Vocabulary in The Odyssey
Main character who goes on a journey and returns home as a changed person. They are typically characterized by their courage and outstanding achievements in the face of danger.
What is a hero?
Is known for his cleverness against opponents
Who is Odysseus?
Zeus/ god of the gods and sky/ Symbols: eagle and statue of Victoria
Who is Jupiter?
The name Odysseus tells the Cyclops in Part I.
What is Nohbdy?
Comparing two unlike things using like or as.
What is a simile?
A sacred, Zeus-sanctioned rule requiring hosts to provide food, shelter, and gifts to strangers before asking their names.
What is xenia?
Wife of Odysseus
Who is Penelope?
Aphrodite/ goddess of love and beauty/ Symbols: seafoam
The number of years Odysseus has been away from Ithaca.
What is 20?
Exaggeration
What is hyperbole?
The use of crafty, sly, or artful deception to achieve a goal.
What is guile?
The goddess who helped disguise Odysseus.
Who is Athena?
Poseidon/ god of the sea/ Symbols: trident
Who is Neptune?
The figurative language used in this quote: “...in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor.”
What is an epic simile?
Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects.
someone who is deceitful or dishonest, often by pretending to have one set of feelings or intentions while actually having another. It describes behavior that is intentionally misleading or two-faced.
Son of Odysseus
Who is Telemachus?
Athena/ goddess of wisdom and defensive war/ Symbols: Aegis and olive tree
Who is Minerva?
The mythological creature who would lure male sailors to their death with a beautiful, enticing song.
What are sirens?
A word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.
What is onomatopoeia?
The newfound knowledge or reward that the hero returns with.
Beautiful sorceress who turns Odysseus' men to pigs and seduces Odysseus.
Who is Circe?
Hades/ Underworld/ Symbols: Cerberus
Who is Pluto?
The name of the suitor who was a close-match for Odysseus in completing Penelope's challenge in Part III; the primary antagonist in Part III.
Who is Antinous?
Comparing two unlike things without a comparison word.
What is a metaphor?