The Odyssey - Weebly



Background Information

Homer’s Odyssey

Introduction

1. What is an epic and how were they told?

2. What are Homer’s two famous epics?

3. The________is the primary model for a _________; The __________is the model for the long journey.

4. Name 2 theories that have been suggested about who Homer might have been or any characteristics that he might have had.

5. What are the names of Odysseus’ son and wife?

6. How does Odysseus try to avoid going to war?

7. Why was it rude of Odysseus to not entertain Agamemnon and Menelaus?

8. What is the cause of the Trojan War?

9. What tactic do the Greeks use to win the war? Whose idea was it?

10. How long has Odysseus been away from home? How long was the war?

11. What did Homer see as the relationship between people and the gods?

12. A. What is a Homeric or heroic simile?

B. It compares _________________ to _________________________.

13. What are the Greeks called in the Odyssey?

14. What does it mean that a god or goddess would be considered an alter ego to a hero?

The Odyssey

Setting the stage…

Remember that the 10-year Trojan War is now over. One of the greatest and smartest warriors, Odysseus, is trying to get home (his kingdom in Ithaca) to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, who was very young when he left and probably about your age now. In Ithaca, Odysseus is considered dead at this point, and Telemachus has been helping his mom fight off many suitors who want to marry her. He’s not having much luck, so he leaves in search of his father.

Meanwhile, Odysseus is first detained by Calypso, a beautiful goddess who enjoys Odysseus’ company. His crew and his boats have been destroyed. Athena appeals to Zeus to help Odysseus, and Zeus finally sends Hermes to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. Calypso begrudgingly allows Odysseus to leave, and she helps him build and stock a new boat with supplies.

But Poseidon, who is angry that the other gods have made decisions while he was absent, whips up a storm to detain again. He spends 18 days at sea before he finally is washed up on the island of Scheria, home of the Phaecians. King Alcinous welcomes Odysseus as a guest. (Everyone adhered to a principle called xenia - hospitality to all strangers or guests. They believed guests were sent by gods.)

By the principles of xenia, no one asks Odysseus his name or his business. Instead, they encourage him to rest and eat. When the King’s minstrel asks Odysseus what song he’d like to hear, Odysseus asks for a song about Troy. Essentially, he wants to hear about himself and his people at home. As he listens to the story, his own homesickness and the regret for those who will never see home again washes over him, and he begins to weep. At this point King Alcinous asks Odysseus who he is. Odysseus then begins his story…

Background

1. When you hear the term “odyssey,” what do you think of? Have you heard this word before? Write what you think this word means OR a dictionary definition of the word.

2. Look at page 978 under the “Background” section. Who is the story of the Odyssey about? What big war was just fought?

Page 979 (Read the first paragraph under Literary Analysis)

3. What is an epic?

4. What is an epic hero?

5. What are 3 of the traits that the epic hero demonstrates?

6. Who wrote The Odyssey?

Part 1

7. Homer is telling this story. Who does he ask for help in telling the story?

8. What is a muse?

Sailing From Troy

9. After reading lines 1-17, what were Odysseus’ main goals?

10. Think about the intro above and the first few lines. Do we meet our hero as strong and brave? Why not?

11. The Odyssey begins “in medias res” or “in the middle of things” (another epic convention). What purpose might this serve?

12. ________________ is an island off the west coast of Greece and is Odysseus’ home.

13. The goddess __________________ and the enchantress_______________ both have detained Odysseus because both desired him.

14. Why does Odysseus not give in to the charms of Circe?

15. Odysseus says his men were “mutinous” in line 47. What does this mean? What did they do?

16. There’s a Homeric simile in lines 53-55. What’s being compared?

17. How many of Odysseus’ men were lost in the battle?

The Lotus Eaters

18. _________________caused a storm against Odysseus and his men so that they lay offshore for _____________days and nights.

