Homer’s
The Odyssey Reading Guide
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Map of Odysseus’ Journey
Character Map
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Directions for Answering Reading Guide Questions 1. Answers must be TYPED or VERY neatly handwritten (my preference is that you type your answers, if possible). 2. All reading guide answers must follow these format rules: a. properly headed (MLA heading) b. double-‐spaced c. typed in a 12 pt. simple font d. correctly numbered -‐-‐-‐ with the BOOK NUMBER labeling each new section of answers e. answered thoroughly -‐-‐-‐ but choose quality of words over quantity f. do not rewrite the question 3. Pay very close attention to DUE DATES -‐-‐-‐ Answers are to be uploaded to EDMODO as a PDF ONLY! 4. Remember, these answers take the place of your annotations, and you are on your HONOR promising that 100% of these answers are your own work and nothing else but your own work.
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PART ONE: A Son Seeks His Father ~ The first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey are often referred to as The Telemachy (after Odysseus’ son’s name—Telemachus). These first four books show how Odysseus’ absence affects his kingdom and family; these books also mark Telemachus’ own personal hero’s journey, as he leaves home for the first time as a young man and searches for news of his father in various kingdoms. The Telemachy shows Telemachus’ journey from boy to man, as he is prepared to be reunited with his father and take his stand as a young prince and defend his kingdom against the suitors.
Book 1: Ithaca and Olympus Important information to think about as you begin analyzing Book 1: In the hall of Zeus on Mount Olympus, all the gods but Poseidon (who is off in Ethiopia being celebrated/worshipped by the humans who live there) gather and listen as Zeus reflects upon the moral failings of mortal men. He brings up the example of Aegisthus, the man who killed King Agamemnon and had an affair with his wife Clytemnestra, though the gods warned him that Agamemnon's son, Orestes, would someday retaliate -‐ which he justly did. As you analyze Book 1, think about how Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, is placed in a position similar to that of Orestes (being forced to avenge his family’s honor against the suitors). Do you believe Telemachus react in the same manner as Orestes and murder for vengeance? Do you think Odysseus’s wife Penelope betray her husband as King Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, did?
1. Who are the Muses to the Greeks? Look up on your iPad the Muse Calliope and explain why this epic poem would begin with the line “Sing to me, O Muse…sing through me” 2. What do you think it means when Odysseus is described on pg. 1 as “that man of many troubles, skilled in all ways of contending”? What does this description tell you about Odysseus? 3. Who is Odysseus’s enemy, and why is he mad at Odysseus? 4. When Book 1 begins, Athena (Zeus’ daughter) tells Zeus that Odysseus is located where? 5. Who is sent to deliver the message to Calypso from Zeus to free Odysseus? 6. Who is going to go to Ithaca and see Odysseus’ son Telemachus and WHY…WHAT is going on in his home? 7. What are suitors AND what do the suitors want? 8. Read carefully the bottom panel on pg. 4, then study the action in the panel on pg. 5, and finally look closely at panels 1, 2, & 3 on the top half of pg. 6. Put all of this together in your mind and explain what is occurring in the panel on pg. 5. [Hint: the Greek gods and goddesses are supernatural and can transform into anything/anyone they choose.] 9. Who is Mentes (pg. 8) and what EXACTLY does he tell Telemachus (Odysseus’ son) (pg. 8 – 10)? 10. Who is Phemius and what does Odysseus’ wife Penelope request from him? 11. What is Telemachus’ response to his mother Penelope’s request of Phemius? 12. Explain the dramatic irony in the suitor’s admonishment of Telemachus in the bottom panel on pg. 12. [look it up if you do not remember what dramatic irony is]
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Book 2: Counsel Important information to think about as you begin analyzing Book 2: During the assembly, Zeus sends two eagles—omens of death—to fly over and rip the skin of the suitors and townspeople with their talons and beaks. Halitherses, a prophet, interprets the eagles that fly over the assembly by saying Odysseus is coming home and Odysseus will kill those who disrespect his house. The suitors say Halitherses’ omen means nothing. Telemachus says if he learns his father is dead, he will honor his father with a funeral and force his mother to marry one of the suitors. 1. Precisely WHY does Telemachus call the assembly (meeting) of the men of Ithaca? 2. What is the response (include his defense of the suitors’ actions, what he says Penelope has done, and his demand of Telemachus) of Antinoos (one of the suitors) to Telemachus’ accusations? 3. What does Telemachus ask the Ithacans (his own people/subjects) to lend him? 4. Mentor is a lifelong friend of Odysseus and one of the Ithacan elders whom Odysseus left in charge to watch over his infant son Telemachus [who was just born when Odysseus had to leave to fight in the Trojan War]. What does Mentor tell the suitors on pg. 18? 5. What does one of the Ithacan townsmen say Mentor can do for Telemachus? [Note: It is essential you realize by now that in Book 1 / question 8, Athena chose to disguise herself as Mentes. At the end of Book 2, when Mentor appears to Telemachus on the beach, this is actually Athena disguised as Mentor. To be precise, when Mentor speaks on pg. 18, it is the real Mentor (not Athena disguised as Mentor).] 6. In the third panel on the top right of pg. 20, Telemachus chooses to tell Eurycleia (the old maid who helped raise both Odyssey and Telemachus) that he is leaving Ithaca. Review the bottom panel on pg. 17 and tell EXACTLY which TWO places Telemachus plans to go on his journey. Do some research on the Internet on these two places. Type in the name of each place along with the word “Odyssey,” and also write down for this answer the name of the KING for each of the two destinations.
