Odyssey Module Test (irrelevant and not needed for the exam)

Question 1

What happened at The Fall of Troy?

Answer 1

• Greeks and Trojans had been fighting for 10 years
• Odysseus built a wooden horse to sneak into Troy
• The Trojans accepted the horse into the city
• The Greeks attacked the city from inside and destroyed the city

Question 2

What did the Greeks do at Ismarus (Cicones)?

Answer 2

• The Cicones were enemies of the Greeks.
• They raid the city: stealing treasure, food and wine
• They kill lots of men and enslave several women and children

Question 3

Before arriving at Polyphemus’ island, where did they go first?

Answer 3

They went to the island across from Polyphemus’ island. They kill some goats, drink wine plundered from the Cicones and they eat food and drink from what they looted at Ismarus.

Question 4

What did Odysseus’ crew do after looting Ismarus?

Answer 4

Odysseus and his crew return to the ships but do not leave; Odysseus wanted to
leave but his crew wanted to relax on the beach with the newly acquired goods

Question 5

What did the Cicones do to surprise the Greeks?

Answer 5

• The Cicones round up more men and attack Odysseus’ crew and ships
• The crew were not prepared for an attack (drunk and sleepy); lots of Odysseus’ men
are killed and ships destroyed

Question 6

After sailing across to Polyphemus’ island, what does Odysseus do?

Answer 6

He takes 12 men from his ship, eats some food from there and decides to stay inside the cave with his crew, contrary to what the rest of the soldiers wanted to do, which was to loot and leave.

Question 7

What did he want to give as a gift for Polyphemus?

Answer 7

A goatskin full of wine from Maron, who he spared at Ismarus.

Question 8

How many people did Odysseus send onto the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Answer 8

• Odysseus sends 3 of his sailors to investigate the area

Question 9

What was Odysseus’ fear (to do with the owner of the cave)?

Answer 9

The fear was that the owner of the cave would be godless and lawless.

Question 10

What did the Lotus Eaters do when the sailors got on the island and what happened to the sailors after this?

Answer 10

• The Lotus Eaters welcome the sailors into their community and offer them the juice of
the Lotus flower
• The sailors become addicted to this juice and do not want to leave

Question 11

Why did the sailors not want to leave the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Answer 11

They were tired after being at sea for a long time
They were upset because they had lost some crew mates to the Cicones’ attack; the Lotus juice made them feel happy

Question 12

What did Polyphemus look like?

Answer 12

It was a giant Cyclops with one ginormous eye, tusk-like teeth and a snout-like nose.

Question 13

Did Odysseus tell his men about what was on the Land of the Lotus Eaters?

Answer 13

No.

Question 14

What does Odysseus do when he finds out that his sailors are addicted to the Lotus juice?

Answer 14

Odysseys drags his men back to the ships and ties them down to the boat to prevent
them from returning to the Lotus Eaters

Question 15

What happens when Polyphemus spots Odysseus and his men?

Answer 15

Polyphemus spots his men and starts asking them questions.

Odysseus cleverly lies and says they’ve been shipwrecked.

Polyphemus ignores the laws of hospitality and closes the cave with Odysseus and his men still inside. The men realise they can’t move the massive boulder themselves.

The Cyclops attacks and kills two of his men, and then another two the following morning.

Question 16

Instead of killing the Cyclops, what does Odysseus opt to do, and why?

Answer 16

He decides to blind him, and this is because he realised that they will never be able to leave the cave without his assistance.

Question 17

What makes a Homeric hero?

Answer 17

High kill count
Skilled in one-to-one combat
Ability to handle an eleven-cubit spear
Tall
Attractive
Uses both spear and sword

Question 18

Did every homeric hero need every talent?

Answer 18

No. But the more you had, the more memorable you were.

Question 19

What is Xenia?

Answer 19

A ritual of guest-friendship

Question 20

When Polyphemus returns to the cave later on, after getting trapped in the cave at first, what does Odysseus do?

Answer 20

On his return, Odysseus give him wine and tells him his name is Nobody.

As the wine is strong and undiluted, he falls into a drunken stupor.

Odysseus then blinds the Cyclops by stabbing his eye with a hot, sharpened wooden stake which they hid in dung.

Polyphemus calls for help from the other Cyclops, but no-one comes to his aid as he is shouting Nobody has blinded me, so they all think he’s having a bad dream.

Question 21

What is the role of Xenia as a guest?

Answer 21

Ask for hospitality from anyone
Do not be a burden to the host by overstaying your welcome

Question 22

What is the role of Xenia as a host?

Answer 22

Provides food, drink, comfort and protection
Do not ask the guests’ name or business of the guest until this is provided

Question 23

What is the role of Xenia for both the guest and host?

Answer 23

Exchange “guest gifts” - worthy presents that link guests and hosts families together.

Question 24

How do Odysseus and his men escape?

