People
Places
Gods&witches&monsters
The Text
Etymology/Greek
100

She stalled her suitors by weaving and un-weaving a shroud.

Penelope

100

This island is Odysseus's homeland.

Ithaca

100

She is the reason both Odysseus and his son are still alive.

Athena

100

He is the author of the Odyssey.

Homer

100

His name means "to be angered" or "hated" or "he who causes pain".

Odysseus

200

This Ithacan prince is Odysseus's son.

Telemachus

200

In modern terms, Odysseus's journey unfold around this sea.

Mediterranean Sea

200

Polyphemus is one of these one-eyed giants.

Cyclops

200

This long-running debate concerns the authorship, composition, and transmission of Homer's epic poems.

The Homeric question

200

From Greek kalyptō, this is the meaning of Calypso’s name.

To conceal / The one that conceals

300

This faithful dog recognizes Odysseus upon his return, and dies after seeing him home.

Argos

300

Tradition places the Lotus-Eaters near Djerba, off the coast of this continent.

Africa

300

This enchantress turned Odysseus’s men into swine.

Circe

300

There's a departure, trials, and return with a boon.

The Hero's Journey

300

This Greek word means excellence, virtue, or moral goodness, encompassing the fulfillment of a purpose, the act of living to one’s full potential. 

Areté

400

This old king is Odysseus's father.

Laertes

400

Scylla and Charybdis lurk between these two Italian regions.

Sicily and Calabria

400

This nymph detained Odysseus on Ogygia for seven years.

Calypso

400

After the Telemachy, Odysseus first appears in this book of The Odyssey.

Book 5

400

This ideal, literally “beautiful-and-good”, melded physical beauty with moral excellence in Greek thought.

Kalokagathia (or kalos kai agathos)

500

This loyal nurse recognizes Odysseus by a scar.

Eurycleia

500

The mountain on the Italian west coast where Circe was said to have her lair.

Mount Circeo (or Cape Circeo)

500

Odysseus sails between these two monsters: a six-headed man-eater and a ship-swallowing whirlpool.

Scylla and Charybdis

500

Homer’s Odyssey sails in this six-foot verse with a long–short–short pattern.

Dactylic Hexameter

500

This is the first line of the Odyssey in Greek.

Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε,  Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ

(Àndra moï ènnepe moùsa poloùtropon òs mala pòlla)