STUDY QUESTIONS  HOMER'S ODYSSEY

World Literature I                                                                                       

Books 1-8

Dr. Joan Kennedy

      

                                                                                                       

1.                  What are the characteristics of the Greek code of ethics?

 

2.                  How would you describe Odysseus (Ulysses) as a classic Greek hero?  What    are his characteristics?

 

3.                  Why doesn't Penelope overtly tell the suitors that she will not marry any of them?  Why does she forestall them?  What tactics does she use?

 

4.                  What is the central theme of Homer's Odyssey?

 

5.                  Why hasn't Telemakhos resisted the suitors of his mother Penelope?

 

6.                  What does a staff placed in the hands of someone in an assembly signify?

 

7.                  What is Zeus' emblem?

 

8.                  Are the Greeks superstitious?  If so, find an example illustrating their belief in omens and superstition.

 

9.                  How do the leading suitors of Penelope, Antinoos and Eurymakhos, justify their shameful behavior in Odysseus' house?

 

10.              In Book VIII the minstrel sings a song of the adulterous Aphrodite. How does her behavior contrast with Penelope's?

 

11.              Cite an example of Greek prejudice toward foreigners (non-Greek speaking people).

 

12.              What is the function of the poet or minstrel as described in Book VIII?

STUDY QUESTIONS HOMER'S ODYSSEY

 

World Literature I                                                                                     Books 9-16

Dr. Joan Kennedy

 

1.                  On what three occasions throughout the Odyssey does Odysseus have to deny his famous name?

 

2.                  What are some of the temptations that confront Odysseus on his ten-year journey home to Ithaka?  (List five)

 

3.                  Why does Odysseus refuse or resist the temptations?

 

4.                  Describe Homer・s depiction of the land of the dead (Hades).

 

5.                  What does the shade (ghost) Tereiseus prophesy for Odysseus?

 

6.                  What influence does the trip to the land of the dead have on Odysseus・ attitude toward the circumstances of his life?

 

7.                  What do the shades (ghosts) in the underworld have to do before they can communicate with Odysseus?  What are the implications of this?

 

8.                  Why do you think the ghosts know some things about what is going on among the living and other things they do not?  For example, Odysseus・ mother Antikleia knows what is going on in Ithaka but does not know what Odysseus・ fate has been since the Trojan War.

 

9.                  What advice does the ghost Agamemnon give to Odysseus concerning his return to his wife Penelope in Ithaka?

 

10.              Is a proper burial important in the Greek culture?  Cite an example from the Odyssey that illustrates this.

 

11.              What is the most popular tale that guests in the Odyssey tell at a banquet?

 

12.              Why does Odysseus ：test； Penelope・s faithfulness?

 

13.              What are some similarities between human and social concerns that are portrayed in the Odyssey and those of contemporary America?

 

14.              Who is Heinrich Schliemann?

 

STUDY QUESTIONS HOMER'S ODYSSEY

 

World Literature I                                                                                     Books 17-24

Dr. Joan Kennedy

 

1.                  Define the term mythology.

 

2.                  What role does Fate (Nemesis) play in men's lives?

 

3.                  List at least five characteristics of the Homerian epic.

 

4.                  What are some of the major conflicts on which the Odyssey is based?

 

5.                  What is the relationship between man and the gods in the Odyssey?  Give some specific examples of that relationship.

 

6.                  Why do you think Odysseus and his men fear the trip to the underworld of the dead?  What does their fear reveal about their philosophical beliefs?

 

7.                  Why does Odysseus disguise himself as a beggar when he returns to Ithaka?

 

8.                  How does the old nursemaid Eurykleia recognize Odysseus when he returns to Ithaka?

 

9.                  What do the suitors do to occupy their time at Odysseus' home?

 

10.              What does Odysseus do to the women of the palace who have fraternized with the suitors?  What does this imply about his character?

 

11.              What contest does Penelope propose for the suitors so that she can choose one of them?  What are the results of the contest?

 

12.              Does Homer present Penelope as the epitome of the faithful wife?  Why?

 

13.              Who puts an end to the bloodshed among the Ithakans at the end of the Odyssey?  Why?

 

14.              What is the relationship between Odysseus and Telemakhus when they are taking revenge on the suitors and other Ithakans who betrayed them. What are the implications of this?

 

 

              CHARACTERS IN ODYSSEY        

World Literature I

Dr. Joan Kennedy

 

Zeus V                                      Akhilleus -                                            Orestes -

 

Athena V                                  Neoptolemos -                                     Helen -

 

Poseidon V                               Peisistratos -                                         Aegisthos -

 

Hephaistos V                            Alkinoos -                                            Erinyes -

 

Kalypso V                                Arete -                                                 Neleus -

 

Kirkes (Circes) V                      Nausikaa -                                                                                                                                                                  

Odysseus (Ulysses) V               Laodamas -                                          OTHER TERMS:     

 

Penelope V                               Proteus -                                              Elysion -

 

Telemakhos V                           Demodokos -                                       Illion -

 

Laertes V                                  Kyklops (Cyclops) -                             Phaiakia -

 

Ikarios V                                   Aiolos -                                                Pylos -

 

Eurykleia V                               Laistrygonians -                                    Sparta -

 

Phemios V                                Nestor -                                               Hekatomb -

 

Hermes V                                 Persephone -                                        Epithet -

 

Mentor V                                  Erebos -                                               Ogygia -

 

Halitherses V                             Teiresias -                                            Ithaka -

 

Antinoos V                                Antikleia -                                            Olympos -

 

Eurymakhos V              Elpenor -                                              Hellas -

 

Atreus V                                   Skylla & Kharybdis -                            Trojans -

 

Menelaos V                              Eurylokhos -                                         Danaans -

 

Agamemnon V                          Eumaios -                                             Akhaians -

 

Klytemnestra V                                                                         Argives