19. On the _________________day, they come to the land of the __________________ who live upon that ______________.

20. Odysseus sends ________________of his men ashore to “scout out” the area.

21. What happens to those who eat the lotus plant?

7. What happened to those who were enticed by the Lotus Eaters and ate lotus?

8. What did Odysseus have to do to get them back on the boat?

9. What do you think of Odysseus at this point? How would you evaluate him as a man? As a leader?

In his next adventure Odysseus describes his encounter with the Cyclops named Polyphemus. Poseidon’s one-eyed monster son, Polyphemus, may well represent the brute forces that any hero must overcome before he can reach home. Now Odysseus must rely on the special intelligences associated with his name. Odysseus is the cleverest of the ancient Greek heroes because his divine guardian is the goddess of wisdom, Athena.

It is Odysseus’ famed curiosity that leads him to the Cyclops’s cave and that makes him insist on waiting for the barbaric giant. Odysseus is still speaking to the court of King Alcinous.

The Cyclops

25. What do Odysseus’ men want to do when the discover Polyphemus’ cave unattended?

26. What does the Cyclops look like? Be as specific as possible.

27. The Cyclops named___________________ was the son of ________________.

28. Odysseus is the smartest of the ancient Greek heroes because Athena, goddess of ____________ is his guardian.

29. The Cyclops is known for his extraordinary strength. He seals off his cave with a slab of ______________.

30. Describe the welcome that the Cyclops gives to Odysseus and his men.

7. After line 251, Odysseus decides not to retaliate against the Cyclops. Why? Is his reason a good one, or can you think of another possible solution?

8. What does the Homeric simile in line 260 compare? How about in lines 340-344?

33. Odysseus reminds the Cyclops that the custom is to _________________ strangers.

36. The Cyclops’s impression of Zeus is not favorable. Give an example to support this.

37. What is Odysseus’s response when the Cyclops asks about Odysseus’ ship? Why do you think Odysseus says this?

38. The Cyclops eats____________ of Odysseus’s men for his meal that evening.

39. Why does Odysseus not kill the Cyclops while he sleeps?

40. The Cyclops eats_________ more of Odysseus’s men for breakfast.

41. Describe in a sentence or two what Odysseus’s plan is for escaping.

42. Odysseus and his men dismember the Cyclops’s eye. The Cyclops, whose name is _______________, yells loudly; other Cyclopses come to his rescue. When asked who has caused this pain to Polyphemus, Polyphemus’s reply is, “________________’s tricked me.”

43. Once Odysseus and his men are safely away, Odysseus yells to the Cyclops, “….How do you like the ______________________ we gave you?”

44. This causes the Cyclopes to throw a ______________ at Odysseus and his men, which almost pushes them back to shore!

45. When Odysseus refuses to go back to the Cyclopse’s island, the Cyclops prays to his father __________________. Polyphemus prays to him, “….grant that Odysseus never sees his _____________....Should destiny intend that he shall see his roof again among his family in his father land, far be that _____________ and __________ the __________ between.”

7. What are Odysseus’ positive and negative traits in this section? Cite instances.

The Odyssey (study guide #2)

Notice the emphasis of respecting the dead. Each time the group sails away with shipmates lost, Odysseus is sure to comment on their remembering the dead companions they’ve lost along the way. Showing respect for the dead is a significant part of the Greek culture and comes in handy when Odysseus has to travel to the Land of the Dead.

Before they get there though, Odysseus and his crew sail from Polyphemus’ cave to the island of Aeolia. Here the king of the winds, King Aeolus, gives Odysseus the gift of a bag of bad winds. He captures all of the winds, except the favorable west wind so that Odysseus can finally make his way back to Ithaca. His men, however, think Odysseus is keeping something from them, so they open the bag of bad winds. This blows them back to Aeolia and to an angry King Aeolus, who fears they are a bad omen and casts them back out to sea.

They sail for seven days until they come to the land of the Laestrygonians, who just so happen to be cannibals. These lovely folks destroy all but one of Odysseus’s ships. Finally, Odysseus and his now shrunken crew, land on the island of Aeaea where Circe lives. She casts a spell on the men sent to scout the island and turns them into pigs. Odysseus then must save his men and is assisted by Hermes who gives Odysseus a magic herb for protection against Circe’s spells.

