All Levels
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The Odyssey Study Guide: Part II
Answer the following questions using your Literature book. Answers may be found on pages
1210-1223.
Book 9: New Coasts and Poseidon’s Son
“I AM LAERTES’S SON…”
1. What impression do you get of Odysseus from his description of himself?
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2. What central idea of the poem does Odysseus express in lines 23-25?
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THE LOTUS EATERS
3. Explain what is happening to Odysseus’s men in the land of the Lotus Eaters.
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THE CYCLOPS
4. What details in the description of dawn tell you that the event is personified? (To the Greeks, Dawn
was not a personification of something nonhuman, but a full-fledged goddess named )
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5. What did Odysseus see as they approached land?
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6. How did Odysseus describe the Cyclops?
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7. Why do you think Odysseus and his men burn an offering for the gods?
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8. How does Homer help the reader sense what Odysseus is up against with this strange opponent?
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9. What does the phrase “fair traffic” mean? What does the Cyclops mean by his questions in 156-159?
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All Levels
10. What did you learn in an earlier episode that explains why Odysseus gives the Cyclops a warning?
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11. What is going on in lines 185-186? What does Odysseus’ remark suggest about his character?
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12. Why do you think Homer includes such gruesome details in lines 191-197?
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13. What two things are being compared in lines 211-219? What effect does this comparison have on the
reader?
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14. What do you think Odysseus plans to do with the pointed staff?
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15. Since Odysseus is the captain, he could have just chosen the men he wanted for the job rather than
drawing lots. Is it smart to “toss” for this job, or is Odysseus foolish in risking the future of the whole
group by not just appointing the men he thinks best fit to go with him?
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16. Odysseus says that the rams may have entered the cave at “a god’s bidding.” What does this mean, and
what does it suggest about the role that the rams will play in the future?
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17. What is ironic about the Cyclops’s saying he will Nohbdy last?
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18. What is the blinding of the Cyclops compared to in lines 300-305?
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19. Explain the irony in lines 312-322.
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All Levels
20. Do you think that Odysseus’ laughter is wise, since he and his men are obviously not yet out of
danger?
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21. How would you characterize Odysseus in lines 330-334?
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22. What steps does Odysseus take to prepare for their escape?
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23. What is ironic about line 368?
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24. In lines 380-384, why do the “fellows’ faces” turn from shining to grief? Why does Odysseus hush his
men?
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25. Is it wise for Odysseus to taunt Polyphemus? Explain.
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26. What is ironic about the order that Odysseus gives in lines 400-403?
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27. How might Odysseus’s revelation of his name his name get him and his men into trouble later on?
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28. Do you believe Polyphemus’s promise? Is he trustworthy? Explain.
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29. Go back and reread the invocation (TELL THE STORY) that Homer uses to open The Odyssey. How
much of Polyphemus’s curse will come true?
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Vocabulary from The Odyssey – Part 1
Directions – study these words and definitions. You’ll be quizzed on them soon!
1. p. 1204 – harried – adj. – tormented, harassed, attacked
2. p. 1204 – Muse – n. – a daughter of Zeus, credited with giving inspiration to humans
3. p. 1212 – mustered – v. – assembled, gathered, came together
4. p. 1213 – stern – n. – the back end of a ship
5. p. 1214 – victuals – n. – food; rations; provisions
6. p. 1216 – appalled – adj. – filled with dismay, horrified
7. p. 1216 – ponderous – adj. – heavy in a very clumsy, bulky way
8. p. 1217 – profusion – n. – abundance, a great amount of any one thing
9. p. 1219 – sage – adj. – wise
10. p. 1220 – meditation – n. – the act of being in serious, reflective thought
11. p. 1221 – adversary – n. – an opponent or enemy
12. p. 1224 – beguiling – adj. – charming, pleasing
13. p. 1225 – foreboding – n. – a sense of approaching evil
14. p. 1226 – assuage – v. – to calm down or pacify; to comfort or make someone feel better
15. p. 1229 – kine – n. – cows, cattle, beeves
16. p. 1230 – kneaded – v – to squeeze and press into something softer
17. p. 1232 – abominably – adv. – in a hateful way; horribly, badly, incorrectly, sloppily
18. p. 1232 – maelstrom – n. – a large, violent whirlpool
19. p. 1234 – ardor – n. – passion
20. p. 1234 – travail – n. – strenuous, painful effort; very, very hard work