The Odyssey Vocabulary 2



The Odyssey Vocabulary 2

1. adversary NOUN An opponent; an enemy In the Trojan War, the Greeks and the Trojans are adversaries.

2. appall VERB To overcome with shock, anxiety, dread, or confusion I am appalled that Calypso keeps Odysseus captive against his will.

3. avenge VERB 1. To inflict a punishment or penalty in return for a prior action; 2. To take vengeance on behalf of someone The Greeks fight in the Trojan War to avenge Paris’s abduction of Helen.

4. bliss NOUN 1. Extreme happiness; ecstasy. 2. The ecstasy of salvation; spiritual joy Odysseus is sure that he will experience complete bliss the moment he sees Penelope again.

5. blunder NOUN a serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusion VERB 1. To move clumsily or blindly. 2. To make a usually serious mistake Odysseus must outsmart many people (and gods) in order to return home; he cannot afford to commit many blunders; he doesn’t have time to act as a blundering fool.

6. din NOUN A jumble of loud, usually discordant sounds; noise Moving that giant, wooden Trojan horse creates quite a din!

7. disdain NOUN A feeling or show of contempt or scorn VERB 1. To regard or treat with haughty contempt; to despise. 2. To consider or reject something or someone as beneath oneself Because the Greeks value strength and confidence, they hold weaklings in disdain.

8. entreat VERB 1. To make an earnest request of. 2. To ask for earnestly; to petition for Every night, Odysseus entreats Calypso to allow him to return to Penelope.

9. fend VERB 1. To ward off. Often used with off; 1. To make an effort to resist: 2. To attempt to manage without assistance Once Odysseus loses 12 ships and 270 men, he has to fend for himself.

10. heft NOUN Weight; heaviness; bulk VERB 1. To lift (something) in order to judge or estimate its weight. 2. To hoist (something); heave Because of its heft, that giant, wooden Trojan horse requires many strong men to move it to the gates of Troy.

11. lag VERB 1. To fail to keep up a pace; to straggle. 2. To proceed or develop with comparative slowness: 3. To fail, weaken, or slacken gradually; flag NOUN A condition of slowness or retardation; The extent or duration of lagging; An interval between events or phenomena considered together Because it takes Odysseus many years to return home, Penelope may accuse him of lagging behind.

12. ponderous ADJ 1. Having great weight. 2. Unwieldy from weight or bulk. 3. Lacking grace or fluency; labored and dull Penelope has a ponderous burden after Odysseus leaves; she has to tend to her home, raise her son Telemachus, and avoid the suitors who keep circling her homestead, wanting to take the place of Odysseus.

13. profusion NOUN abundance; Lavish or unrestrained expense; extravagance; A profuse outpouring or quantity The Odyssey has inspired a profusion of spin-offs, including the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

14. rogue ADJ 1. Vicious and solitary (when used to describe an animal) 2. Large, destructive, and unusual or unpredictable: 3. Operating outside normal or desirable controls NOUN 1. An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal. 2. One who is playfully mischievous; 3. A wandering beggar; a vagrant. 4. A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd Sometimes Odysseus acts with guile against his adversaries; in other words, he acts like a rogue with a disregard for the rules.

15. sage ADJ 1. Having or exhibiting wisdom and calm judgment. 2. Proceeding from or marked by wisdom and calm judgment NOUN One respected or revered for experience, judgment, and wisdom Athena, goddess of wisdom, surely is very sage.

16. stately ADJ Dignified and impressive, as in size or proportions. 2. Majestic; lofty Zeus, father of the gods, casts a stately presence.

17. stoke VERB 1. To stir up and feed 2. To feed fuel to and tend the fire of (a furnace) – Odysseus stoked the fire in order to keep warm during his night on the mountaintop.

18. tactic NOUN A plan or strategy for achieving a goal; a maneuver In order to return home safely, Odysseus must employ his best strategies and tactics.

19. tidbit NOUN A choice morsel, as of gossip or food As Odysseus journeys toward home, he becomes extremely hungry; mere tidbits or morsels are not enough to satisfy his hunger.

20. titanic ADJ a. Having great stature or enormous strength; huge or colossal: b. Of enormous scope, power, or influence ; Of or relating to the Titans Because Zeus is the father of the gods, the scope of his power is titanic.

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