Odyssey Summary Reading

When the story opens, how many years have passed since the Trojan War ended?

• 5

• 10

• 15

• 20

What is Ithaca, and who is Penelope?

• Odysseus's son and wife

• Odysseus's home and wife

• Odysseus's home and son

• Odysseus's crew and temptress

What is happening at Odysseus’s home while he’s away?

• The fisherman is taking care of his son.

• His wife remarried another man.

• His son has taken over the house and is acting like a tyrant.

• Men who want to marry his wife are living at his home.

Which goddess is still a supporter of Odysseus?

• Athena

• Hera

• Aphrodite

• Hermes

Who is Calypso?

• Odysseus's wife

• The goddess who helps out Odysseus

• A sea goddess who imprisons Odysseus on her island

• A witch who turns all of Odysseus's men into pigs

Why does Poseidon “harbor a bitter grudge” against Odysseus?

• Odysseus didn't offer him a sacrifice.

• Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus.

• Odysseus tricked him into letting him sail home.

• Odysseus's ship littered oil in the sea.

Odysseus has many adventures. How does he tell of these adventures? 

• He's telling his wife at their dinner table.

• He's on the island of the Sirens.

• He writes a book when he returns home.

• He is telling his story on the island of the Phaeacians.

How is Odysseus able to sneak back into his home without being discovered?

• He wears the cloak of invisibility.

• He dresses like a beggar.

• He dresses like a woman.

• He flies in on Hermes' winged sandals.

Why does Penelope organize an archery contest?

• She wants to see if the beggar is in fact Odysseus.

• She wants to have fun while Odysseus is away.

• She hopes that one of the suitors will win her hand in marriage.

What happens at the end of the archery contest?

• Odysseus loses and must return to Circe's island.

• Odysseus's son murders him.

• Odysseus wins, and he and his son murder the suitors.

• Odysseus murders his father.