Odyssey - Books 1 - 4
At Odysseus house in Ithaca, we are introduced to the suitors. What are they doing in the house?
They are waiting for Penelope to make up her mind which one of them she will marry. While waiting, they are eating and drinking all of the food in the house.
What sign does Zeus send to assembly, and what is its meaning?
Zeus launches a pair of eagles who drop on the heads of the crowd (death omen). Halitherses, who is skilled in reading bird flight, tells them it means Odysseus is alive and will return soon. This shows the people that they are in disfavor with the god and must make atonement
During Poseidon's absence, Athena asks Zeus to let Odysseus return home, She suggests that Hermes be sent to tell Calypso to release Odysseus. She will go to Ithaca and talk to Odysseus' son, Telemachus, and tell him where to go to find out information about his father. How does Zeus reply?
He agrees
What does Orestes do?
He avenges his father's death.
How has Telemachus changed since the beginning of Book 1, and how does Penelope react?
He has become more assertive, referring to himself as the man of the house. She looks at him in wonder.
What happens at the homecoming of Agamemnon?
He is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus.
Why is Menelaus to go to the Elysian Field instead of dying as other mortals do?
He is the husband of Helen, and son - in - law of Zeus, and he will not die.
Athena tells Telemachus to seek information about his father, Odysseus, from which men?
He should seek information from Nestor in Pylos and Menelaus in Sparta
Why does Telemachus call the men to assembly?
He wants to publicly address the problem to suitors.
According to Menelaus' information, where was Odysseus?
He was being detained on an island by the nymph Calypso.
Who first recognizes Telemachus as the son of Odysseus?
Helen does.
Who is the friend of Odysseus' who also fought in the Trojan war?
It is Nestor.
Menelaus describes his stay in Egypt to Telemachus. During his stay there, who tells Menelaus where Odysseus was detained?
Megapenthes does
How does Nester help Telemachus?
Nestor gives Telemachus a cart and a team of horses to take him on his island journey.
How has Penelope managed to hold off the suitors' demands for the past four years?
She appeals to them to let her finish a death shroud for Laertes, father of Odysseus, so that when he dies she can properly wind him as is her duty (since his wife is dead).
How does Athena present herself to Telemachus?
She comes to his house disguised as Mentes, an old friend of his father
Where is Athena during this part of the story?
She has returned to Mount Olympus for a meeting with the other gods.
To whom does Athena refer when she says: "They all would find death was quick, and marriage a painful matter?"
She refers to the widows left after the war.
What does Athena counsel Telemachus to go to the suitors?
She suggests killing them either openly or by treachery.
Athena gives Telemachus one piece of information about his father. What is it?
She tells him that Odysseus is not dead, but is detained somewhere on the seas. She says Odysseus can and will do anything to get home.
Where does the action in Book 3 take place?
The action takes place in Pylos.
Who are the leading men of the suitors?
They are Antinous and Eurymachus.
Who comforts Penelope after she learns of the suitors plan and the journey of Telemachus?
Athena, disguised as Penelope's sister Iphtime, does.
TRUE OR FALSE: Telemachus goes to the armory to sharpen and repair the weapons. then he beings recruiting men who will help him drive the suitors from his house
FALSE
Why had Odysseus not yet returned home?
Odysseus had not yet returned home from the Trojan War because He had angered the god Poseidon by blinding Poseidon's son, Polyphemus. Poseidon has placed obstacles in his way.
Who accompanies Telemachus to Sparta to the house of Menelaus?
Peisistratus
TRUE OR FALSE: The first ten lines of the poem are an invocation to the muse of epic poetry. Hoer pretends that the muse is speaking through him and asks that his memory remain accurate
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE: The setting of Book IV is the home of Menelaus in Sparta.
TRUE
The scene shifts of the home of Odysseus. What plan so the suitors devise against Telemachus?
They put a ship in the harbor in order to ambush and kill him when he returns.
What words are used to describe the suitors?
Words like lusty, arrogant, young bloods, and gluttons are used.
