Odyssey Quiz: Study Guide

Cicones (O's adventure) book 9

--From Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, stay until the reinforced ranks of the Cicones turn on them and attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship. -If Odysseus is to survive, he must ultimately become wise as well as courageous and shrewd. The first test is against the Cicones. Some scholars suggest that Odysseus raids Ismarus because the Cicones are allies of the Trojans. Others conclude that he sacks the city simply because it is there. -The Island of the Cicones: After leaving Troy, they stop to raid this island for supplies. The Cicones attack on horseback, and Odysseus lost 72 of his men. Odysseus and his men find a Cyclops' cave, lured by his cheese and wine. The cyclops, Polyphemus, traps them inside the cave. -e time of Odysseus was the town of Ismara (or Ismarus), located at the foot of mount Ismara, on the south coast of Thrace (in modern Greece).

Lotus-eaters (O's adventure) book 9

-A storm sent by Zeus sweeps them along for nine days before bringing them to the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the natives give some of Odysseus's men the intoxicating fruit of the lotus. As soon as they eat this fruit, they lose all thoughts of home and long for nothing more than to stay there eating more fruit. -When Odysseus' men went onto the Lotus Eaters island, they were encouraged by the natives to eat the Lotus plant. This plant acted as a type of drug, causing the sailors to forget about their home and their goals. Instead, the sailors only wanted to stay on the island, eating more Lotus plants. -In the land of the lotus-eaters there were lotus flowers that poisoned the mind. Once the lotus leaves were eaten, you were addicted to it and would lose your mind and your will to do anything else. Odysseus dragged the three men back to the ship and tied them down, warning no one else to eat the lotus.

Calypso (island of Ogygia) [book 12]

-Calypso was a nymph who captured Odysseus for many years, before he finally managed to escape. She lived on the mythical island of Ogygia. According to Homer's epic, the Odyssey, when Odysseus landed on Ogygia, Calypso fell in love with him and decided to keep him as her immortal husband. -she entertained the Greek hero Odysseus for seven years, but she could not overcome his longing for home even by promising him immortality. -Calypso helps Odysseus by first agreeing to set him free, and then by promising him a raft and provisions for his journey home. Calypso helps Odysseus by first agreeing to set him free, and then by promising him a raft and provisions for his journey home. -Calypso was saddened by the news and explained to Percy that she was cursed to stay on Ogygia forever by the gods, because she supported her father in the First Olympian War. She is also cursed to have heroes wash up on her island, wounded or hurt for her to heal.

Charybdis [book 12]

-Charybdis is an enormous whirlpool that threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla's lair. As he and his men stare at Charybdis on the other side of the strait, the heads of Scylla swoop down and gobble up six of the sailors. -The theoretical size of Charybdis remains unknown, yet in order to consume Greek ships the whirlpool can be estimated to about 23 meters (75 ft) across. Charybdis has been associated with the Strait of Messina, off the coast of Sicily and opposite a rock on the mainland identified with Scylla. -Odysseus survives the dangers posed by the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis because following advice given to him from Circe. She tells him to put wax in his ears and to tie himself to the mast of the ship.

Helios (island of Thrinacia) [book 12]

-Circe sends Odysseus to the Underworld to speak with the blind prophet Teiresias. ... He claims Odysseus will make it to the island of Thrinacia, where Helios, the sun god, keeps his cattle. He informs Odysseus that so long as no one harms Helios' cattle, he and his men will return home safely.

Elpenor [book 11]

-Elpenor had spent the last night in a drunken stupor on Circe's roofs, breaking his neck as he fell off when he arose at dawn. Because of the urgency of Odysseus' journey to the Land of the Dead, Elpenor was left unburied, and his spirit requests proper rites when the Greeks return to Aeaea. -Elpenor was not especially notable for his intelligence or strength, but he survived the Trojan War, and appears in the Odyssey. He is the youngest man to survive the Laestrygonians. While Odysseus was staying on Aeaea, Circe's island, Elpenor became drunk and climbed onto the roof of Circe's palace to sleep. -He was one of Odysseus' men; he died at Circe's when he fell off a roof and broke his neck while drunk. -Elpenor was not especially notable for his intelligence or strength, but he survived the Trojan War, and appears in the Odyssey. ... While Odysseus was staying on Aeaea, Circe's island, Elpenor became drunk and climbed onto the roof of Circe's palace to sleep.

