Name:
Date:
The Odyssey Reading Guide
Part VI – The Cattle of the Sun God
Answers should be in complete sentences!
Period:
Check for Understanding Quiz:
1. Why is Odysseus able to withstand Circe’s magical powers? ______________________________________
2. Whom does Odysseus visit in the Land of the Dead? ____________________________________________
3. What prediction does Circe make to Odysseus about his journey home? _____________________________
4. Which two monsters does Odysseus pass between after facing the Sirens? ___________________________
5. What does Odysseus order his men NOT to do on Thrinakia? _____________________________________
6. Since Odysseus is the captain, shouldn’t he have just ordered his men to bypass Thrinakia? Explain your
response. (introduction)
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7. What does Odysseus mean when he says that “no man can avoid the eye of Helios”? (lines 857-859)
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8. Who is the “Lord of Noon”?
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9. What does Eurylochus mean by this comment? (lines 890-894)
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10. What is Eurylochus’s “insidious plea”? If you were a member of the crew, would you be swayed by this
argument, or would you heed Odysseus’s warning? Do you think murdering the cattle is justified, or is it an
offense against the god Helios? (lines 878-894)
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11. In the Odyssey, Odysseus constantly takes credit when things go well. Now when tragedy occurs, he blames
the gods for making him fall asleep. What does this reveal about his character? (lines 915-919)
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12. What exactly happened to cause the god’s fury? (lines 921-930)
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Name:
Date:
Review: Part 1 – Part VI of The Odyssey
Period:
13. In the chart below, summarize the conflict and the resolution for each episode:
Adventure:
Summary:
Calypso
Lotus Eaters
Cyclops
Circe
Sirens; Scylla and
Charydbis
Cattle of the Sun God
14. What conclusions about the deceptive nature of beauty can you draw from the Circe episode?
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15. From what we’ve observed of Odysseus, how would you describe what the Greeks valued in a hero? Do we
value these same “heroic” traits today?
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16. How many monsters or threats to Odysseus in these portions of the epic are female? What do you think of
the way women are being portrayed so far? What does that tell us about how the Greeks viewed women?
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