Study Questions for Homer's Odyssey
- You
may choose to answer one or two of these questions as homework assignment.
Don’t forget to
- restate
the question/s that you are answering at the beginning of your 350 word
essay
- on top right, write down your name, section number, number of Homework, and due date of the assignment
Book 1: Athena Inspires the Prince
1) What are the various conflicts and parties that are introduced
in the first chapter of the poem? Who are allies and who are enemies?
2) What are the reasons for Odysseus' troubles according to
Zeus?
3) What is the relationship of the mortals to the immortals?
4) How do humans and gods differ in their assessment of fate
and the power of the gods?
5) There are frequent references to Orestes, Aegisthus, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. How are their stories relevant to Odysseus and Penelope, how are they relevant to Telemachus and the suitors? How are these stories used, and by whom? What do you think the narrator anticipates in his audience?
Book 2: Telemachus
Sets Sail
6) What is the role of
7) To what extent does Telemachus
get a wake-up call from Pallas Athena to assume a more decisive,
"masculine" stance in his home?
8) What kind of man is Odysseus, according to the picture
that others paint about him?
9) What kind of woman is Penelope? Why can't she chase away
the suitors?
10) Which role does Telemachus have in the household?
Book 3: King Nestor Remembers
Read carefully the description of Nestor's hospitality. Why
do you think Nestor was so generous? How does his generosity relate to Telemachus' relationship to his "guests" at home?
What does Telemachus learn here
about his father?
What is the relationship between Poseidon and Zeus?
The battle over Troy in Achaean history is a foundational story. Can you find similar foundational stories in other national histories?
Book 4: The
King and Queen of
What does Helen have to do with the battle of Troy?
Compare Helen's role to Penelope's and Clytemnestra’s.
What are the similarities and differences? What is Helen's role in the battle
of
Why does Helen put drugs into the drinks of the guests and
hosts? What is her motive to keep them from dissolving anger?
Note the detailed description of the sacrifice for Pallas
Athena in Book 4, line 420ff. Is there anything surprising to you? What are the
gender characteristics of the victim? Why do you think the horns are sheathed
in gold? Generally, why do you think people sacrificed something to the gods?
Are there parallels to today’s offerings, victims, and sacrifices?
Do you think the Achean peoples
and their neighbors, described in the Odyssey, followed a matrilineal
or a patrilineal line of descent?
Map of Ancient
Map of Odysseys' Voyage
