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Characters in The Odyssey
Hero's Journey
Basic Plot Events in The Odyssey
Hero's Journey #2
Miscellaneous
100
Calypso -- Guy or Girl
Girl
100
Person for whom the hero fights or wants to protect
What is a soulmate
100
Why does Odysseus leave his home on Ithaca in the first place?
He has to honor the treaties he signed with his allies.
100
hero's opponent or enemy
What is a shadow
100
A way of comparing heroic or epic events to simple and easily understandable everyday events
What is a homeric or epic simile
200
Son of the sea god, Poseidon
Who is Polyphemus the Cyclops
200
Odysseus' soul mate
Who is Penelope
200
Why does Calypso let Odysseus leave her island?
Zeus sends Hermes the messenger god to tell her she has to let him go.
200
Who is Odysseus' shadow?
Poseidon, the god of the sea
200
What is this Homeric simile comparing Scylla the sea monster to? “Then Scylla made her strike, whisking six of my best men from the ship….A man surf-casting on a point of rock for bass or mackerel, whipping his long rod to drop the sinker and the bait far out, will hook a fish and rip it from the surface to dangle wriggling through the air; so these were borne aloft in spasms toward the cliff” (683).
It's comparing the way Scylla plucks the men off the ship to a fisherman casting a line in the ocean.
300
The Odyssey's trickster
Who is Odysseus
300
Person who guides or trains the hero
What is a mentor
300
Why does Odysseus have such a hard time getting home to Ithaca?
Polyphemus the Cyclops prayed to his father, Poseidon, to never allow Odysseus to return home in revenge for having poked his eye out.
300
Person who offers the hero power, money, and/or love in order to stop him/her from reaching his/her goal
Who is the temptress or tempter
300
The hero goes into underworld, darkness, water or wilderness; may die and be reborn
What is Descent to the Abyss
400
Son of Odysseus and Penelope
Who is Telemachus
400
Who is Odysseus' mentor?
Who is the goddess of wisdom and strategy, Athena
400
What trick does Penelope play on her "guests" to make sure she doesn't have to marry any of them?
She tells them she has to weave a burial shroud for Odysseus before she can choose one of them as a husband, but every night she unravels what she's woven.
400
Name the 2 characters who act as temptresses in this story
Who are Calypso and Circe
400
Hero gains insight or discovery about oneself or life in general; an "Ah-ha!" moment
What is a Revelation
500
Goddess who uses sorcery to trap Odysseus and his men on her island for 5 years
Who is Circe
500
Pattern or symbol in literature that means the same thing no matter when or where the text was written. Shadows, mentors, heralds, tricksters, heroes, etc., are all examples of this term.
What is an archetype
500
Why can't Penelope just kick all those men out of her house?
She is following the gods' religious obligation of hospitality, and has to treat them like honored guests.
500
t's ironic that Odysseus orders his men to row faster to get away from Polyphemus the Cyclops because they wouldn't HAVE to row faster if Odysseus hadn't _____________
If Odysseus hadn't taunted the cyclops ("Hey, dude! Tell everyone that Odysseus defeated you!")
500
What is Odysseus' revelation?
1. The only way to get home is to follow the constellation Orion, and sail in between Scylla and Charybdis 2. He better get home fast because men are trying to take over Ithaca and marry Penelope 3. He's so focused on getting home that he's missing that what's important is the journey he's on. (It's not the destination, but the journey.)