The Odyssey Study Guide (Books 5-14)

Vocabulary and character study flashcards for Books 5 through 14 of Homer's Odyssey based on class study questions.

Calypso

The nymph whom Odysseus manages cleverly by offering compliments instead of insults so she does not become angry.

Nausicaa

The daughter of Alcinous who discovers Odysseus while washing clothes with her maids and advises him to wait in a meadow before entering the town and finding the palace.

Athena

The goddess who guides Odysseus safely through the sea and manipulates events by calling Nausicaa lazy so she will go wash clothes and find him.

Arete

The Phaeacian queen who holds major power in the palace; if she likes Odysseus, she will allow him to return home.

Alcinous

The Phaeacian king who resolves to assist Odysseus by supplying him with a ship and a crew to sail home.

Demodocus

The bard whose telling of the Trojan War story provokes the revelation of Odysseus's true identity.

Phaeacian Games

The athletic contests in which Odysseus takes part to prove that he can win.

Ismarus

The first stop made by Odysseus after departing Troy, where he and his men were attacked. By defeating the Cicones, they looted the city but later faced retaliation.

Lotus-Eaters

The inhabitants of Odysseus's second stop after Troy whose plant food caused the men who ate it to lose all desire to return home.

Polyphemus

A one-eyed cyclops who trapped Odysseus and ate several of his men.

Aeolus

The god of the winds who gives Odysseus a bag of winds, which blows the ship back to where it started after the crew opens it.

Laestrygonia

The territory of giant monsters who took one man for supper, destroyed all the fleet except Odysseus's single ship, and forced two men to escape.

Circe

The enchantress who invites Odysseus's crew in and transforms them into pigs using drugged magic food.

Hermes's Magic Root

A protective root provided by Hermes that allows Odysseus to consume Circe's food unaffected, threaten her life, and force her to beg for mercy.

Teiresias

The seer encountered in the Land of the Dead who provides Odysseus with vital counsel for the rest of his journey.

Elpenor

A deceased companion met in the Land of the Dead who died from falling off a roof and asks Odysseus to provide him a proper burial.

Anticleia

Odysseus's mother, whom he encounters as a spirit during his journey to the Land of the Dead.

Agamemnon

The fallen Greek commander whom Odysseus meets among the dead in the underworld.

Sirens

Dangerous creatures whose song Odysseus safely navigates by sealing his crew's ears with wax and having himself tied securely to the mast.

Scylla

A monster characterized by twelve dangling feet and six long necks, each topped with a gruesome head.

Cattle of the Sun God

The sacred herd slaughtered and eaten by Odysseus's crew, provoking divine wrath from the Sun God.

Poseidon

The god who threatens to surround the Phaeacians' city with mountains as retribution for helping Odysseus return home.

Eumaeus

The swineherd who initially refuses to trust Odysseus because he is suspicious of Odysseus's lies and fabricated stories.