One year later…Odysseus sets sail again, but not until he heeds the advice of Circe. He must go alone to the Land of the Dead. There he must make an offering and conjure up the spirit of the blind prophet, Tiresias. Tiresias will look into the future and explain to Odysseus how he must get home. Back on Circe’s island, Circe tells Odysseus the exact same thing and warns him of what to avoid on his journey home.

The Land of the Dead

1. Odysseus gets a gift from __________, the king of the winds. It is________________________.

2. His men open the sack and this causes them to be pushed back to ___________________, which is far from Ithaca.

3. They also arrive in a land of ________________, where the people on this land destroy all of Odysseus’ ships except for ___________.

4. Then they get to the island of the sorceress-goddess _____________. She turns half of Odysseus’ men into ___________, but Odysseus gets her to turn them back.

5. She tells Odysseus that before he can make it home he has to go to _______________________ and visit _________________ who is the blind prophet.

6. Odysseus offers to give the dead his best ___________.

7. He offers to give Tiresias a black ____________.

8. Odysseus meets a few people before he gets to Tieresias. First, he sees ________________, which is one of his men who died at Circe’s island.

9. Next he sees the soul of _____________ who is his mother. She was alive when he left Ithaca.

10. Tiresias gives Odysseus some predictions and warnings. He says:

a. ____________ lies ahead.

b. When you make landfall, you’ll find the grazing herds of _______________.

c. __________ those kine (cattle).

d. But if you raid the beeves (eat the cattle), I see ____________ for ship and __________.

e. And when you get back home to Ithaca, your house will be filled with ___________.

f. Tiresias says that eventually Odysseus will die when he is “wearied out with __________ old

__________.

Here come the dangers both Circe and Tiresias warned Odysseus about. The Sirens, monsters who lure ships with their songs and then eat the men on the ships, are the first things Odysseus and his men must avoid. Make note of the intelligence and strength required of Odysseus to get past them.

Next, come Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla is quite a scary sea monster on Odysseus’ left and Charybdis, the whirlpool, is on his left. Odysseus must help his crew stay calm and steer the boat between both of these monsters.

The Sirens

11. Circe warns Odysseus about the ____________.

12. Odysseus tells his men about this warning, but he doesn’t tell his men about the other warnings. Do you think this is a good decision? Why/why not?

13. What does Odysseus put in his men’s ears?

14. What effect does the Sirens singing have on Odysseus?

Scylla and Charybdis

15. The men hear something and what do they do?

16. What does Odysseus do when he notices his men are freaked out?

17. Odysseus knows there’s trouble ahead. Why does he not tell his crew this?

18. Charybdis is described as this: When she ______________, all the sea was like a cauldron seething over intense fire, when the misture suddenly _______________ and rises.

19. What does Scylla do?

20. How many men does she eat?

The doom and gloom aren’t over yet. Once past the three monsters, Odysseus and his men make their way to the island of Helios, the sun god. By now, the men are starving. Odysseus leaves the men to go pray, warning them to not eat the cattle no matter how hungry they are. Odysseus falls asleep and his men grow restless for his return. When he doesn’t come back, they decide to eat the cattle anyway. Odysseus wakes up too late to stop them and Helios is furious.

The Cattle of the Sun God

21. What does Odysseus tell his men not to do?

22. After they have been on the island for one _________, Odysseus realizes his men are hungry.

23. Eurylochus says to the men, “Better open your lungs to a big sea once for all than ___________ to skin

and ____________ on a lonely island.”

24. Lord Helios realizes they have killed his cattle and he prays to Zeus saying, “O Father Zeus and gos in

bliss forever, ____________ Odysseus’ men! So overweening now they have killed my ___________________ kin, my joy at morning when I climbed the sky of stars….”

25. What does Zeus do?

26. After all of Odysseus’ men die he gets tossed around at sea for a while and eventually ends up on ________________’s island. He says that there “…she received me, _________________ me.”

