NAME:
DATE:
Characters--Be familiar with the following charactersPERIOD:
Calypso
Charybdis
Odysseus
Aeolus
Polyphemous
Scylla
Athena
Circe
Penelope
Poseidon
The Lotus Eaters
The Cyclops (describe)
The Sirens
Scylla
Charybdis
Know the following terms. Be familiar with the definition and application of the term in the Odyssey.
In media res
Invocation
personification
epithet
Homeric Simile
Epic (list the characteristics and relate each to They Odyssey)
Identify the figurative device in the following quotes:
"...above the teeth the muddy gleam of eyes as large as portholes..."
"...shadows yawned and swallowed the light..."
"Like a musician, like a harper, when with quiet hand upon his instrument he draws between his thumb and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow,"
"The sun chased the moon across the bowl of sky..."
"The winds screamed and jeered and laughed, growing, leaping, reveling in their freedom..."
“Sing in me, Muse”
Dawn, with fingertips of rose...
Grey-eyed goddess
Light of my days, Telemachus
Odysseus, master of landways and seaways
Red-haired King
The great stag had a bearing proud as a king...
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Study Questions:
- After the Trojan war, Odysseus was forced to wander the seas because he offended:
- From the time he left for the Trojan War to the time he returned to Ithaca, Odysseus was away from home for how many years?
- With whom is Odysseus' first challenge and confrontation?
- After humans eat the lotus, what happens to them?
- Why doesn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops?
- Why does Odysseus offer Polyphemous wine?
- In return for the wine Odysseus has given him, what does the Cyclops offers?
- Why don’t the other Cyclopes help Polyphemous?
- After Odysseus and his men escaped from Polyphemous, what does the monster do?
- Why does Aeolus reward Odysseus with the bag of wind?
- What happened to the bag of wind? What did this do for Odysseus' morale? Why?
- Into what does Circe turns Odysseus' men?
- What god helps Odysseus resists Circe's spells?
- How is Odysseus not tempted by the song of the Sirens
- How are Odysseus' men not tempted by the song of the Sirens?
- How does Scylla jeopardize Odysseus' voyage?
- How does Charybdis jeopardize Odysseus' voyage?
- On the island of the Sun God, how do Odysseus' men disobey his orders?
- Why is Odysseys frequently referred to as “Laertes’ son,”?
- What keeps Odysseus from giving his heart to Calypso or to Circe?
- While Odysseus’ men want to steal the Cyclops’ cheeses and animals and depart immediately, Odysseus wishes to see what “the cave man…had to offer.” Considering Odysseus’ character, what might he be hoping the Cyclops will offer?
- What character trait does Odysseus demonstrate by lying about his name to the Cyclops?
- What is the meaning of Polyphemus’ words in the following lines?
‘Let him lose all companions, and return
Under strange sail to bitter days at home.’