Poseidon (olympian)

-God of the sea -As the suitors are Odysseus's mortal antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and constantly hampers his journey home. ... He sometimes helps Odysseus or permits Athena to do the same. -What angers him more is Odysseus blinding his son, Polyphemus. He makes Odysseus' journey home all the more difficult. -God of the seas. Poseidon holds a grudge against Odysseus for thinking he did not need help from the gods

Athena (olympian)

-Goddess of skills and warfare -She assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic -She speaks up for them at the council of the gods on mount olympus -Appears in disguise as a mentor (and old friend of Odysseus') -Instructs Telemachus in her father's absence -When Odysseus returns to Ithaca and needs a disguise in order to gather information without revealing his true identity -MAkes him look like an old beggar -Her interventions are essential -Allows humans to earn their own destinies -In the battle of the suitors she intervenes just enough to encourage Odysseus -Steps away allowing mortal victory

Achilles [book 11]

-Greatest fighter of all time -From prophecy she knew he would die when he went to go fight for Troy -Was tried to be made immortal as a baby -When dipped into the immortal water his mom dipped him in from the ankles causing that not to be mortal -Mom wanted to keep him safe so she dressed him like a women 0if he picked jewelry he was a woman if he picked knifes he was a man -He picked the knifes and was forced to go to war

Theme: Time is precious

-In book 11 O finds out his mom had died and he only finds out when he visits the underworld. This shows O how precious time really is. If you take to long, you will miss out on things. -O learns of his mother's death by grief only after he has chosen to spend a year with Circe. He has also overlooked his men's desire to get home.

Euryalus [book 12]

-In the Odyssey, Euryalus is a Phaeacian youth. Homer gives him the epithet "the peer of murderous Ares". Next to Laudamus, he is said to be the most handsome of the Phaeacians, and is the best wrestler

Theme: Trust carefully

-Not careful enough with the Cyclops' cave -Agamemnon warns O not to trust women. -Does O give his wife enough credit? -He doesn't trust her, and we know she's faithful.

Theme: Importance of family

-Odysseus and his mother had a tight bond and that they miss each other. -Odysseus also learns about his wife, Penelope, his son, Telemachus, and his father, who are waiting for him on Ithaca. -He now knows that his whole family is waiting -Achilles asks about his son after saying that he'd rather be a slave on earth than rule the land of the dead.

Anticleia [book 11]

-Odysseus makes a trip to the underworld to seek the advice of the dead prophet Tiresias. In the underworld, he encounters many spirits, including that of his mother, Anticlea. ... She tells him that she died of grief, longing for him while he was at war.

Theme: Communicate clearly

-Odysseus told his men to leave the Cicones island but didn't leave until his crew had "raised the triple cry" -O should have been more forceful in communicating that they needed to leave.

Scylla [book 12]

-Scylla is a six-headed monster who, when ships pass, swallows one sailor for each head. Charybdis is an enormous whirlpool that threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla's lair. -In Greek mythology, Scylla represents one of a choice between two evils. As Circe tells Odysseus, Scylla can't be killed, so the only defense is to run away as quickly as possible in order to limit the damage she is able to do. -Scylla is a big crazy sea monster. She's most famous for munching on some of Odysseus' crew when the hero cruised through the narrow strait where she makes her home. The giant whirlpool Charybdis is on the other side of the strait, so losing a few men to Scylla was the lesser of two evils. -Since Scylla was accustomed to bathe in the sea, Circe, daughter of Sol, out of jealousy poisoned the water with drugs, and when Scylla went down into it, dogs sprang from her thighs, and she was made a monster. She avenged her injuries, for as Ulysses [Odysseus] sailed by, she robbed him of his companions."

Polyphemus (O's adventure) book 9

-The cave's inhabitant soon returns—it is the Cyclops Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. Polyphemus makes a show of hospitality at first, but he soon turns hostile. He devours two of Odysseus's men on the spot and imprisons Odysseus and the rest in his cave for future meals. ... Odysseus thus devises and executes a plan. -Polyphemus (In Greek: Πολύφημος) was a cyclops portrayed in the Odyssey and the Aeneid. After capturing Odysseus and several of his men, Polyphemus held them to capture in a cave, along with the cyclops' sheep and goats. He sealed the cave shut with a massive stone. -was the giant son of the god Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology. He was one of the Cyclopes, having a single eye. According to the Odyssey, Odysseus arrived at the island of the Cyclops (Sicily), while trying to go back to his homeland, Ithaca. -

Theme: Don't be greedy

-The men's choice to eat the cattle of the sun god are greedy/short-sighted. -The suitors who want to marry Penelope are greedy. -O chooses to stay with Circe for a year: greed/lust rather than pursuit of his true priorities. -The men refuse to leave the land of the Cicones because they greedily want more and more stuff. -O greedily wants guest gifts from the Cyclops. -Greed for glory as well -- shouting back to the cyclops.

