The Odyssey: Final Exam Review

Which goddess tests Odysseus repeatedly and is known for her wisdom and battle strategy?

Athena

Which god calls upon Zeus to make a storm to throw Odysseus' ship off course?

Helios

Which god hates Odysseus? Why?

Poseidon; Odysseus blinded his son Polyphemus

Which god leads the dead suitors to the underworld?

Hermes

Which god gave Odysseus the bag with the four winds in it?

Aeolus

Who's the ruler of Mount Olympus and the King of all gods?

Zeus

The land of the ___________ was where Odysseus' men forgot why they were on their journey.

Lotus Eaters

Odysseus returned from the _______ war after years of battle.

Trojan

Odysseus uses beeswax to block out the ________

Sirens

Athena's disguises

Mentor/Mentes

The hero of the story

Odysseus

The monster with six heads

Scylla

The goddess who keeps Odysseus on her island for years

Calypso

The woman who caused the Trojan War/Menelaus's wife

Helen

Odysseus' son who he hasn't seen in 10 years

Telemachus

Helen's husband/King of Sparta

Menelaus

___________ was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war

Agamemnon

Odysseus traveled here/"Poseidon's people"

Ethiopia/Ethiopians

Odysseus's son Telemachus travels to ________ to inquire about the fate of his father

Pylos

The people who fought in the war with Odysseus

Achaeans

Island of ______ where a tribe stopped Odysseus

Cicones

The most arrogant of Penelope's suitors

Antinous

Odysseus' faithful dog

Argos

Author of the Odyssey

Homer

Menelaus is the king of _______

Sparta

The book before the Odyssey

The Illiad

King of Pylos

Nestor

The monster deadly whirlpool

Charybdis

Odysseus' father

Laertes

The faithful wife of Odysseus

Penelope

Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld/shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades

Tiresias

Dramatic irony

when the reader knows something that the characters do not

Homeric simile

a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length

Invocation

asking the gods for help/assistance; praying

Epic

A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

Epithet

an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned

Bard

a poet, often a singer as well

Foil

A character who is in most ways opposite to the main character (protagonist) or one who is nearly the same as the protagonist. The purpose of the foil character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast only

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Foreshadowing

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader

Emmaus is the faithful ________

Swineherd

Odysseus and his men escape from the cyclops on the bellies of ______

Sheep

Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag with the four ______ inside

Winds

Odysseus and his men use _________ to block out the sirens' calls

Beeswax

Odysseus had a crew of _______

Sailors

Zeus' version of a talisman

Lightning bolt

The heroes and survivors from the war are trying to get home to their ___________

Families

Odysseus ________ the cyclops with a hot stick.

Blinds

The name Odysseus tells the cyclops

Nobody

Odysseus returns to Ithaca disguised as a _________

Beggar

Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus by his __________

Scar

Mortals worship the _____

Gods

Odysseus gets the cyclops ________ the nigh before stabbing him

Drunk

___ sailors were initially eaten by the cyclops

2

Number of major gods/goddesses and what lots is divided into

12

Gods and goddesses are __________

Immortal

Sisyphus has to push a _________ up a hill for all eternity

Boulder

Athena's talisman

Olive tree/Olives

Eurycleia is Odysseus' ________

Nurse

The Laestrygonians eat humans so they are ______________

Cannibals

The cyclops uses his sight but has a strong sense of _______ so he can still find the sailors

Smell/Scent

Important verbs

eats, washes, inspires, kills, blinds, prays, run away/return home

Aeolus

God of the winds

Alcinous

King of the Phaeacians, who offers Odysseus hospitality in his island kingdom of Scheria. Alcinous hears the story of Odysseus's wanderings and provides him with safe passage back to Ithaca.

Anticlea

Odysseus' mother; Odysseus meets her in Hades, where he learned she had died longing for him; he can't embrace her

Aphrodite

Goddess of love and beauty and daughter of Zeus

Arete

Queen of the Phaeacians, wife of Alcinous, and mother of Nausicaa. Arete is intelligent and influential. Nausicaa tells Odysseus to make his appeal for assistance to Arete.

Argos

Odysseus' dog

Athena

Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the womanly arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. She often appears in disguise as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus.

Calypso

The beautiful nymph who falls in love with Odysseus when he lands on her island-home of Ogygia. Calypso holds him prisoner there for seven years until Hermes, the messenger god, persuades her to let him go.

Cicones

People of southern Thrace, who lived on the coast of the Aegean Sea. They were allies of Troy during the Trojan War and their city, Ismarus, was raided by Odysseus and his crew on their way home after the war.

Circe

The beautiful witch-goddess who transforms Odysseus's crew into swine when he lands on her island. With Hermes' help, Odysseus resists Circe's powers and then becomes her lover, living in luxury at her side for a year.

Cyclops

A one-eyed monster

Eurycleia

Penelope's servant and odysseus' old nurse

Helios (Apollo)

God of the sun & light

Hermes

Messenger of the gods

Ismarus

Land of Cicones

Ithaca

Odysseus' home, an island off the coast of Greece

Laertes

Odysseus' father

Laestrygonians

Legendary clan of giant cannibals

Lotus-eaters

Legendary people visited by Odysseus, they live on a plant whose fruit induces stupor and forgetfulness of home

Mentor

Ithacan friend of Odysseus, often impersonated by Athena

Odysseus

King of Ithaca

Penelope

Daughter of Icarius, Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. She spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy ten years earlier and never returned.

Polyphemus

A Cyclops. When Odysseus and his comrades are trapped in his cave, he dines on some of the crew members before Odysseus intoxicates him and impales his single eye, and then successfully escapes. He prays to his father to avenge this wrong-doing on Odysseus.

Poseidon

God of the sea and the accidental enemy of Odysseus

Sirens

Sea nymphs whose beautiful and mysterious music lures sailors to steer their ships toward dangerous rocks

Telemachus

Odysseus's son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy,

Trojans

Inhabitants of Troy, enemies against the achaeans in the trojan war

Zeus

King of the Gods, (Greek mythology) the supreme god of ancient Greek mythology

Aeaea

Home of Circe, the enchantress and goddess

Troy

An ancient city in Asia Minor that was the site of the Trojan War

lotus

Which plant makes the sailors forget their desire to return home?

Zeus

A storm sent by ____ sweeps the sailors along for nine days before bringing them to the land of the Lotus-eaters.

Cyclops

After eating lotus, the sailors sail to the ________'s island. (species)

sheep, milk, cheese

The sailors explore the cave of Polyphemus, where they find: (3)

Poseidon

Polyphemus is the son of ___________.

Nohbdy

When Polyphemus asks for Odysseus's name, he replies, "______".

wine, stick, eye

The sailors get Polyphemus drunk on _____, and plunge a _____ into his ____.

sheep

The sailors escape Polyphemus by hiding on ______.