Literary Terms
A writer's choice of words
What is diction?
This person is the first to meet Odysseus when he arrives on Ithaka.
Who is Athena?
This character returns to Ithaka in book 15.
Who is Telemakhos?
Zeus sends this sign to Odysseus in book 20.
What is thunder?
This type of irony is created when the audience has more information than some or all of the characters.
What is dramatic irony?
The central idea or meaning of a story.
What is theme?
The disguise that Odysseus dons.
What is a beggar?
This is what Telemakhos is to do to set up the suitors for their slaughter.
What is "locking up all of the weapons in the house"?
These two characters recognize Odysseus despite his disguise.
Who are Eurykleia and Odysseus' dog?
This is the difference between a subject and a theme.
What is "subjects are the universally relevant topics that stories deal with, while themes are what a story actually says about that topic"?
An topic of universal relevance within a story.
What is a subject?
This causes Odysseus to realize that he has arrived in Ithaka.
Who is Athena?
Odysseus first sees his son in this location.
What is Eumaios' house/hut?
In book 18, Athena does this to Penelope.
This is the connection between point of view and irony.
What is "a wide, broad point of view can highlight the difference between what appears to be true to us as limited creatures and what is actually true from God's perspective."
An author's implicit attitude toward the people, places, and events in a story.
What is tone?
Homer puts irony to this use in book 14 of the Odyssey.
What is "testing loyalty"?
These two things are compared in the epic simile Homer uses to describe Odysseus and Telemakhos' reunion.
What are their weeping cries and the cries of a hawk whose nestlings have been taken?
This is the main subject of book 18.
This is a potential theme statement for book 18.
Answers vary and will likely include the power of beauty and the implications of that power.
An incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.
What is situational irony?
Homer illustrates the limits of these qualities through his use of irony in Odysseus' arrival.
What are wisdom and cunning?
Homer uses this element of fiction to create this type of tone - particularly in instances like Odysseus and Telemakhos' reunion in book 16.
What are diction and earnestness/seriousness/gravity?
This is a possible theme statement for book 19.
Answers will vary but include loyalty, disguise, or mourning.
Name two ways that irony is used in books 13-20 and give examples of each.
Answers vary.