the sirens appeared he put
_______________________ in the ears of the men and asked them to tie him to the ___________________ of
the ship so he could listen to the sirens' attractive songs.
Charybdis and Scylla
Immediately after the sirens, Odysseus and his men saw a cloud of black smoke on the top of a mountain. It was
Scylla, a horrible monster with __________________ legs and _________________ long necks ending in ugly
heads with mouths full of teeth. They could not avoid Scylla without falling into a terrible
_________________________, Charybdis, that swallowed the sea and spit it up again.
Land of the Sun God
On Thrinacia, after one month of continuous bad weather and no more food to eat, Odysseus' men—despite the
warnings of Tiresias—decided to sacrifice and eat some of the _______________________ of
______________________, the Sun God. When they were finally back at sea, Zeus sent them his eternal
enemy: Poseidon, the ruler of the sea, who, with a violent storm, obliterated the ship.
Island of Calypso
Odysseus climbed on the wreckage of the ship and after rowing for nine days, he got to Ogygia, the island of
_______________________. Calypso, the charming nymph who lived on the island, saved Odysseus' life and
offered him immortality if he stayed with her. Instead she held him captive for _________________ years until
Zeus sent Hermes, his messenger, who ordered her to let him free. Then he built a ship and sailed for seventeen
days. After another encounter with Poseidon, exhausted, he reached the land of the Phaecians: the island of
Scheria.
Phaeacians
Odysseus arrived at the island Phaeacia. At the palace, Alcinous, the King of the Phaeacians, invites Odysseus to an
athletic competition and a banquet where songs of the Trojan War made Odysseus sad.
________________________ asked him who he was. Odysseus then told his real name and the whole story of
his life. As Ithaca was not far from Phaeacia, Alcinous helped him to reach Ithaca.
Ithaca
Odysseus finally reached his homeland of Ithaca only to find his palace overrun with ______________________
who were spending his _________________, slaughtering his ________________, and courting his wife,
_________________________. After many years, Penelope could no longer hold off the suitors. After almost
________________years away, Odysseus returned to Ithaca, his island home where he met Eumaeus. He was
his swineherd who did not recognize him at first because he was disguised as an old
______________________. Only Argo, Odysseus's old dog, knew who he was. Telemachus, his son, had
sailed to seek news of his father. He went for advice to King Nestor in Philos and to Menelaus in
______________________. Menelaus informed him that Odysseus was, against his will, held by Calypso.
Athena then told him to go back to Ithaca. The suitors were waiting to kill him but he managed to escape and
went to Eumaeus' farm. There, he finally met his father. They planned to get rid of the suitors who were
celebrating a constant banquet at their palace. Odysseus disguised as a beggar got rid of one of the suitors
without revealing his identity. Penelope thanked him for that and asked Eurycleia, an old maid, to wash
Odysseus' feet. Eurycleia had been Odysseus' ______________________ and recognized him at once by a scar
he had above his ____________________. She promised to marry the suitor who could string Odysseus’
________________ and shoot an arrow through a line of___________________ axes. Disguised as a beggar,
and with the help of his son, Telemachus, he planned to recapture his throne as King of Ithaca.