Herbst Humanities Dr. Fredricksmeyer
Odyssey Discussion Questions
Book 1
1. What is the first characteristic of Odysseus identified by the poet?
2. Are the opening 10 lines of Book 1 more about conquering or enduring?
3. With whom is Odysseus staying at this point in the story?
4. How is the crew of Odysseus characterized?
5. What god bears a grudge against Odysseus, and why?
6. Do you think that Book 1 indicates a universe characterized by justice or by arbitrary suffering?
7. Athena (disguised as Mentes) suggests that Telemachus emulate Orestes. For what act involving his own mother is Orestes famous, and for what is his mother famous? Does this aspect of the advice of Mentes strike you as odd or not, and why?
Book 2
8. According to Antinous, what trick did Penelope play on the suitors?
9. This trick seems devised less to drive away the suitors than to keep them around but at arm’s length, so to speak. What else does Penelope do, according to Antinous, that would encourage at least some of the suitors to stick around?
Book 3
10. To what city does Telemachus travel in this book, and what is the name of the king he visits there?
11. What person does this king suggest that Telemachus should emulate? Who else made the same suggestion and in what Book, and of what possible scenario concerning Penelope are we thereby reminded?
Book 4
12. To what place does Telemachus continue his journey, and what couple does he visit there?
13. What is the name of the drug that Helen dispenses, and how can the effects of this drug be seen as sinister?
Book 5
14. Does Odysseus strike you as heroic when we see him for the first time in this book? Explain.
15. What god travels to Ogygia to tell Calpyso to release Odysseus, and how is this god associated in mythology with the Underworld?
16. Is there any indication that Calpyso resents the interference by male gods in her love life?
17. Does anything that happens to Odysseus on his journey show that Circe represented a threat to him even after he left her island?
18. What goddess saves Odysseus life on the journey, and how does she do so?
19. What do you think is the symbolism of Odysseus coming ashore on Scheria in his “birthday suit”?
20. Under what kind of trees does Odysseus fall asleep on the island of Scheria, and with what goddess is this kind of tree associated? What do you think is the symbolism of this?
Book 6
21. How old do you think Nausicaa is, what prompts her to go to the place where she will first encounter Odysseus, what is the place to which she goes, and what does she take with her to wash?
22. Does the simile describing Odysseus as he meets Nausicaa seem to you appropriate? Explain.
23. What threat can we suppose Nausicaa represents to the homecoming of Odysseus?
24. With what goddess does Odysseus compare Nausicaa, what is the chief function of this goddess with respect to girls, and with what other goddess might we have expected Odysseus to compare her?
Book 7
25. What/whom does Alcinous offer to Odysseus in this book?
Book 8
26. Can you identify a passage in this book through which Homer indirectly promotes himself as a singer of epic songs?
27. What story about the gods told in this book might be seen as a subtle allusion to the possible adultery of Penelope?
28. What insult motivates Odysseus to prove his athleticism to the Phaeacians?
29. What kinds of sports does Odysseus excel at in contrast with the Phaeacians?
Book 9
30. What does Odysseus stand to gain by telling his adventures to the Phaeacians?
31. How does the Odyssey characterize the land of the Lotus-eaters as a veritable paradise? And, why, then, is this land seen by Odysseus and others as negative, and something from which to escape? What do you think is wrong with such a place, if anything?
32. How successful is Odysseus in his confrontation with Polyphemus whenever he exercises traditional (Iliadic) heroism of biê, characterized in part by taking from others and boasting? How about when he exercises mêtis? Explain.
33. If Odysseus represents civilization, and Polyphemus and other dangerous figures in books 9-12 represent nature, what do you think Homer is saying about the relation of man to nature? Can you see potential dangers (that are becoming increasingly evident especially in the modern era) in this position taken by Homer?
34. Can you think of any qualities that Odysseus and Polyphemus share?
Book 10
35. What god of the winds does the first adventure in this book involve, and how does this episode again demonstrate the recklessness of the crew of Odysseus?
