Cyclops V.1.3

Read the following paragraph from The Cyclops Excerpts from The Odyssey:

"Next he sat down to milk his ewes and his bleating goats, which he did methodically, putting her young to each mother as he finished. He then curdled half the white milk, collected the whey, and stored it in wicker cheese-baskets; the remainder he left standing in pails, so that it would be handy at supper-time when he wanted a drink. When he had efficiently finished all his tasks, he re-lit the fire and spied us."

What does the word "methodically" mean as it it used here? (V.1.3)

• In an aggressive way

• In random order

• In an orderly way

• Working alone

Read the following paragraph from the Cyclops Excerpts from the Odyssey:

 ‘Our hearts sank. The booming voice and the very sight of the monster filled us with panic. Still, I managed to find words to answer him. “We are Achaeans,” I said, “on our way back from Troy – driven astray by contrary winds across a vast expanse of sea – we’re making our way home but took the wrong way – the wrong route – as Zeus, I suppose, intended that we should."

What does the word "astray" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• crossing the sea

• going where the monster is

• following Zeus's route

• away from the correct path

Read the following paragraph from The Cyclops Excerpts from the Odyssey:

"But tell me where you moored your good ship when you came. Was it somewhere along the coast, or nearby? I’d like to know.”

What does the word "moored" mean as it is used in this paragraph? (V.1.3)

• sailed

• tied up

• took

Read the following paragraph from The Cyclops:

 ‘His words were designed to get the better of me, but he could not outwit someone with my knowledge of the world."

What does the word "outwit" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• outsmart

• lie or deceive

• encourage

Read the paragraph below from Cyclops:

 "Then with an olive-wood bowl of my dark wine in my hands, I went up to him and said: “Here, Cyclops, have some wine to wash down that meal of human flesh, and find out for yourself what kind of vintage was stored away in our ship’s hold. I brought it for you as an offering in the hope that you would take pity on me and help me on my homeward way. But your savagery is more than we can bear. Hard-hearted man, how can you expect ever to have a visitor again from the world of men? You have not behaved rightly.”

What does the word "savagery" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• to love deeply

• to help

• to take pity on someone

• to be brutal and vicious

Read the following paragraph from the Cyclops: 

  ‘And off they went, while I laughed to myself at the way in which my cunning notion of a false name had taken them in. The Cyclops, still moaning in agonies of pain, groped about with his hands and pushed the rock away from the mouth of the cave. Then he sat himself down in the doorway and stretched out both arms in the hope of catching us in the act of slipping out among the sheep. What a fool he must have thought me! Meanwhile I was cudgelling my brains for the best possible course, trying to hit on some way of saving my friends as well as myself. I thought up plan after plan, scheme after scheme. It was a matter of life or death: we were in mortal peril."

What does the word "peril" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• curiousity

• safety

• danger or threat

• security

Read the paragraph below from Cyclops:

 "We are proud to say that we belong to the forces of Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, who by sacking the great city of Ilium and destroying all its armies has made himself the most famous man in the world today. We find ourselves here as suppliants at your knees, in the hope that you may give us hospitality, or even give us the kind of gifts that hosts customarily give their guests. Good sir, remember your duty to the gods; we are your suppliants, and Zeus is the champion of suppliants and guests. He is the god of guests: guests are sacred to him, and he goes alongside them.”

What does the word "suppliant" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• someone who is humble before an authority

• someone who is rebellious before an authority

• someone who is a slave

• someone who is in charge of other people

Read the paragraph from Cyclops:

 "But my temper was up; their words did not dissuade me, and in my rage I shouted back at him once more: “Cyclops, if anyone ever asks you how you came by your blindness, tell him your eye was put out by Odysseus, sacker of cities, the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.”

What does the word "dissuade" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• persuade

• encourage

• provoke

• discourage

Read the paragraph below from Cyclops: 

"That is what I said, and he answered me promptly out of his pitiless heart: “Stranger, you must be a fool, or must have come from very far afield, to order me to fear or reverence the gods. We Cyclopes care nothing for Zeus with his aegis, nor for the rest of the blessed gods, since we are much stronger than they are."

What does the word "pitiless" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• angry

• compassionate

• cold blooded

• merciful

Read the following paragraph from Cyclops:

 ‘“Strangers!” he cried. “And who are you? Where do you come from over the watery ways? Is yours a trading venture; or are you cruising the main on chance, like roving pirates, who risk their lives to ruin other people?”

What does "roving" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• businessmen

• roaming

• settled

• female