Agamemnon [book 11]

-The return of Agamemnon reflects the working out of the curse of the house of Atreus. Partially because Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to gain favorables winds for the fleet sailing to Troy, his wife Clytemnestra and her consort Aegisthus kill Agamemnon on his return. -Agamemnon - Former king of Mycenae, brother of Menelaus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy. Odysseus encounters Agamemnon's spirit in Hades. Agamemnon was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, upon his return from the war. He was later avenged by his son Orestes. -Upon Agamemnon's return from Troy, he was killed (according to the oldest surviving account, Odyssey 11.409-11) by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife Clytemnestra. ... In some later versions, Clytemnestra herself does the killing, or they act together as accomplices, killing Agamemnon in his own home. -Odysseus journeys to the underworld and finds Agamemnon, among other shades (or spirits of the dead). Odysseus asks if Agamemnon died at sea or at war, but Agamemnon corrects Odysseus and says that his own wife, Clytemnestra, killed him after he had returned from the Trojan War.

Aeolus (island of aeolus) book 10

-The winds were thought of as horse-shaped spirits, controlled and contained by Aeolus. Aeolus is infamous due to his part in Homer's Odyssey. In Homer's tale he was a mortal, not a god, but still charged with the duty of overseeing the winds. -In the Odyssey Aeolus gave Odysseus a favourable wind and a bag in which the unfavourable winds were confined. Odysseus' companions opened the bag; the winds escaped and drove them back to the island. Although he appears as a human in Homer, Aeolus later was described as a minor god. -Aeolus thinks the gods meant for Odysseus to lose the bag of winds, which otherwise ensured him a safe voyage. ... Aeolus rationalizes that if the gods are against him, he must be evil [since they are divine and all-powerful]. He turns Odysseus away to support the will of the gods and keep harm from coming to him.the divine keeper of the winds and king of the mythical, floating island of Aiolia (Aeolia). He kept the violent Storm-Winds locked safely away inside the cavernous interior of his isle, releasing them only at the command of greatest gods to wreak devastation upon the world.

Laestrygonians [book 10]

-They are best known for having destroyed Odysseus' fleet. By the time Odysseus arrived to the land of the Laestrygonians he had already lost quite a few of his men; for in the battle against the Ciconians over seventy soldiers were killed, and later half a dozen were devoured by the Cyclops Polyphemus 2. -Lacking wind, the Achaeans row to the land of the Laestrygonians, a race of powerful giants whose king, Antiphates, and unnamed queen turn Odysseus's scouts into dinner. Odysseus and his remaining men flee toward their ships, but the Laestrygonians pelt the ships with boulders and sink them as they sit in the harbor. -The Laestrygonians, a race of giant cannibals, are one of the many challenges Odysseus faces on his odyssey. They destroy 11 of his 12 ships and kill every man except those who escape on the ship captained by Odysseus, because it is docked outside the Laestrygonian harbor. -Odysseus and his remaining men flee toward their ships, but the Laestrygonians pelt the ships with boulders and sink them as they sit in the harbor. Only Odysseus's ship escapes. From there, Odysseus and his men travel to Aeaea, home of the beautiful witch-goddess Circe.

Tiresias [book 11]

-Tiresias - A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades. Nestor - King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War. -In The Odyssey Odysseus is warned by the blind prophet Tiresias that all of the sacred cattle of the Sun God Helios should be left alone. ... In that spot Odysseus is to stick the oar in the ground and make a sacrifice to Poseidon so that he can continue on his journey home safely. -Tiresias - A Theban prophet who inhabits the underworld. Tiresias meets Odysseus when Odysseus journeys to the underworld in Book 11. He shows Odysseus how to get back to Ithaca and allows Odysseus to communicate with the other souls in Hades. Nestor - King of Pylos and a former warrior in the Trojan War.

Theme: Respect the gods

-disrespect of the gods → punishment for the men -Tityus, Tantalus, & Sisyphus are all suffering eternally for disrespecting the gods. -Agamemnon also sacrificed his daughter to please the gods./ Poseidon hates O.

