Odyssey test

Thetis

Mother of Achilles.

Gaia

Mother Earth.

Persephone

Queen of the Underworld.

Hera

Queen of the gods.

Zeus

King of the gods.

Athena

Goddess of wisdom.

Aphrodite

Goddess of love.

Ares

God of war.

Hades

God of the Underworld.

Apollo

God of the sun, music, and poetry.

Poseidon

God of the sea.

Hephaestus

God of fire and blacksmithing.

Cronus

Father of Zeus.

Uranus

Father Heaven.

Hermes

Messenger to the gods.

Cronus

Overthrows Uranus by castrating him.

Cronus

Stops his children from overthrowing him by eating them.

Rhea

Presents her husband with a rock wrapped in a blanket to save another child.

Zeus

What Rhea’s husband thought he was eating when he ate the rock.

Oceanus, Epimetheus, Prometheus

The three titans who sided with the Olympians in the Battle of the Titans.

Atlas

Forced by Zeus to hold up the sky.

Aphrodite

Chosen by Paris as 'the fairest of them all'.

Helen

Paris’s reward for selecting 'the fairest of them all'.

Eris

Goddess of discord.

Helios

Pulls the sun across the sky in his chariot.

Achilles and Agamemnon

The feud that opens The Iliad.

Myrmidons

Achilles' men.

Nestor

King of Pylos.

Aegisthus

Agamemnon's murderer.

Paris and Menelaus

The two men who fight over Helen.

Achilles

Best warrior for the Greeks.

Odysseus

King from Ithaca who made a pact to fight for Helen.

Hector

Best warrior for the Trojans.

Patroclus

Mistaken for Achilles and killed by Hector.

Paris

Kills Achilles.

Hector

Whose body was dragged around by Achilles.

Briseis

Achilles' concubine taken by Agamemnon.

Hector

Has his body returned to the Greeks for a respectful burial.

Ajax

Kills himself after losing Achilles' armor to Odysseus.

Aeneas

Trojan prince who feels duty to fight in the war.

Agamemnon

Kidnaps priest of Apollo’s daughter as a war prize.

Chryses

Priest of Apollo’s daughter.

Menelaus

King of Sparta.

Priam

King of Troy.

Leda

Mother of Helen and Clytemnestra.

Calliope

Muse of epic poetry.

Apollo

Punishes Greeks for kidnapping the priest’s daughter.

Clytemnestra

Wife of Agamemnon.

Orestes

Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

In medias res

When the story begins with the plot already underway.

Metis

Quality that combines wisdom and cunning.

Kleos

Term referring to seeking fame and glory.

Xenia

Term referring to showing hospitality.

Digression

A deviation from the main plot.

Synecdoche

When a part represents the whole.

Enjambment

Example of confusion of the senses in a literary context.

Elpenor

Breaks his neck falling from Circe’s roof.

Litotes

An understatement where positive is expressed through the negative.

Epithets

Compound adjective used to describe qualities.

Allusion

Reference in Book 12 to the Argo.

Symbol

Odysseus’s marriage bed symbolizes the strength of their marriage.

Invocation

Phrase expressing a call for courage in battle.

Metonymy

Substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant.

Foil

Character emphasizing the difference between loyal and disloyal servant.

Deus ex machina

Unlikely or contrived ending, such as a goddess saving a character.

Empathy

Message about seeing another person as potentially like oneself.

Fate

Message indicating Odysseus is fated to escape his pain.

Temptation

Message about dangers in giving in to temptation.

Irony

Occurs when Antinous is shot while boasting.

Laestrygonians

Cannibalistic giants who destroy Odysseus's ships.

Polyphemus

Cyclops, son of Poseidon.

Ino

Sea nymph who gives Odysseus a magical veil.

Calypso

Holds Odysseus captive for seven years.

Circe

Turns Odysseus’s men into swine.

They are forced to flee their ships

What happens after taking Ismara by surprise.

The Lotus-Eaters

Gives Odysseus's men intoxicating fruit.

Scylla

The six-headed monster.

Aeolus

Keeper of the winds.

Tiresias

The blind Theban Prophet.

Alcinous

King of Phaeacia.

Charybdis

The whirlpool.

The Phaeacians

Excellent mariners skilled with all kinds of sea activities.

Helios

Sun god whose cattle are eaten by Odysseus’s men.

Hermes

Informs Calypso to release Odysseus.

Melantho

Sleeps with the suitors and is hanged.

Eumaeus

The loyal swineherd.

Eurycleia

Odysseus’s loyal nurse.

Philoetius

Loyal cowherd who kills Ctessipus.

Tantalus

Punished by having his liver eaten by vultures.

Sisyphus

Punished by pushing a boulder up a mountain.

Tantalus

Punished by being surrounded by water and unable to drink.

Orestes

Kills Aegisthus, paralleling Telemachus’s journey.

Telemachus’s search for news of his father

Main quest of the first four chapters of The Odyssey.

Wax

What Odysseus’s men put in their ears to avoid deadly creatures.

The value of life over power

Message from the underworld.

Penelope

Odysseus’s faithful wife.

Laertes

Odysseus’s father.

Telemachus

Odysseus’s son.

Argos

Odysseus’s loyal dog.

Anticlea

Odysseus’s mother.