The Odyssey Study Guide Name:
Directions: On a separate piece of paper, respond to the following questions. Answer these questions completely using detail and giving supporting reasons for your response. Responses should each be at least four (4) sentences long. DO NOT answer these questions on this sheet! Book I A Goddess Intervenes 1. Where is Odysseus and why is he there? 2. Why does Athena feel the need to help Odysseus? 3. Why does Penelope have suitors and why does she resist getting remarried? Book II A Hero s Son Awakens 1. What is the significance of the eagles fighting in the sky? What does the soothsayer Halitherses say the eagles represent? 2. Why do the suitors not want Odysseus to come home?
3. Why must Telemakhos set sail to find his father, Odysseus, in the secrecy of the night? Book III The Lord of the Western Approaches 1. Why does Athena, disguised as Mentor, accompany Telemakhos on his journey? 2. What does Nestor tell Telemakhos about Odysseus whereabouts? 3. What was Nestor s reaction when Athena revealed her true identity? Book IV The Red-haired King and His Lady 1. While Telemakhos is in Sparta Menelaos and Helen recount many stories of Odysseus success in Troy. How do these stories demonstrate the ideals of the archetypal hero? 2. What does Telemakhos find out about his father s whereabouts from Menelaos? 3. Why are the suitors planning to ambush Telemakhos upon his return home?
Book V Sweet Nymph and Open Sea 1. Why does Kalypso have to let Odysseus go? What is her reaction? 2. What does Poseidon do to prolong Odysseus return home and why? 3. Who helps Odysseus after Poseidon s storm? Why? Book VI The Princess at the River 1. How does Nausikaa know to go to the river to wash her clothes? 2. What do you notice about the type of person Odysseus is by the way he acts around Nausikaa? 3. Why must Odysseus wait before he can go into town to ask for help?
Book VII Gardens and Firelight 1. How does Odysseus get Alkinoos and Arete to agree to help him? 2. How is Odysseus treated as a guest in King Alkinoos and Queen Arete s palace? Why? 3. How does Arete know that Odysseus was not completely honest? Book VIII The Songs of the Harper 1. Why is King Alkinoos so generous to Odysseus? 2. How does Demodokos entertainment demonstrate the way in which stories were told in that time period? 3. What is the reason that Odysseus participates in the games that he had initially declined? Book IX New Coasts and Poseidon s Son
1. How do the stories that Odysseus recounts to Alkinoos demonstrate the characteristics of the epic journey? 2. What does Odysseus do to outsmart Polyphemos the Kyklops? 3. Based on the story of Odysseus and the Kyklops, do you think that Odysseus is a tragic hero and why or why not? Book X The Grace of the Witch 1. What does Aiolos do for Odysseus and his crew? 2. What mistake does Odysseus crew make? 3. How does Odysseus overpower Kirke and save his men? 4. What does Kirke instruct Odysseus to do?
Book XI A Gathering of Shades 1. Who does Odysseus speak to first in Hades? What does this person beg Odysseus to do? 2. Who is Teiresias and what does he tell Odysseus? 3. Who else does Odysseus meet in Hades? Book XII Sea Perils and Defeat 1. What does Odysseus do to avoid the seduction of the Seirenes? 2. What is Skylla? What is Kharybdis? What do they represent? 3. How do they survive? Should Odysseus feel guilt? Book XIII One More Strange Land
1. How does Odysseus finally return home? 2. What does Poseidon do when he finds out that Odysseus made it home? 3. Why does Odysseus not believe he is home? Why is home so important to him? Book XIV Hospitality in the Forest 1. Why does Eumaios not recognize Odysseus as his master? 2. Why doesn t Eumaios believe that Odysseus will return home soon? 3. Why does Odysseus keep himself disguised from Eumaios? Book XV How They Came to Ithaka 1. How does Telemakhos know to return home?
2. What does Odysseus learn about Eumaios? 3. What two omens (or symbols) are seen in this book? How are they explained by the people that see them? Book XVI Father and Son 1. Why can t Telemakhos return to his palace when he returns home to Ithaka? 2. How does Odysseus demonstrate the role of the epic hero with his plot against the suitors? 3. What do the suitors plan when they hear of Telemakhos return home? Book XVII The Beggar at the Manor 1. Why doesn t Telemakhos tell his mother (Penelope) about Odysseus return home?
2. Who recognizes Odysseus? Why is it significant? 3. Why does Odysseus, dressed as a beggar, respond with insults to the abuse he gets from the suitors? Book XVIII Blows and a Queen s Beauty 1. Why must Odysseus fight the other beggar Iros? 2. What trick does Penelope play on her suitors? What is the purpose? 3. Why does Athena want to make Odysseus angry at the suitors? Book XIX Recognitions and a Dream 1. Why does Odysseus continue to hide his true identity from Penelope?
2. Who recognizes Odysseus and how? 3. What challenge does Penelope have for her suitors? Book XX Signs and a Vision 1. Why does Athena remain with Odysseus throughout his journey? What does she represent to him? 2. What omen does Odysseus receive from Zeus? What does the omen signify? 3. What may the tension at dinner be foreshadowing for Odysseus and the suitors? Book XXI The Test of the Bow 1. Why do you think Penelope chose this challenge for the suitors?
2. Who does Odysseus confide in to help him fight the suitors? 3. What is the significance of Odysseus bow? Book XXII Death in the Great Hall 1. Why does Athena join in the fight against the suitors? 2. Why does Athena join the battle against the suitors so late? 3. What does this battle tell you about Odysseus as an epic hero? Book XXIII The Trunk of the Olive Tree 1. Why is Penelope unsure of Odysseus identity when he finally reveals himself to her? 2. How does Penelope test Odysseus to confirm his identity?
3. What is the last task that Odysseus must complete? Why? Book XXIV Warriors, Farewell 1. How does Odysseus prove his identity to Laertes? 2. Who intervenes when the suitors relatives seek revenge on Odysseus? 3. What is the purpose of this last book? Why doesn t the epic end when Odysseus is reunited with Penelope?