Odyssey Study Guide

Multiple Choice

In the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, why does Odysseus blind the Cyclops rather than kill him in his sleep?

• Odysseus and his men lack the physical strength to kill the giant.

• Odysseus’ heart is moved by compassion for the foolish Cyclops.

• Odysseus and his men need the Cyclops to move the stone that blocks the cave’s entrance.

• Odysseus’ men convince him that Poseidon will curse them if they kill any of the Cyclopes.

Multiple Choice

What danger do the Lotus-Eaters pose to Odysseus’ men in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1?

• The Lotus-Eaters offer the men the Lotus plant, which causes them to lose interest in returning home.

• The Lotus-Eaters are dishonest and try to mislead the crew about the route home.

• Familiarity with the Lotus-Eaters is dangerous because they are cannibals.

• The Lotus-Eaters deliberately cause the winds to subside.

Multiple Choice

In the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, what quality for which Odysseus is famous is most clearly illustrated when he tells Cyclops that his name is Nohbdy?

• He is clever and sneaky. 

• He is courageous.

• He is trained for battle.

• He is an effective leader.

Multiple Choice

At the end of the episode with the Cyclops in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, what does Polyphemus do that affects future events in the epic?

• He destroys Odysseus’ ship.

• He prophesies that Odysseus will visit Hades and become a lord there.

• He begs his father, Poseidon, to curse Odysseus.

• He tells Odysseus that he will chase him back to Ithaca and steal his eye.

Multiple Choice

As they travel through the land of the Sirens in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, how do Odysseus’ men avoid falling under the Sirens’ spell?

• Odysseus ties them up.

• Odysseus plugs their ears with beeswax.

•  They look only at their oars. 

• They listen only to Odysseus.

Multiple Choice

Which of these passages from “The Sirens” in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, best supports the answer to Question 5?

(5. As they travel through the land of the Sirens in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, how do Odysseus’ men avoid falling under the Sirens’ spell?)

• “... Sirens / weaving a haunting song over the sea / we are to shun, she said, and their green shore / all sweet with clover; yet she urged that I / alone should listen to their song....”

• “... Therefore / you are to tie me up, tight as a splint, / erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, / and if I shout and beg to be untied, / take more turns of the rope to muffle me.”

• “The lovely voices in ardor appealing over the water / made me crave to listen, and I tried to say / ‘Untie me!’ to the crew, jerking my brows; / but they bent steady to the oars....”

• “... My faithful company / rested on their oars now, peeling off / the wax that I had laid thick on their ears; / then set me free.”

Multiple Choice

In the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, what ancient Greek value does Odysseus most clearly describe in these words to Alcinous?

 

“Men hold me

formidable for guile in peace and war:

this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim.”

• admiration for peacemaking

• admiration for modesty

• admiration for sincerity

• admiration for cunning

Multiple Choice

What values important to the ancient Greeks inspire Odysseus’ observations in these lines from the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1? 

 

“In the next land we found were Cyclopes, giants, louts, without a law to bless them. In ignorance leaving the fruitage of the earth in mystery to the immortal gods, they neither plow nor sow by hand, nor till the ground.... Cyclopes have no muster and no meeting, no consultation or old tribal ways....”

• admiration for devotion to one’s religion

• admiration for physical size, strength, and power

• admiration for agriculture, law, tradition, and social organization

• admiration for a natural, pure life and surviving by one’s instincts

Multiple Choice

Throughout the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, Odysseus tempts fate by behaving recklessly. What is the reaction of his men?

• They laugh at his hotheaded behavior. 

• They trust his ability to protect them.

• They welcome his risk-taking action.

• They try to discourage his recklessness.

Multiple Choice

Which of these passages from “The Cyclops” in the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, best supports the answer to Question 9?

(9. Throughout the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, Odysseus tempts fate by behaving recklessly. What is the reaction of his men?)

• “... I wished / to see the cave man, what he had to offer— / no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends.”

• “Now, by the gods, I drove my big hand spike / deep in the embers, charring it again, / and cheered my men along with battle talk / to keep their courage up: no quitting now.”

• “‘Godsake, Captain! / Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!’”

•  “... But Zeus disdained my offering; / destruction for my ships he had in store / and death for those who sailed them, my companions.”

Multiple Choice

In which of these episodes from the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, does Odysseus lose all his men?

• “The Sirens”

• “The Cyclops”

• “The Lotus-Eaters”

• “The Cattle of the Sun God”

Multiple Choice

In the episode where Odyssey loses all his men (the answer to number 11), what kills Odysseus’ men?

(11. In which of these episodes from the excerpt from the Odyssey, Part 1, does Odysseus lose all his men?)

• Zeus firing a lightning bolt on the ship.

• The Sirens drown them all.

• Polyphemus traps them in his cave and eats them.

• They are poisoned by the Lotus they eat.

Multiple Choice

In which activity would you be most likely to apply tactics?

• participating in ballroom dancing

• playing a game of chess

• playing a guitar solo

• crocheting a scarf

Multiple Choice

If people are described as fugitives from justice, which statement is most likely to be true of them? Base your answer on the meaning of fugitives.

• They are being held in jail.

• They have run away to avoid arrest.

• They have committed a minor crime.

• They have been found not guilty at trial.

Multiple Choice

Which sort of situation would someone be most likely to want to avenge?

• kindness to a needy stranger

• feelings of self-hatred or disgust

• remorse for an accidental wrong

• violence against a family member

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the goddess of love and beauty? 

• Aphrodite

• Athena

• Hera

• Artemis 

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the god of wine, parties, and insanity? 

• Apollo

• Ares

• Hephaestus 

• Dionysus 

Multiple Choice

Which of the following three goddess listed are virgin goddesses? 

• Hera, Aphrodite, and Demeter

• Persephone, Hecate, and Nyx

• Hestia, Athena, and Artemis

• Nemesis, Nike, and Tyche

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the King of the Underworld, as well as the god of wealth? 

• Hades

• Zeus

• Apollo

• Poseidon

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the King of the Ocean, god of earthquakes? 

• Zeus

• Hades

• Poseidon

• Ares

Multiple Choice

How many years was Odysseus gone from Ithaca? 

• 20 years, 10 at Troy and 10 trying to get back home. 

• 50 years, 10 at Troy, 10 with the Cyclopes and 30 trying to get back home. 

• 5 years, 3 at Troy and 2 trying to get back home. 

• 0 years. Odysseus never left Ithaca. 

Multiple Choice

Which of the two women does Odysseus mention in "Sailing From Troy"? 

• Hera and Hestia 

• Persephone and Demeter

• Calypso and Circe

• Aeolia and Aeaea

Multiple Choice

Which type of figurative language is the following quote?

 

 "Think of a catch that fishermen haul in to a half-moon bay in a fine-meshed net from the whitecaps of the sea: how all are poured out on the sand, in throes for the salt sea, twitching their cold lives away in Helios’ fiery air: so lay the suitors heaped on one another."

• Metaphor

• Personification 

• Idiom  

• Hyperbole

Multiple Choice

What type of figurative language is the underlined portion of the following quote?

 

“Son of Laertes and the gods of old, Odysseus, master of landways and seaways,"

• Simile 

• Personification

• Epithet 

• Metaphor

Multiple Choice

A Greek God or Goddess is a type of figurative language. What type would you consider them? 

• Personification 

• Simile

• Idiom

• Alliteration