Answer 24

Odysseus and his men escape by hiding under the sheep, which are let out in the morning as usual.

Question 25

‘Polyphemus was not a caring person’

Do you agree? Answer by saying yes or no, and explain your answer.

Answer 25

YES

Polyphemus wasn’t a caring person because he killed many of Odysseus’ men.
He refused to treat his guests with hospitality (ie. good Xenia).

NO

Polyphemus may have been a caring person because, even though he was blinded, he still tended to his cattle in the same manner.

He only killed Odysseus’ crew because they were followers of Zeus, and Polyphemus was Poseidon’s son. Zeus and Poseidon were enemies.

If you want to say both yes and no, mention both.

Question 26

Why was Odysseus a good leader?

Answer 26

He said they should leave Ismarus immediately but the army wanted to stay.
He cleverly escaped from Polyphemus’ island and also had a clever idea to blind him.
He came up with the idea for the wooden horse against the Trojans
He came up with a clever idea to keep himself safe from The Sirens but he could still experience the sound of them
He bravely fought against Circe to turn his crew back to humans from pigs
He tried to stop his crew from eating the sacred cow

Question 27

What happens after Odysseus and his men escape?

Answer 27

At the end, Odysseus shouted his real name, which allowed Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon to curse him: Odysseus will reach home but alone without his crew and that there will be danger
waiting for him when there should be a welcome.

Question 28

Why was Odysseus a bad leader?

Answer 28

They looted Ismarus and stole people’s wives
The killed a lot of The Cicones’ livestock
He wanted to explore the cyclops cave even though he should have gone back to the ship
He left Ismarus without checking if the men injured were alive or not
He didn’t tell the sailors about the addictive Lotus Juice
He didn’t tell his crew what was inside the bag of winds
He was selfish to listen to The Sirens even though he had the chance to stick it out with his crew

Question 29

True or False: Aeolus doesn’t welcome Odysseus and his crew to Aeolia (for the first time).

Answer 29

False: Aeolus DOES welcome him and his men to Aeolia.

Question 30

What happens after Odysseus and his men reach Aeolia (for the first time)?

Answer 30

Odysseus and his men are given food, drink and a chance to rest.

Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag of winds, which would allow Odysseus and his men to
get home safely and quickly, as long as he doesn’t open it before he gets to Ithaca

Question 31

What does Odysseus not tell his men about the mysterious bag?

Answer 31

He didn’t tell the crew about the contents of the bag

Question 32

Because Odysseus didn’t tell the men what was inside the bag, what did they think?

Answer 32

Odysseus’ crew are jealous and think Odysseus is keeping treasure from them – they
decide to open the bag.

Question 33

What happened after the bag of winds were opened?

Answer 33

The ship was forced back to Aeolia, after being so close to Ithaca.

Question 34

When they go back to Aeolia for the second time, what is the response they get from Aeolus?

Answer 34

Aeolus refuses to help Odysseus again – Aeolus thinks that Odysseus is cursed by
the gods (specifically Poseidon).

Question 35

After arriving on Circe’s island, what did Odysseus see?

Answer 35

Odysseus climbed a hill and saw a palace beyond a forest.

Question 36

When Odysseus came back to tell his men about his newfound palace, what did he see?

Answer 36

He saw that nobody was at the beach.

Question 37

What did Odysseus see as the walked through the forest, and what was the weird thing about them?

Answer 37

He saw lions and wolves, but they all seemed tame.

Question 38

After arriving at the palace, what did Odysseus see?

Answer 38

He saw all of his crew feasting and laughing. He saw a woman.

Question 39

What did Odysseus see Circe do?

Answer 39

He saw her touch them with a wand & they turned into pigs.

Question 40

What did Odysseus do after his men were turned into pigs?

Answer 40

He rushed in to save them, but was stopped by the god Hermes.

Question 41

What did Hermes give Odysseus?

Answer 41

Hermes gave Odysseus a plant, moly, to eat which would protect him from Circe’s
magic.

Question 42

What happened when Circe tried to turn Odysseus into a pig?

Answer 42

The magic didn’t work.

Question 43

What did Odysseus tell Circe after she tried turning him into a pig, and what did Circe remember after his saying that?

Answer 43

He told her his name meant “trouble”; she remembered that there had been a
prophecy that she would welcome somebody called Trouble.

Question 44

After Circe figuring out that Odysseus was part of a prophecy she received a long time ago, what did she do?

Answer 44

She turned his men back and persuaded Odysseus to stay with her; he agreed to stay
for a month – he stayed for a year.

Question 45

What did Circe advise Odysseus to do?

Answer 45

Circe advised Odysseus to seek guidance from the prophet Teiresias. the only
problem was, Teiresias was in the Underworld, the Land of the Dead.

Question 46

What did Odysseus realise about the lions and wolves that he met before?

Answer 46

Odysseus realised the lions and wolves must have once been human.