Odyssey Review Game
1. The name of the man believed to have composed the Odyssey was_________. Homer
2. The Odyssey is really the sequel to another poem called the ___________. Illiad
NOTE: The next seven questions have to do with the Illiad.
3. Odysseus originally left home to fight in what war? The Trojan War
4. What was the name of the goddess of discord? Eros
5. What did Eros throw among the wedding guests? The apple of discord
6. Who was called on to judge decide who was “the
fairest?”
7. Which goddess did
8. What did he receive for choosing Aphrodite? The most beautiful woman in the world
9. Who was the most beautiful woman in the world? Helen of
10. Why is Odysseus credited with ending the Trojan War? It was his idea to build the Trojan horse
NOTE: The remaining questions have to do with the Odyssey
11. The Odyssey is told in medias res. What does that mean? It starts in the middle
12. The poem begins with the poet calling on the muse of poetry to help him in his telling and inspire him. What is this opening part of the poem called? The invocation
13. When the poem begins, where is Odysseus? On Calypso’s island
14. How long has he been on Calypso’s island? Seven years
15. What happens to cause Calypso to set Odysseus free? The gods send her a message
16. Who is the messenger of the gods? Hermes
17. Why do they choose the time they do to free Odysseus
from Calypso? Poseidon’s in
18. What happens to Odysseus when the angry Poseidon finds
him at sea? He is washed ashore on the
19. Who are the first people to hear the stories of Odysseus’s adventures? The Phaecians
20. According to Odysseus, which of the gods has been making Odysseus’s trip home difficult? Poseidon
21. What did Odysseus do to anger Poseidon? Blinded his son, Polyphemus
22. What did Odysseus and his crew do to the
23. What was the danger Odysseus and his crew faced in the Land of the Lotus Eaters?
Eating the lotus and losing the will to leave, forgetting home and who you are
24. How did Odysseus save his men in the Land of the Lotus Eaters? He carried the three who had eaten the lotus back to his ship and tied them to the benches and told the others not to taste the lotus blossom.
25. Why did Odysseus and his crew land on the island of the Cyclopes? Odysseus was curious and wanted to see a Cyclops.
26. What was the name of the Cyclops whose cave they visited? Polyphemus
27. What did Odysseus say to Polyphemus in an effort to deter him from hurting his crew? That Zeus would revenge the unoffending guest
28. How many of Odysseus’s men died in the Cyclops cave? Six
29. Why did Odysseus not try to kill Polyphemus the first night in the cave? He realized if he killed him, he and his men would die there in the cave because they couldn’t move the boulder.
30. What did Homer say Odysseus’s men looked like when the Cyclops picked them up? Squirming puppies.
31. What did Odysseus and his crew find in the cave that they used to their advantage? A fallen tree that they shaped into a spear.
32. What did Odysseus offer Polyphemus the second night to make him sleepy?
33. What was the name Odysseus told Polyphemus when the Cyclops asked who he was? Nohbdy.
34. How did this work to Odysseus advantage later that evening?
35. What did Homer compare Odysseus to as he turned the spear in Cyclops’ eye? A shipwright turning a drill into a plank
36. What did Homer compare Polyphemus’s eyeball to when it popped and sizzled? To a hot axe being placed in a cool tub.
37. Who was Aelous? God of the winds.
38. How did he help Odysseus? He put all of the bad winds in a bag and left out only the wind to blow Odysseus home.
39. Why was Aelous’s help not enough to get Odysseus home? His crew opened the bag of wind.
40. When the crew landed on Circe’s island, what did she do to Odysseus’s men? She turned them into pigs.
41. How long does Odysseus stay on Circe’s island.
42. Who did Odysseus have to go see before he could leave Circe’s island? Tiresias
43. Where is Tiresias? In Hades
44. What does Tiresias warn Odysseus about? Eating the
cattle on the Island of the Sun (Lord Helios’s
45. Before he leaves Circe, she advises Odysseus on three upcoming dangers. What are they? (Name all three.) The Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis
46. Following Circe’s instructions, how does Odysseus get past the Sirens? (Two parts to the answer.) 1. He places wax over his men’s ears and 2. He has his men tie him to the mast of his ship.
47. Who is the only mortal who has ever heard the Sirens and lived? Odysseus
48. What does Homer compare Charybdis, the whirlpool, to? A cauldron seething or boiling over
49. What information does Odysseus not share with his crew about the dangers they face?
He doesn’t tell them about Scylla
50. What does Homer compare Scylla to as she takes the men from the ship? A fisherman whipping his fish out of the water.
