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The Odyssey Part 1 (Books 1, 5, & 9)

Total questions: 16

Worksheet time: 32mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

An extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, heroic episodes is a(n)...

a)

epic poem

b)

comedy

c)

tragedy

2.

A character that is helped or harmed by gods, embodies ideals and values considered admirable, an emerges victorious is an example of...

a)

epic hero

b)

epic villian

c)

archetype

3.

Things that are recognizable across different times and cultures are called...

a)

epic hero

b)

epic villian

c)

archetype

4.

The Odyssey begins where the Illiad left off. The Illiad was an epic poem that told the story of what war?

a)

Trojan War

b)

Spartan War

c)

Roman War

5.

The Greeks were victorious in the Trojan war because of the plan to build the Trojan Horse. Who came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse?

a)

Odysseus

b)

Achilles

c)

Athena

6.

A gull patrolling between the wave crests of the desolate sea will dip to catch a fish, and douse his wings; no higher above the whitecaps Hermes flew until the distant island lay ahead, then rising shoreward from the violet ocean he stepped up to the cave.


What does the epic simile tell you about Hermes?

a)

The simile shows Hermes’ dexterity, speed, and supreme confidence as the messenger of the gods.

b)

The simile shows Hermes ability to transform into a bird.

c)

The simile shows Hermes importance to the Greek gods.

7.

The sweet days of (Odysseus') lifetime were running out in anguish over his exile, for long ago the nymph had ceased to please. Though he fought shy of her and her desire, he lay with her each night, for she compelled him. But when day came he sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning, with eyes wet scanning the bare horizon of the sea.


Which of Odysseus’ qualities is emphasized here?

a)

loyalty and determination

b)

superhuman strength

c)

craftiness

8.

To this the strategist Odysseus answered: “My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope - how well I know - would seem a shade before your majesty, death and old age being unknown to you, while she must die. Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home."


Why is he referred to as “the strategist Odysseus”?

a)

Odysseus has a diplomatic way of handling people/situations - he cleverly flatters Calypso while he remains loyal to Penelope.

b)

Odysseus explains his plan to get home.

c)

Odysseus came up with the plan for the Trojan horse and he is known throughout the world as a strategist.

9.

What happens to the men who eat the Lotus?

a)

They become forgetful and lose the desire to go home.

b)

They are poisoned and die.

c)

They gain superhuman strength.

10.

When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose came in the east, I called my men together and made a speech to them.


How does Homer use personification to describe the Dawn?

a)

He says "young Dawn” to show the beginning of the day and “fingertips of rose” to show colorful rays brightening the horizon.

b)

He describes the men as "my men" showing he is in charge.

c)

He said the sun rose in the east, which is true because the sun rises in the east.

11.

A prodigious man... knowing none but savage ways, a brute so huge, he seemed no man at all of those who eat good wheaten bread; but he seemed rather a shaggy mountain reared in solitude.


What metaphor does the poet use to describe the prodigious man?

a)

knowing none but savage ways

b)

he seemed rather a shaggy mountain reared in solitude

c)

a brute so huge

12.

Neither reply nor pity came from him, but in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor. Then he dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion - everything: innards, flesh, and marrow bones.


What simile describes the men in the Cyclops’ hands?

a)

squirming puppies

b)

mountain lion

c)

spattering the floor

13.

In a smithy, one sees a white-hot axehead or an adze plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam - the way they make soft iron hale and hard: just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.


What metaphor describes the hot spear in the Cyclops’ eye?

a)

a white-hot axehead or an adze plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam

b)

the way they make soft iron hale and hard

c)

just so that eyeball hissed around the spike

14.

Why don’t the other Cyclopes think anything is wrong when the Cyclops calls for help?

a)

He yells “Nohbdy’s tricked me!”

b)

The other Cyclopes don't like him.

c)

The Cyclops was too far from to be heard by the other Cyclopes

15.

To whom does the Cyclops pray?

a)

Zeus

b)

Poseidon

c)

Athena

16.

What is the Cyclops' curse?

a)

That Odysseus never sees his home and loses all of his men

b)

That Odysseus sees his home and loses all of his men

c)

That Odysseus never sees his home but saves all of his men