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Background Information

|What are the characteristics of an EPIC POEM? |What are the characteristics of an EPIC HERO? |

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|How were EPIC POEMS told? By whom? What “memory tricks” did these |What spiritual/religious beliefs guided the ancient Greeks? |

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|Describe the role of family, especially wives, homes and children, in |Other notes/observations: |

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Comprehension Questions

BOOK I: INVOCATION (p 895 in the Orange Book)

1. Who does Homer say he is relying on to help him tell the story of The Odyssey?

2. Odysseus could not save his men by _____________________ or by _______________________.

3. What SPECIFIC reckless behavior killed the last of his men? Which god was responsible for their death?

4. Who held Odysseus captive for seven years?

REFLECT

After reading this short section on your own, how well do you feel you understand the reading?

← I understood it perfectly. I could take a quiz on this tomorrow and pass with flying colors.

← I could find the answers to the questions, but that doesn’t mean I understood it!

← I couldn’t even begin to answer the questions, and I’d never understand it in a million years without some additional help.

IX: NEW COASTS & POSIEDON’S SON (p 896 in the Orange Book)

5. What was the effect of the Lotus plant?

6. How heavy is the door of the Cyclops’ cave (be as specific as the book is)?

7. What is the first dangerous thing the Cyclops does?

8. Why doesn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops when he has the chance?

9. What does Odysseus give the Cyclops as a gift?

10. What gift does the Cyclops give in return?

11. What does Odysseus tell the Cyclops that his name is?

12. How do Odysseus and his men sneak out of the Cyclops’ cave? Give ALL the details.

13. What foolish thing does Odysseus do once they’ve escaped from the cave?

14. What did a soothsayer/wizard once predict would happen to the Cyclops? Be specific.

15. What does the Cyclops ask his father Poseidon to do for him?

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REFLECT

After having this longer section read aloud in class with pictures—answer the following questions:

How well did you understand the reading?

← I understood it perfectly. I could take a quiz on this tomorrow and pass with flying colors.

← I could find the answers to the questions, but that doesn’t mean I understood it!

← I couldn’t even begin to answer the questions, and nothing we did in class helped me at all.

← I was absent so much that I’m feeling lost right now.

BOOK X: GRACE OF THE WITCH (p 916 in the Orange Book)

16. Who is the god of wind?

17. What favor does he do for Odysseus and his men?

18. What stupid mistake do some of the men make on the ship?

19. How do even more men die after the bag accident?

20. What does Circe do to some of Odysseus’s men?

21. How does Odysseus get her to release his men?

22. When Odysseus asks Circe to send them home, what does she tell him he must do first?

BOOK XII: SEA PERILS & DEFEAT (p 928 in the Orange Book)

23. Why should Odysseus be wary of the Sirens?

24. What should he and his men do to keep safe from the Sirens?

25. Describe Scylla—use all the details the book does!

26. What will Charybdis do if Odysseus’s ship gets too close?

27. What does Odysseus keep secret from his men?

28. After Scylla and Charbydis, how do the rest of Odysseus’s shipmates die? Is it Odysseus’s fault?

BOOK XXI: THE TEST OF THE BOW (p 944 in the Orange Book)

29. Penelope says she will choose the suitor who is able to do what?

30. Which two people get upset when they bring Odysseus’s old bow to the suitors?

31. Whose death does Homer foreshadow (p 946)?

32. Whom does Odysseus trust to help him defeat the suitors?

33. How does Odysseus prove his identity to them?

34. What specific plan does Odysseus lay out for them to help him? Hint: it has three main parts.

35. Why don’t the men want Odysseus to try and string the bow?

36. Why does Eurymachus “curse this day?”

37. What big, major Greek cultural law does Antinous break?

38. What is the dramatic irony in Queen Penelope’s speech to Antinous (p. 950)?

39. How does Telemachus accidentally break the tension in the room?

40. Odysseus strings the bow just like a __________________ strings a ________________.

41. Zeus gives a sign at the moment Odysseus strings the bow. What is it?

42. What does Odysseus prove about his abilities when he shoots the arrow through the axeheads? Why is that important in this situation? Note: he hasn’t specifically proven his identity yet.

BOOK XXII: DEATH IN THE GREAT HALL (p 955 in the Orange Book)

43. Whom does Odysseus kill first? How? Why?

44. How does Eurymachus plead his case with Odysseus?

45. How does Odysseus respond to Eurymachus?

46. How does Amphinomus die?

47. What does Telemachus do for his father when it seems hopeless?

48. After Odysseus and Telemachus have proved their valor, who finally helps them to win the battle with the suitors?

49. At that point in the battle, Odysseus and his men are compared to what?

BOOK XXIII: THE TRUNK OF THE OLIVE TREE (p 961 in the Orange Book)

50. At first, Penelope doesn’t recognize Odysseus. Describe ALL of the specific changes that Athena makes to Odysseus’s appearance to help.

51. At the end of Odysseus’s makeover, Homer uses another one of those epic similes. The comparison is that Athena makes Odysseus beautiful just like a

________________________ makes _____________________________ beautiful by infusing

________________________________ onto it.

52. How does Penelope test Odysseus? Why does she test him?

53. Penelope is says the gods have denied her what two things?

54. Book 23 closes with an EPIC epic simile. Odysseus has been longing for his wife just like what? Be as specific as possible—use the details the book uses.

QUOTE COLLECTING

As we read excerpts from The Odyssey, keep track of quotes from the book that indicate what kind of person Odysseus is—is he a mighty hero? Or is he just a big arrogant jerk?

|Hero Quotes |Book & Line # |Jerk Quotes |Book & Line # |

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Hero?

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or Jerk?

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The Odyssey Study Guide

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