FINAL

ODYSSEY REVIEW GUIDE:
THEMES:
Be able to show three examples from the text to back up each of the following:
Loyalty
Hospitality
Pride/Arrogance
Coming of Age
Forgetting (or the evils of drugs and women) - with circe for a year because of drugs, the sirens lure people to their,
MOTIFS:
Be able to explain the following and why they are used:
Storytelling- use stories to retell what happend before the book started so we understand why some of this is happening the way it is
Back story of Troy
Agammenon/Clytaimnestra

Other Epic elements:
Starts “in the middle of things”; Odysseus’ tragic flaw; sports

SYMBOLS:
Be able to explain the following:
Birds (especially eagles); Hades; Odyssey’s Wound

GODS (know the following and what they do in the text)::
Athena; Poseidon; Hermes; Zeus; Helios
SEDUCTRESSES: (know the following and their purpose)
Helen; Calypso; Circe; Sirens


CHARACTERS:
Be able to give a description of the following and their roles in the story (perhaps what the symbolize or represent – and connect to a theme)
Agammenon
Amphinomos- one of the suitors he sees the dove being carried by the eagle in its talons representing how odysseus is coming to kill them
Achilles
Telemachos
Helen
Laertes
Menelaus
Penelope
Aias (Ajax) - he raped cassandra on the alter of athena, is in
Antinoos
Orestes
Eurymachos
Nestor
Lotus Eaters
Mentor
Ciconians
Nausicaa
Polyphemos
Alcinoos
Scylla
Arete
Charybdis
Emaios
Aiolos
Theoclymenos
Elpenor
Melanthios
Teiresias - blind prophet in hades
Arnaios
Eurylochos
Eurycleia - maid of odysseus, telemachos tells her first of his journey, she keeps the secret of odysseus's identity, remains loyal to him
Cassandra - raped by Ajax on the alter of athena
Tityo- gets liver eaten out by vultures everyday
Tantalus - can't eat of drink in hades
Sisyphus - rolls the rock up the hill in hell and then has to start all over when he gets close to the top. Hills forever



ODYSSEY: FINAL
1) How does the Odyssey start “in the middle of things”?
starts in the middle of the book because odysseus has been gone for 20 years already and his son and wife are living with penelope's suitors, then it switches between tenses to tell the story of how they got to be where they are now and how the story moves forward into the present day in the story.


2) What is Odysseus’ tragic flaw and how is it shown?
His tragic flaw is his pride and how he likes to boast and do unnecessary things when he conquers the cyclops which enrages him because he can't take the taunting he tries to say that he


3) Explain the motif of Agammenon and Clytaimnestra. What theme does it reinforce?
This motif shows that the wife and and her lover kill her husband. His wife wasn't loyal at all but he remained loyal to her through the war. Odysseus's wife is loyal to him even after 20 years of him being gone. She doesn't act like the other women and cheat on her husband. Odysseus it pretty much loyal throughout the whole story to his wife but sleeps with circe on his way to get home with his wife


4) Who are seductresses in the Odyssey and what purpose do they serve?

the seductresses are helen, Circe, calypso, and the sirens. They serve the purpose of showing how evil women can be and are considered to be in this story,




5) Summarizes Books 1-4. What story do they tell?






6) Summarize Books 5-8. What story do they tell?






7) Summarize Books 20-24. What story do they tell?





8) Discuss the theme of Loyalty and give three detailed examples from the book.
In the book all the wives cheat on their husbands and the men aren't loyal but Odysseus is trying to get home and he remains relatively loyal to his wife only sleeping with Calypso because she makes him and with circe he does so to get home to his wife sooner. Penelope unlike other women stays loyal to her husband even with dozens of men throwing themselves at her and she waits 20 years for him to come home. So first example is penelope waiting for 20 years


9) Discuss the theme of Hospitality and give three detailed examples from the book.
In Greece Hospitality is very important and everyone there gives whatever they can and have to their guests to make their stay enjoyable. When Odysseus goes to the sea people place, how the suitors stay at Odysseus's house for a long time, and then when the herdsmen help him and let him stay there even though he doesn't have much.


10) Discuss the back-story of Troy, where it appears and what it represents.

it appears in book three, it is there to represent and show everything that happened before and how it leads up to everything that is in place now, basically helen is "kidnapped" by trojan prince, menolaos's wife of sparta. and the two countries fight over her. odysseus fought in it, the backstory tells us why he has been gone so long


11) Discuss the symbol of Hades. What does it represent? Who is there? What do they say or do there?

Hades is there to show how all of the evil people ended up in this world, achilles is there, so it
ties up lose ends, unhospitable people there like the suitors and disloyal people are there, the glory of people and the unglorifying death of the suitors in their slaughter


12) Discuss the symbol of birds. What does it represent? Give three examples from the book?

birds symbolize omens, penelope sees eagle killing her geese showing that her husband is coming to get the suitors, Amphinomos sees eagle carrying dove in its talon showing odysseus is coming to kill them, athena takes the form of a bird to show her sly side


The following questions are worth 2 point each.
Give a description of the following characters and their roles in the story.

13) Achilles- his mother dipped in water to make him not be able to be killed, but his achilles could kill him because it was the part that didn't get dipped, he wishes he could have eternity as a poor farmer with a long life instead of a short life but he was remembered.

14) Antinoos- the most evil one of the suitors, wants to kill Telemachos and become king, he's the antagonist


15) Emurymachos - the less evil of the suitors, the one who doesn't want to kill Telemachos, killed by Odysseus


16) Nausicaa- daughter of Ancinoos king of the Phaicians, finds odysseus washed up and gets him clothes because athena tells her to


17) Scylla- 6 headed creature living in the cave or something.


18) Charybdis- shes the ocean monster who eats stuff like every hour or something, whirlpools


19) Aiolos - that wind god who gives Odysseus that bag of winds to help him get home


20) Laertes- Odysseus's old frail father, he's depressed a lot because he misses his son


21) Orestes- son of agemenom and kills his mother and her lover to avenge his father's death, showing loyalty


22) Nestor - king of Pylos and former soldier of the war