At the end of Part I:

Fill out the chart below based on what you’ve observed in Odysseus so far.

What type of leader or person is Odysseus?

On the left (in the TS side) put an adjective that describes Odysseus. In the right (on the concrete detail side) put two examples from the text that support this.

|Topic sentence (in a complete|Concrete details (examples from text that support the topic sentence) |

|sentence) | |

|Odysseus is | |

| | |

|Odysseus is | |

| | |

|Odysseus is | |

| | |

Extension Question

Write at least a paragraph for the following question. Choose ONE of your topic sentences above and the CD that goes with it.

How would you characterize Odysseus as a leader? In what ways is he a good leader or a poor leader? Be sure to use specific examples from the story to support your commentary.

(TS)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(CD)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________( ).

(CM)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(CM)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(CD)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________( ).

(CM)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(CM)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(CS)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Odyssey Study Guide (#3)

This covers Part II of the story.

“Twenty years gone, and I am back again….”

1. What does Athena tell Odysseus about the situation at home?

a.

b.

c.

2. Athena disguises Odysseus as a __________________.

3. The reason she does this is…

4. Odysseus is eating breakfast when his son Telemachus approaches. Athena turns Odysseus into his natural form. At first Telemachus thinks Odysseus is a ___________.

5. Once Telemachus believes that Odysseus is actually his father, they begin planning what?

6. There are a few parts to the plan they come up with. First, Odysseus will ______________ the suitors. Then Telemachus will take their _____________ and put them in another room.

7. Odysseus tells Telemachus, “…put aside ________ broadswords and ________ spears for our own use.”

8. He also says that some gods will help them. Zeus and ___________ will help.

9. He also tells Telemachus not to tell anyone that Odysseus is back. Odysseus says this is because they “…must learn how far the ________________ are corrupted”and“how to locate ____________ _______________ among our hands…”

Argus

10. Argus is Odysseus’ old __________.

12. Argus isn’t doing so well. It describes him like this, “Treated as _____________ now, he lay at last upon a mass of ______________ before the gates—manure of mules and cows, piled there until field hands could spread it on the king’s estate. _______________ there and half destroyed with _____________, old _____________ lay.”

13. When he hears Odysseus’ voice, what does he do?

14. How does Odysseus react when he sees Argus?

15. Eumaeus says that no one has taken care of the dog. (Remember that Eumaeus doesn’t know he’s talking to Odysseus). What does Argus do once he has seen his old master?

Read about the Suitors, Penelope, and the Challenge on pages 1029-1037. So you know, Laertes is Odysseus’s father.

1. What kind of man is Antinous? How does he treat Odysseus?

2. Why does Penelope want to see the beggar?

3. How has Penelope demonstrated her loyalty to her husband, Odysseus?

4. Is it wrong for Odysseus not to admit who he is? What do you think his reasons for disguising himself are?

5. What is Penelope’s challenge to the suitors?

6. Who wins the challenge?

Read about Odysseus’s Revenge and Penelope’s Test on pages 1039-1046. Answer the following questions:

1. Who is Odysseus’s first target? Why?

2. What did the other suitors think of Antinous’s death?

3. What plea did the suitors make after Odysseus reveals his true identity?

4. Who joins Odysseus and Telemachus in the fight against the suitors?

5. Did you catch the epic simile on page 1042?

6. Is Odysseus’s revenge justified? Why or why not?

7. How is Odysseus looking when he is chatting with Penelope?

8. What is Penelope’s test to make sure Odysseus is who he says he is?

9. Why does Penelope feel she has to test Odysseus, even though he has abandoned his disguise?

Answer these final Part II questions:

1. Do you think Odysseus has changed since his earlier adventures with the Cicones and the Cyclops? Explain.

2. Do you think of Odysseus as heroic? Why or why not? How is he heroic for the time period? How is he possibly heroic for our time period? How is he possibly not heroic for our time period?

3. Why do you think we are still reading The Odyssey today? Are there any elements we can still relate to?

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