Mortal Men
These two people are who Odysseus is trying to get home to during his entire journey
His wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus
When he taunts the cyclops as he escapes, Odysseus shows this serious flaw
Hubris
This god locked winds in a bag to facilitate Odysseus's return home
Aeolus
He refuses to help Odysseus a second time because he believes he is cursed by the gods
The god of wind, Aeolus
This is where Circe says Odysseus must go to get advice
The Underworld / Land of the Dead
The Trojan War lasted for a total of this many years
10 years
This man tells Odysseus that he would return home to find his house overrun with suitors
The prophet Tiresias
When Odysseus returns home, he finds that the suitors in his home have taken advantage of this cultural custom
Xenia
While not physically prevented from leaving, Odysseus's men no longer desired to return home after eating these
The lotus flower
Homer starts off the poem by asking the Muses to help him with this
Telling the story of Odysseus
Odysseus must rescue his men from the halls of the sorceress Circe after she does this
Turns them into swine
According to legend, Odysseus used this to gain entrance to the city of Troy, though it was probably never actually built
The Trojan Horse
This king of Sparta had his wife taken from him and waged a war to get her back
Menelaus
In the Odyssey, "rosy-fingered" is an epithet often used to describe this
Dawn
This prodigious son of Poseidon keeps Odysseus and his crew trapped in a cave with sheep
Polyphemus
When trapped between two monsters, Odysseus chooses to sail closer to this one in order to minimize losses
Scylla
Odysseus's men decide to go raiding here and exhibit hubris by mutinously refusing to leave when Odysseus tells them to
Ismarus
This woman, whose face was said to have launched a thousand ships, was queen of Sparta...until she shirked her duties and went to Troy
Helen
This king of Phaeacia is who Odysseus is telling his adventures to shortly before returning home
Alcinous
Odysseus embodies this archetype when he overcomes the much stronger cyclops with his wits
The Unassuming Hero
While his crewmates covered their ears with wax, Odysseus himself avoided being drawn in by the singing Sirens this way
Being tied to the mast
This goddess of strife brought a golden apple to a party as a gift for "the most beautiful"
Eris
The blind prophet, Tiresias, tells Odysseus that after he gets home and everything is settled, he must do this
Travel far inland and make a sacrifice
The gods became angry at the Greeks after these impudent actions at Troy
Killing worshipers in their temples
This was Menelaus's brother, and the leader of the forces attacking Troy
Agamemnon
By calling himself "Nohbdy," Odysseus is filling this archetypal role
The Trickster
For 10 years, the citizens of Troy were locked in their city because of this, when an army encamps around a city
This maelstrom nearly pulled Odysseus into the abyss
Charybdis
Odysseus isn't safe yet when he returns home. Instead, he wins a contest by doing this - to the other suitors' incredulity
Shooting an arrow through 12 axe handle slots
Heinrich Schliemann "helped" discover the site of the real city of Troy by doing this
Blowing it up
This old swineherd brings Odysseus into Ithaca when he is dissembling and using the guise of a beggar
Eumaeus
An epithet
Odysseus was unwillingly locked in to a relationship with this ocean goddess for 7 years
Calypso
This herald and messenger of the gods assisted Odysseus in overcoming Circe's magic
Hermes
Before being fully accepted back home, Odysseus does this in order to finally prove his identity to his wife
Describes details about their bed that only he would know
Using his guile, Odysseus circumvented a prophecy about the Trojan War by doing this
Landing on his shield instead of Trojan soil
This man was the unwitting judge in a high-stakes beauty contest
Paris
This archetype is shown by Odysseus stringing his bow after all the other suitors have failed
The Return to Order
This was the first person dispatched by Odysseus after he locked the suitors in his house and began his revenge
The suitor Antinous
Although not cyclopes, these creatures also threw boulders and tried to eat Odysseus's crew
Laestrygonians
Although warned by a prophet, Odysseus fails to prevent his men from doing this
Killing the cattle of Lord Helios
Paris, a prince of Troy, was famously asked to settle a disagreement between these three goddesses
Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera