Read books 9-12 of the Odyssey. Please print out the list of questions and bring it to class. As you read continue to think about the themes of the work, such as:

• The acquisition of knowledge
• "right action" vs. "improper action" and what those terms mean.
• Man's relationship to his gods.
• How one's culture shapes one's world view and influences one's behavior and decisions.
• Order vs. chaos; civilization vs. the unknown/uncivilized.
• Man's duty to himself, his family and his community.
• A king's duty to himself, his family and his community.
• Life and death.

Study Quesions

1. Why does Odysseus decide to tell the Phaeacians his name?
2. What qualities does Odysseus use to introduce himself? Do these seem in keeping with what we kow of him so far?
3. What do you think is significant about the adventure of the Lotus-eaters? Are they civilized?
4. 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)?
5. When Odysseus sets off to see the Cyclopes, what does he tell his men he wishes to find out? Does that seem to you typical of Homeric activity?
6. How does Odysseus describe the Cyclops and his home? What does it mean to be "unlike any man who eats bread"?
7. What do Odysseus and his men first do when they reach the Cyclops' cave? How does that action compare to the level of the Cyclopes' civilization?
8. What does the Cyclops do to survive? How does this measure up to other peoples in the Homeric world?
9. What does Odysseus remind the Cyclops about guests?
10. What does the Cyclops reply to Odysseus? How does his attitude help the audience decide whether he is good or bad, civilized or barbaric?
11. What does the Cyclops do to Odysseus' men and what does that suggest about his level of civilization?
12. How does Odysseus brag to the Cyclops on pp. 138-139? What are the consequences of this and can we blame this on a character flaw in Odysseus?

Book 10:

1. What does the episode with the winds suggest about Odysseus and his crew?
2. What does Aeolus tell Odysseus when he shows up on his island for the second time? Do you think it is accurate?
3. Describe the peoples called Laestrygonians and their society. How do they and it compare to other societies the book has described?
4. What happens to Odysseus' party when they meet Circe? What kind of hospitality is this?
5. How does Circe's island compare to other societies in the Homeric world?
6. 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?
7. How long does Odysseus remain with Circe? What does that suggest about her powers over him?
8. How does Circe compare to Calpyso?
9. 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. The souls of what groups of people first come up from Erebus (darkness)?
5. Why does Elpenor not have to drink from the blood?
6. Teiresias makes a prophecy about Odysseus' return home, but it has conditions. What are those conditions and what will be the key to Odysseus' success?
7. Teiresias also makes a prophecy about the future and death of Odysseus. What do you think they indicate about Odysseus?
8. What do Odysseus and his mother Antikleia discuss?
9. What do many of the famous women have in common?
10. After the list of women, there is a sudden change to the present in the narrative. Alcinous and his people discuss what their guest has said so far. What is their conclusion and what do they want to know about what he saw in the halls of hades?
11. Back in the narrative of the land of the dead, Agamemnon tells Odysseus the story of his death. What is Agamemnon's reaction to it, and what is his advice to Odysseus?
12. Achilles makes an important statement about death. What is his opinion of death?
13. What information do Agamemnon and Achilles want from Odysseus, and what does that suggest about the theme of the book?
14. How does Aias respond to Odysseus? Why is his inclusion here important?
15. What other people does Odysseus see in the halls of Hades?
16. Why do you think it is necessary for the hero to make a journey to the land of the dead?

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 does Eurylochos convince Odysseus' men to eat the cattle of the Sun?
4. What signs let Odysseus' men know that they have made the wrong kind of sacrifice with the cattle?
5. Do you think Odysseus' men are responsible for what happens to them?

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