Study Questions for Homer's Odyssey

Book 9-12: Different Strokes for Different Folks

Images from http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~glham/Mythreader/Odyssey/polyphemusimages.html

Some questions used or adapted from Sarah Melville's webpage.

Book 9:

1. Why does Odysseus decide to tell the Phaeacians his name?
2. What do you think is significant about the adventure of the Lotus-eaters? How would you describe them? Do you know of similar creatures, in literature or elsewhere?
3. Odysseus describes the Cyclopes. How do they and their land compare to other peoples and places in the Homeric world (Nestor, Menelaus, Phaeacians, and even the Lotus-eaters)?
4. How does Odysseus describe the Cyclops and his home? What does it mean to be "unlike any man who eats bread"?
5. What does the Cyclops do to survive? How does this measure up to other peoples in the Homeric world?
6. What is the Cyclopes' reputation in the Homeric world?
7. What does Odysseus remind the Cyclops about guests?
8. How does Odysseus brag to the Cyclops on pp. 226-227? What are the consequences of this and can we blame this on a character flaw in Odysseus?

Book 10:

1. Compare the Laestrygonians to the Lotus Eaters, Circe, and the other critters yet to come? To what extent are they human or humanlike?
2. What happens to Odysseus' party when they meet Circe? What kind of hospitality is this?
3. How does Circe's island compare to other societies in the Homeric world?
4. What does Circe have the power to do to Odysseus? What do you think it means, for him or for anyone in Homeric society, to be robbed of his manhood?
5. How long does Odysseus remain with Circe? What does that suggest about her powers over him? 6. How does Circe compare to Calpyso?
6. What is the importance of the episode of Elpenor?

Book 11:

1. Look very carefully at the description of Odysseus' arrival at the land of the dead. Who are the Cimmerians? How does their country compare to the land of the Laestrygonians?
2. Where, geographically or physically, does the visit to the dead take place? What is the logic of the choice of location?
3. Why does Odysseus need to fill the trench with the blood of the sheep?
4. What does the land of the dead reveal about Greeks' ideas of death?

Book 12:

1. What is the song of the Sirens and how does Odysseus hear it?
2. How does Odysseus maneuver between Scylla and Charybdis?
3. How would you describe the dynamic between Odysseus and his men?