Theme: Danger of arrogance

-seeks glory and suffers afterward. -thinks he can listen to the sirens and survive (though he does) -men's arrogance with the bag of winds

Examples of hubris:

Arrogance -O shouts his name at Polyphemus because he wants glory. His hubris takes over, with terrible consequences -The men open the bag of winds: thinking that they have a right to whatever is in inside. -O choooses to listen to the sirens, though no one has listened and survived: He risks his life because of excessive pride.

Hubris

Excessive pride

Kleos

Glory in battle

Examples of kleos:

Glory in battle -Achilles asks about his son and father after saying that he would rather be enslaved on earth than have all of the power in the land of the dead. He is valuing nostos over kleos (glory in battle). -Agamemnon kills his daughter to go to war: He values kleos over nostos.

Hermes (olympian)

Hermes is the messenger of the gods. Hermes helped Odysseus twice in the Odyssey. He gave him the magical herb Moly to protect him form Circe's witchery, and he convinced Calypso to let him off of her island. -. Hermes helped Odysseus twice in the Odyssey. He gave him the magical herb Moly to protect him form Circe's witchery, and he convinced Calypso to let him off of her island. ... Odysseus' men upset him when they eat his cattle on his island.

Nostos

Homecoming

Examples of nostos:

Homecoming -In the Land of the Dead, O learns that his mom has died and remembers how much he wishes to be home. He has missed the chance to see his mom again. -Achilles asks about his son and father after saying that he would rather be enslaved on earth than have all of the power in the land of the dead. He is valuing nostos over kleos (glory in battle).

Xenia

Hospitality

Examples of xenia:

Hospitality -Circe's castle: The men live with her for over a year; she offers ample food and is helpful when they want to leave. (Initially, she violates the norms of xenia, by changing men into pigs.)

Tityus Tantalus . [book 11] Sisyphus

Tityus: -was an Euboian or Phokian giant who assaulted the goddess Leto as she travelling to the shrine of Delphoi (Delphi). Her son Apollon quickly intervened and slew the giant with a volley of arrows and the blade of his golden sword. -As punishment, he was stretched out in Tartarus and tortured by two vultures who fed on his liver, which grew back every night. This punishment is comparable to that of the Titan Prometheus. Tantalus: -Tantalus is a super rich king who gets in some deep, deep trouble with the gods. ... Still others will tell you that he chops up his son Pelops, boils him in a pot, and tries to feed him to the gods at a dinner party. (Dude.) As punishment for his crime, Tantalus is imprisoned in Tartarus. -Tantalus is a figure from Greek mythology who was the rich but wicked king of Sipylus. For attempting to serve his own son at a feast with the gods, he was punished by Zeus to forever go thirsty and hungry in Hades despite being stood in a pool of water and almost within reach of a fruit tree -For this crime, Zeus himself killed Tantalus, and Tantalus had to spend his whole afterlife in the underworld, Hades. His torture was that he had to stand forever waist-deep in a pool of water, with a fruit tree dangling branches full of ripe fruit over his head -The only one who decided to eat the food provided by Tantalus was Demeter, who ate the shoulder of Pelops. ... This act could not go unpunished and the Gods punish Tantalus: Zeus killed him crushing him on a mountain and destroyed everything he had created, including his kingdom. Sisyphus: -Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, the cunning king of Corinth who was punished in Hades by having repeatedly to roll a huge stone up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon as he had brought it to the summit. This fate is related in Homer's Odyssey, Book XI. ... Sisyphus was the reputed founder of the Isthmian Games. -Punishment in the Underworld As a punishment for his trickery, Zeus mad King Sisyphus roll a huge boulder endlessly up a steep hill. The maddening nature of thepunishmentwas reserved for KingSisyphusdue tohishubristic belief thathiscleverness surpassed that of Zeus himself. -Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Sisyphus. Sinner condemned in Tartarus to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill then watching it roll back down again. ... Finally Hades was released and Sisyphus was ordered summarily to report to the Underworld for his eternal assignment. But the wily one had another trick up his sleeve

Epic simile

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

Epic poetry

a long poem that tells a story

Zeus (olympian)

athena appeals to Zeus to help Odysseus, a Trojan War hero who has been stranded away from his home in Ithaca for several years. Athena wants to rescue the clever Odysseus, and she begs Zeus to help him. Zeus knows that Poseidon, the god of the sea, is angry at Odysseus because Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus the Cyclops. Zeus allows Athena to intervene, and Zeus promises to help Odysseus get home -He often punishes Odysseus for his or his mens wrongdoing, or helps him, like hiding him from Scylla's six heads.