The Odyssey Test Review

1. The place of Odysseus' last sacrifice to the gods is determined by what?

C. an oar

2. Epics contain all of the following EXCEPT:

D. Subjective Narrators

3. Penelope unweaves Odysseus' funeral shroud to stall the suitors.

A. True

4. Why do Odysseus' men open the Bag of Winds?

A. They are excited to receive a present from a god

5. A symbol of Odysseus' strength is

B. a bow

6. The goddess who is described as "bright-eyed" or "grey-eyed" is

B. Athena

7. Odysseus' meeting with Laertes is an example of

D. Atonement with the Father

8. The Cyclops best fits what character archetype?

B. Monster/Creature of Nightmare

9. After freeing his men and staying with Circe for over a year, Odysseus went to the underworld to consult the seer

A. Tiresias

10. What must Odysseus do in order to talk to people in Hades?

C. Both A & B

11. The leader of the suitors and first man killed by Odysseus is

B. Antinous

12. Who first tries to string the bow?

B. Telemachus

13. Odysseus' dog is named

B. Argos

14. In Hades, Achilles is

D. bitter about dying

15. Several characters in The Odyssey see omens. Frequently, the omen is a

B. bird

16. The three major elements of the hero's journey include

C. departure, fulfillment, return

17. An important obligation of hosts shown in this epic is

D. giving gifts to the visitors

18. Calypso is immortal.

A. True

19. One danger was avoided by Odysseus when he put his men under the benches in the ships. Otherwise, they would have wanted to stay forever in the land of the

D. Lotus-eaters

20. Odysseus was able to put out the Cyclops' eye because

D. he got him drunk

21. The Phaecians are outstanding sailors.

A. True

22. It is particularly significant that one of the "omens" is in the act of

A. killing

23. "Rosy-Fingered Dawn" is an example of:

A. Epithet

24. When Odysseus finds himself in great danger, he usually gets out of it by

B. resourceful planning

25. Both Odysseus and his wife show themselves to be

D. faithful in love

26. Heroes become heroes through spiritual / intellectual or physical acts, but first they are called to the heroic act. The type(s) of the call to adventure include_____.

C. A & B, but not D

27. A Threshold Guardian for Odysseus can be inferred to be

D. Calypso

28. The Greek culture is famous for all but ONE of the following:

B. reading

29. The reader is given numerous hints that Odysseus will defeat the suitors. This technique is called

A. foreshadowing

30. Telemachus learns from Nestor about the fate of Agamemnon, who was killed by

D. his wife

31. The last duty of Odysseus is to

A. sacrifice to Poseidon

32. The man in Hades who is condemned for all eternity to push a boulder up a hill is

A. Sisyphus

33. Through characterization, Odysseus is seen to be all EXCEPT the following

A. self-sacrificing

34. An example of an ultimate boon for Odysseus is

B. Circe's Instructions

35. Odysseus' hopelessness on Circe's island is an example of

D. Belly of the Whale

36. The Odyssey opens with an invocation to:

D. The Muse

37. The person in Hades who is condemned for all eternity to be tormented by hunger and thirst is

C. Tantalus

38. The Trojan War was over within a few months.

B. False

39. After leaving Calypso, Odysseus is washed up on the friendly island of the

B. Phaecians

40. Throughout the poem Odysseus is contrasted with other heroes (Achilles & Agamemnon, for example). The success of Odysseus' homecoming is attributed to this outstanding trait:

A. cunning

41. Odysseus has a Sacred Marriage with

B. Penelope

42. The hero reaches some sort of higher understanding that equips them for the final, most difficult stages of their journey/transformation. They may even become divine.

B. Apotheosis

43. While Odysseus was asleep, his men ignored his warning and ate the sun-god's

B. cattle

44. In Odysseus' story the reader learns of the first three years of Odysseus' wanderings after he has spent seven years of captivity on Ogygia. The technique used by Homer is called

D. flashback

45. Dropping a reader into the middle of the action of a story is what literary convention?

C. En Media Res

46. A monster with six heads who grabbed and ate six of Odysseus' men was

C. Scylla

47. Penelope reassures the suitors that even if the beggar were to win the contest, he would not expect her to marry him. The reader, aware of the beggar's identity, recognizes one of the several examples of Homer's use of

C. dramatic irony

48. The majority of the gods disagree with aiding Odysseus.

B. False

49. When Odysseus battles with the suitors, he is helped by

A. Telemachus and Eumaeus

50. The Odyssey and The Iliad were thought to be originally to be

A. accompanied by music