The Odyssey: Part 1 (Plot)
What is Scylla?
A giant monster with multiple heads.
What is Charybdis?
A giant whirlpool.
What is an epic?
A long narrative poem about the important events in the history or folklore of a nation or culture.
What did Elpenor ask Odysseus for?
A proper burial.
What ghost appeared second in the Land of the Dead?
Anticlea, Odysseus' mother.
Why didn't Odysseus kill Polyphemus right away?
Because he needed the Cyclops to move the rock.
Who helps Odysseus past the sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis?
Circe.
What danger to Odysseus' men do the Lotus-Eater pose?
Eating the lotus will make the men forget about going home.
Who appears to Odysseus first in the Land of the Dead?
Elpenor
How did Elpenor die?
He drank too much wine and fell off the roof of Circe's house and broke his neck.
Why does Odysseus want to leave Calypso and her island?
He misses his home and family.
After Odysseus tells him that his name is Nohbdy, what happens to the Cyclops?
He passes out drunk and the men stab out his eye.
What mistake does Odysseus make while escaping Polyphemus' lair?
He tells Polyphemus his real name.
What is Tariseas' prophecy?
If they killed the cattle of the sun god, all of the shipmates would die. That Odysseus would be lost for years and when he returned home, he would find men courting his wife and eating his livestock.
Who is Odysseus' father?
Laertes
Who does Homer appeal to for inspiration in Book 1?
Muse
What does Odysseus tell the Cyclops his name is?
Nohbdy
Who is Anticlea?
Odysseus' mother.
What is the Cyclops' name?
Polyphemus
Who is Polyphemus' father?
Poseidon
How is Odysseus described in Book 1?
Skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried on years on end. Formidable for guile in peace and war.
Who appeared last in the Land of the Dead?
Tarieseas, the Prince of Thebes.
How do the men escape the sirens?
They cover their ears with wax.
Why do the men enter the Cyclops' cave?
They need supplies and Odysseus is curious about the island.
What happens to Eurylochus' men after they drink Circe's wine?
They turn into pigs.
