Characters & Creatures
This one-eyed giant who is blinded by Odysseus and a sharpened stake.
Who is Polyphemus or the cyclops?
This event is the reason Odysseus is away from home for 20 years.
What is the Trojan War?
A long, narrative poem about a hero's journey is known as one of these.
What is an epic?
"My name is Nobody."
Who is Odysseus (to Polyphemus)?
This is the name of Odysseus's island kingdom.
What is Ithaca?
This beautiful enchantress turns Odysseus's men into swine.
Who is Circe?
He is the Son of Odysseus
Who is Telamachus?
Winged, women creatures who lure sailors to them by song?
What are Sirens?
"God of the golden wand, why have you come? ... Have you not ordered me to send him on?"
Who is Calypso (to Hermes)?
This god of the sea holds a grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son.
Who is Poseidon?
The faithful wife who weaves and unravels a shroud to delay her suitors.
Who is Penelope?
To hear the Sirens' song safely, Odysseus has his crew do this to him.
What is tie him to the mast of the ship?
Extreme pride or self-confidence that angers the gods.
What is hubris?
"There is no homecoming for the man that draws near them unawares and hears the Sirens voices."
Who is Circe?
This is the name of the land of the dead that Odysseus visits or the name of the King of it.
What is the Underworld (or Hades)?
This minor god of the winds gives Odysseus a bag containing all unfavorable winds.
Who is Aeolus?
This prophet in the Land of the Dead tells Odysseus about the cattle of the sun god.
Who is Tiresias?
This monster has six heads and devours sailors who get too close to it.
Who is Scylla?
"My quiet Penelope—how well I know—would seem a shade before your majesty."
Who is Odysseus (to Nausicaa)?
This beautiful sea nymph detains Odysseus on her island for seven years.
Who is Calypso?
The goddess of wisdom and cunning who watched over Odysseus
Who is Athena?
The method by which Odysseus and his men escape the cave of Polyphemus.
What is hiding under the sheep?
Pictured as a whirlpool that swallows and spits out large amounts of water and capable of sinking ships
What is Charybdis?
"You are a fool, or else you come from the other end of nowhere, telling me... to revere the gods."
Who is Polyphemus (to Odysseus)?
This god is the messenger who tells Calypso she must release Odysseus.
Who is Hermes?