Part one of the Odyssey Study Guide Questions and Answers:
1. Who is Homer addressing and why is he addressing him/her?
Muse- for inspiration- to remember the story of Odysseus
2. What happened to Odysseus? What happened to his men?
He is cursed by the gods and wanders for 10 years after conquering the city of Troy- he loses all
of his men.
3. How long after the Trojan War does Odysseus depart from Calypso’s island?
10 years
4. In the section “Sailing from Troy” where is Odysseus? Who is the ruler of this land? And what
does he ask of Odysseus?
Land of Phaecia, King Alcinous, and his story and his name
5. Who is Odysseus’ father?
Laeretes
6. Where is Odysseus’ home?
Ithaca
7. What happened to Odysseus while he was being contained by Calypso?
He never aged and he was never allowed to leave.
8. While on Ismarus, what mistakes did Odysseus and his men make?
Odysseus’ men raid the city against Odysseus’ orders
9. What price did the men pay for this mistake?
Odysseus loses all 11 of his 12 ships and the crews that sailed them.
10. Who are the Lotus Eaters?
The people who eat the lotus flowers
11. Why did Odysseus send his men out into the island?
To see what resources the island had and the kind of people who inhabited the island.
12. What did the Lotus Eaters offer to his men?
Lotus Flower
13. What did eating the Lotus Flower do to his men?
Made them forget all hope of home and made them want to stay on the island.
14. What did Odysseus do to his men?
Dragged them back to the ship and tied them to the rowing benches.
15. What are the Cyclopes?
One-eyed giants
16. Where do Cyclopes dwell?
In caves
17. Why did Odysseus beach on this island if he knew the Cyclopes dwelled there?
He was curious
18. What does Odysseus bring along when he goes to inspect the Cyclops cave?
Wine and 12 of his best men
19. What did Odysseus and his men find inside the cave?
Cheese, whey, and sheep
20. What does the Cyclops first do to Odysseus’ men?
Eats 2 of them
21. What reason does Odysseus give for not killing the Cyclops?
they can’t move the stone slab door
22. What did Odysseus and his men construct while the Cyclops was out tending his flock?
A giant wooden stake
23. What does Odysseus give the Cyclops to drink?
Wine
24. How do Odysseus and his men escape the Cyclops? Begin where Odysseus and his men harm
the Cyclops physically to how the men get out of the cave.
Odysseus and his men blind the Cyclops with the wooden stake and wait until the Cyclops opens
the stone slab door, and then disguised as sheep they exit the cave.
25. What does the Cyclops tell Odysseus as Odysseus is leaving the land?
To come back and he will treat him well by getting his father, Poseidon, to befriend him.
26. What does Circe say Odysseus must do in order to reach Ithaca?
Go to the underworld to speak to the blind prophet Tiresias.
27. What happened to Odysseus’ men on the island of Circe?
They are turned into pigs
28. OMIT
29. What is the “land of death”?
The underworld
30. What does Odysseus learn about his mother?
She committed suicide.
31. What does Odysseus learn about his home in Ithaca?
Suitors are trying to win Penelope’s hand in marriage and to take over his kingdom.
32. Whom does Odysseus encounter while in the Land of the Dead?
The blind prophet Tiresias
33. What difficulties does Tiresias predict for the journey to come?
He warns Odysseus to not eat the cattle of the sun god Helios or he would not be able to return
to Ithaca.