Who's the God?
What is The Trojan War?
The 10-year war between the Greeks and Trojans to recover Menelaus’s wife, Helen.
Who is Antinoos?
The most ill-behaved suitor of Penelope.
Who is Calypso?
A sea nymph who detains Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for seven years.
What is The Odyssey?
An epic poem, attributed to Homer, detailing the 10-year return of the epic hero Odysseus.
Who is Telemachus?
The son of Odysseus and Penelope.
Describe the disguise Athena gives Odysseus upon his return to Ithaca.
Athena disguises Odysseus as an old beggar so nobody will recognize him.
Who is Poseidon?
The god of the sea, water, and earthquakes in Greek mythology.
What is Ithaca?
A Greek Island and the home of Odysseus.
Why is Telemachus angry in the beginning of The Odyssey?
Suitors have invaded his home, are using his resources, and courting his mother.
What does Circe do to men she finds on her island?
She turns them into animals.
Who is Scylla?
Scylla is a six-headed monster; each head will eat a man from a ship as it passes her cave.
Describe the suitors. Who are they? Why are the suitors there? How would you characterize their behavior?
The suitors are Lords from nearby who want to marry Odysseus’s wife, Penelope. They are staying in his home and feasting upon his food. They are disrespectful and rude to Telemachus and his household.
How does Circe help Odysseus and his men?
She instructs them to go to Hades to speak to Teiresias to get direction home. She also advises them on navigating the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis.
What task must Odysseus accomplish to appease Poseidon, as instructed by Teiresias?
Odysseus must walk to where people do not know the sea and make a sacrifice to Poseidon.
Describe the Greek custom of hospitality, or xenia.
The Greeks believed they were compelled by the gods to treat strangers kindly. They believed a stranger might be a god in disguise.
Describe the trick Penelope uses with the shroud she is weaving?
Penelope tells the suitors when she finishes weaving the shroud, she will choose a husband. She weaves by day, but takes it apart at night. After three years, one of her maidservants tells the suitors.