Study Guide for Homer's Odyssey

Online Resources

New information on Odysseus's home (BBC)

Study Questions for Homer's Odyssey

• Compare the opening lines of the Odyssey to the opening lines of the Iliad.
• What kind of heroic ideal does Odysseus represent?  In what ways is Odysseus not like Achilles?
• What is the role of hospitality in the poem?  Can you identify episodes that subvert or parody the idea of hospitality?
• What is the role of women in the Odyssey?
• How would you describe Odysseus's relationship with Athena?
• What does Kalypso offer Odysseus to stay with her?  Why does he refuse?
• Read Odysseus's encounter with Nausicaa carefully.  What do you learn about Odysseus in this episode?
• Who are the Phaeacians?  What does Odysseus tell them about himself when he arrives?
• What is the significance (and function) of the singer Demodokos?  Why does Odysseus cry when he sings?
• What does Odysseus tell the Phaeacians about himself in Book 9?  Is he always telling the truth?
• What does Circe (Kirke in the Fitzgerald translation) do to Odysseus and his men?  How does Odysseus rescue his men?
• Who does Odysseus meet in Hades?  What does he learn there?  Why does he need to go to Hades?
• What is the effect of the Sirens on Odysseus and his crew?  How does Odysseus get past them?
• Read the encounter between Odysseus and Athena in Book 13 carefully.  What does Odysseus say to her?  How does Athena treat him?  Does he tell her the truth?
• How does the swineherd Eumaeus receive Odysseus?  Who does Odysseus tell him he is?
• Who is Telemachus?  Where has he been?  What happens when he re-unites with Odysseus?
• How does Odysseus arrive at his home?  How does he get rid of the suitors?
• What kind of character is Penelope?