Odysseus’s Journey
Why does Poseidon despise Odysseus?
Odysseus blinded his son
What is Telemachus’s main message for the men gathered at the assembly?
To get the suitors to leave
Of what did Odysseus’s mother die?
Grief; broken heart
Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus based on what distinguishing feature?
A scar on his leg
What happens to the disloyal maids after they clean the blood from the great hall?
They are killed
Why does Odysseus decide not to kill Polyphemus while the Cyclops is sleeping?
He is afraid of being trapped in the sealed cave.
How does Athena disguise herself to make preparations for Telemachus’s journey?
As Mentor
Who begs Odysseus to bury him?
Elpenor
Provide the context for the quotation below including the speaker and the person to whom these words are spoken:
“No, I am not a god,/[...] Why confuse me with one who never dies?”
Odysseus says this to Telemachus after Athena has changed his appearance from a beggar
Who says the following and to whom?
”Rejoice in your heart,/ [...] No cries of triumph now./It’s unholy to glory over the bodies of the dead. These men the doom of the gods has brought low,/ and their own indecent acts.”
Odysseus says this to Eurycleia
Which plant makes the sailors forget their desire to return home?
Lotus
How does Eurycleia, Telemachus’s old nurse, react when Telemachus tells her of his plan? What promise does Telemachus ask of her?
She says that he should stay in Ithaca and guard what’s his. If he doesn’t, the moment he’s gone they will scheme against him and eventually kill him and destroy his birthright. Telemachus asks her to promise that she won’t say anything to Penelope until 10 or 12 days have passed, or until she misses him and learns about him herself
How do Nausicaa’s ladies react when they first see Odysseus?
They run away in fear
Who is Argos?
Odysseus’s old dog
Who kills Antinous’s father?
How is Odysseus able to listen safely to the Sirens’ song?
He has his men bind him to the ship’s mast
What does Antinous mean when he says that Penelope has “deceived us blind”? Briefly but specifically explain.
They see her working on the tapestry during the day, but then each night she undoes the day’s work.
What does Tiresias the Prophet warn Odysseus not to harm on his voyage?
The cattle of the Sun
In Penelope’s archery contest, through how many axes must Odysseus fire his arrow?
12
When Odysseus sees Laertes, how does he look?
How and why do Odysseus’s men prevent the ships from reaching Ithaca when they are so close after leaving the land of the Cyclops?
They open up the bag containing wind that Aeolus had given them. The crew thought it contained gold and silver.
Penelope tells the suitors that "Your way is a far cry from the time honored way/of suitors locked in rivalry, striving to win/some noble woman, a wealthy man's daughter." What does she then say is the right way to “striv[e] to win” her hand in marriage?
To buy her gifts
Agamemnon tells Odysseus the following: “I tell you this – bear it in mind, you must – When you reach your homeland, steer your ship into port in secret, never out in the open . . .the time for trusting ______________ [is] gone forever!”
women
Which suitor does Odysseus kill first, and what is the suitor doing when he is killed?
Antinous, he is drinking wine
In what two ways does Odysseus confirm his identity to his father?
He shows him the same scar that he showed Eurycleia, and he talks about how he begged his father for the fruit trees when he was a young boy, and how Laertes promised to give him fifty vine rows