Name: ________________________
[Type text]
Odyssey Unit Test Study Guide
Directions: Answer the questions using your notes and the book. When you are finished, create
flashcards to study with.
1. Define Greek values.
2. Define reciprocity.
3. Define Hospitality
4. What is a minstrel?
5. What is hubris?
6. What is a myth?
7. What is an epic and what are its characteristics?
8. What are the characteristics of an epic hero?
9. What is an epithet? (Be able to identify one if you see it!)
10. What is a Homeric simile (Be able to identify one if you see it!)
11. What is Part I of the Odyssey mostly about?
12. Who is Poseidon and what is his main purpose in this epic poem?
13. What are two important themes of the poem?
14. What is the ancient oral tradition?
15. Who is Zeus and what is his role in the poem?
Name: ________________________
[Type text]
16. What force is the main reason Odysseus takes the path he does on his journey home? (hint:
someone put some of it in a bag)
17. Describe Odysseus’s personality.
18. When Odysseus meets the Cyclops, why does he not just kill him at first sight?
19. Why does Odysseus tell the Cyclops his name is Nohbody?
20. How does the poem begin? (hint: it does not start at the beginning)
21. Who are the suitors and what is their purpose?
22. Be able to describe three differences between the film and text version of the story.
23. Who is Tiresias and what does he tell Odysseus?
24. Why does Odysseus travel to the island of Helios? What does he do there?
25. How does Odysseus prove in the text to Penelope that he is himself and not an imposter?
26. Why does Odysseus not consider the Cyclopes to be civilized? (Give 2 reasons)
27. Why do Odysseus and his men travel to the Land of the Dead?
28. Who are Scylla and Charybdis?
29. What must happen to Telemachus before his mother can pick another man to marry?
30. What discovery is made that makes the suitors so angry at Penelope?