36. How devastating to the navy of Odysseus is the episode of the Laestrygonians?
37. What does Circe do to the men of Odysseus, and how does he avoid their fate?
38. Into what paradigm of female figures common in the Odyssey does Circe fit? Explain.
Book 11
39. To what scary place does Odysseus travel in this Book, and what seer does Odysseus visit there?
40. Why does Odysseus seek out this seer?
Book 12
41. What other-worldly persons, things, or places does Odysseus encounter in this book after he departs again from Circe?
42. Do you think that the crew of Odysseus gets what they deserve for eating the cattle of Helios in Book 12? Explain.
43. Try to describe the motif in certain episodes of Books 9-12 of improper cuisine or, in other words, what happens to persons who eat food that does not belong to them or that is forbidden.
44. Try to summarize how certain episodes in Books 9-12 stress the danger of forgetting.
Book 13
45. For what reason does Athena say she is so fond of Odysseus?
46. How could this compliment call into question everything Odysseus said about his adventures in Books 9-12? Explain.
47. What disguise does Athena help Odysseus assume?
Book 14
48. Whom does Odysseus visit in this book, and how does this person help to underscore by contrast the impiety of the suitors?
Book 15
49. Who prompts Telemachus in this book to return home and thus (to some extent) breaks the spell of a woman over him, and who is this woman?
50. What omen occurs when Telemachus arrives back at Ithaca, and how does the seer Theoklymenus interpret this omen?
Book 16
51. In his actions toward the beggar/Odysseus how does Telemachus help to underscore by contrast the impiety of the suitors?
Book 17
52. To whom does Theoklymenus in effect re-interpret the omen witnessed in Book 15, and what does he say?
53. How does Melanthius display his especially impious nature as Odysseus and Eumaius make their way to the home of Odysseus?
54. How might the dog Argus be seen to underscore the disloyalty of some of the servants of Odysseus?
55. How does Antinous immediately display his impious nature as the beggar/Odysseus enters his own home?
Book 18
56. What character’s fate in this book foreshadows that of virtually all the suitors, and how so?
57. What does Penelope do in this book that demonstrates cunning like that of her husband?
58. How does Odysseus feel about his wife’s intelligence?
59. What ultimatum does Antinous issue in response to Penelope’s request?
Book 19
60. What pressures does Penelope tell the beggar/Odysseus that she is under to remarry?
61. What does Odysseus/beggar tell Penelope about the whereabouts of Odysseus? Does his news change her mind to remarry?
62. Who unintentionally almost reveals the true identity of the beggar/Odysseus, and how does she recognize him?
63. Describes the dream of Penelope in this book, and suggest what is odd about her response to the dream?
64. Explain all the reasons why you think it makes sense or not for Penelope, at this juncture in the story, to declare her final decision to remarry.
Book 20
65. What omen occurs at the end of this book, and how does Theoklymenus interpret this omen?
Book 21
66. After the contest is underway, which of the suitors tries to delay it, and why?
67. Before Odysseus, who almost succeeds in stringing the bow and who/what stops him?
68. What has Telemachus done to set the suitors up for a slaughter?
69. Can you identify language at the end of this book and the beginning of the next that characterizes the killing of the suitors as a culinary act?
Book 22
70. How might the exact nature of the death of Antinous be seen as a punishment that perfectly fits his crimes?
71. In killing men entrapped in a small space for eating food that does not belong to them, what earlier character in the Odyssey does Odysseus parallel?
72. Telemachus makes a mistake in Book 21 that in this book gives the suitors more of a fighting chance. What is this mistake, and why do you think the Odyssey has things work out this way?
73. What self-referential decision does the poet make in determining whom Odysseus spares?
74. What scene in this book do you find most disturbing, and why?
75. Do you think of Odysseus as a hero by the end of this book, and why or why not?
Book 23
76. How does Penelope outwit Odysseus in this book?
77. What explanation does she give for not acknowledging Odysseus sooner?
78. Can you identify a scene in this book that you think would have made a good place for the Odyssey to conclude (rather than continue with the rest of this book and Book 24)?
Book 24
79. Since antiquity, many critics have rejected this book (as well as part of Book 23) as a later addition to the Odyssey. Reasons for this rejection have included that this book is anticlimactic. Can you think of any arguments in its support, i.e., ways in which it complements or helps complete the rest of the poem?