51. What do Scylla and Charybdis symbolize? A difficult decision that requires a sacrifice.
52. What was the name of the crew member who argued that they should put ashore on Helios’s island? Eurylochus
53. What did Odysseus make his men swear before going ashore? Not to eat the cows.
54. Why did Odysseus’s crew stay on Helios’s island for more than a month? Bad weather kept them there.
55. What did Odysseus do when his men were hungry that in retrospect wasn’t a very good idea? He went to the inner part of the island to pray.
56. Who convinced the men to kill the cattle? Eurylochus
57. What was his argument to the men? Better to drown at sea than starve on land
58. Who told Helios about the crew’s misbehavior? Helios’s daughter Lampetia
59. What did Helios threaten to do if Zeus did not punish Odysseus’s men? To take the sun down to light the underworld and leave the gods and the rest of the world in darkness
60. How does the remainder of Odysseus’s crew die? They drown after Zeus splits their ship with a lightening bolt.
61. What does Homer compare Odysseus men to once they are in the water? Seabirds bobbing on the waves.
62. How does Odysseus survive the loss of his ship? He makes a raft of the wreckage.
63. To what earlier dangers does Odysseus return after the shipwreck? Charybdis and Scylla
64. What does Homer compare Odysseus to as he hangs above Charybdis all day long? A bat under a bough (branch)
65. Where does Odysseus finally wash ashore? Calypso’s
NOW WE’RE BACK TO THE MIDDLE AND THE BEGINNING
66. What happens to the Phaecians after they return
Odysseus to
67. Where are Odysseus and Telemachus reunited? Eumaeus’s hut (the swineherd’s hut)
68. Why does Telemachus not believe at first that Odysseus is his father? Because Athena has changed him from a beggar back to himself so Telemachus thinks he’s a god.
69. What does Odysseus ask Telemachus to do when he returns home? Count the suitors
70. How has Penelope kept the suitor fooled for years? By weaving during the day and taking apart her weaving at night.
71. What is it that Penelope is supposed to be weaving? A funeral shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes.
72. Why has Penelope been forced to finish her weaving? Her secret was revealed
73. Who told the suitors Penelope’s secret? One of her maids
74. Why has Penelope decided to finally choose a new husband? To preserve what’s left of the kingdom for Telemachus.
75. In what disguise does Odysseus return home? As an old beggar
76. Which suitor treats the beggar rudely? Antinous
77. What does he throw at Odysseus? A stool
78. What does the beggar Odysseus say to Penelope when she questions him about his family? That it’s too painful to talk about.
79. Surprisingly, Telemachus gives the suitors an order that they follow that night. What did he tell them to do? To go home for the night
80. While the suitors are gone home for the night, how do the men prepare the Great Hall? They remove all of the weapons.
81. What contest does Penelope set for her hand? To string Odysseus’s bow and send an arrow cleaning through twelve axe handles. Whoever can do that will be her husband.
82. What does Homer compare Odysseus to when he strings his bow? A harper stringing his instrument.
83. Who is the first suitor to die? Antinous
84. Why don’t the suitors respond right away with fear? They think is was a careless shot.
85. Once they realize Odysseus is home and planning to kill them all in a river of blood, who speaks on behalf of the suitors? Eurymachus
86. What argument does he make for Odysseus to let them go? (Two parts) Antinous was the real bad guy and he’s already dead and ALSO they will pay restitution for the food and wine they have consumed over the years.
87. What do the men use instead of shields to deflect Odysseus’s arrows? Overturned tables.
88. What does Homer compare the dying suitors to? A pile of fish dying on the sand under the hot sun.
89. Why does Penelope not rush to great Odysseus after the slaughter of the suitors? She doesn’t believe it’s him. She thinks he’s a god.
90. What new danger do Odysseus and Telemachus face? The angry families of the suitors.
91. What plan does Odysseus come up with for getting away? Everybody bathe and dress and pretend a party is going on. Passersby will think the queen has married. Then the men will sneak away to the woods and ask for help from Zeus.
92. In what ways does Athena change Odysseus after he cleans up? She makes him taller and more massive and gives him gold and silver ringlets.
93. What secret do Penelope and Odysseus share about their bed? That one of the bedposts is actually a tree trunk.
94. What did Penelope ask a servant to do that angered Odysseus and left him raging about his bed? She tells the servant to move his bed to outside of the door.
95. What does Homer compare Odysseus to when he’s finally in Penelope’s arms? A shipwrecked sailor washed up on shore
96. Who brings peace to the