Exam Review English: The Odyssey
UPDATED Actual Questions and
CORRECT Answers
Why does Odysseus leave home? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Odysseus leaves home to go
fight in the Trojan War
Why does Cyclops live alone in a cave? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔The Cyclops lies alone
in a cave because they have no meaning or muster; they have no purpose in life
Why does Odysseus go to Hades, the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus goes to Hades, the land of the dead, to speak to the blind prophet Tiresias so he
can find a way to go back home
To whom does Odysseus speak to in the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus speaks to the blind prophet Tiresias in the land of the dead.
After twenty years, how does Odysseus finally get home? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus finally comes home because great seafarers, the phaeacians, take him on their
boat and take him home.
What are Antinous and the others doing in Odysseus' house? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Antinous and the others are trying to marry Odysseus' wife and they are taking control
over the household and the people living in it.
What test does Penelope use to choose a husband from among the suitors? - CORRECT
ANSWER- ✔✔Penelope decides to tell the suitors that if they can string and shoot
Odysseus's bow and hit the targets they can marry her. But she knows no one can do any of
that other than Odysseus himself.
Why does Odysseus go to the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Odysseus goes
to the land of the dead to seek advice from the Prophet Tiresias on how to get home.
, What brings the spirits of the dead to Odysseus? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔The spirits
come to Odysseus when he sacrifices the black lamb and pours its blood into a trench.
What does Tiresias say that Odysseus and his men must not do? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Tiresias tells Odysseus and his men must not eat Helios's cattle or else all of his men will
die and he will not return home a awhile.
What is Odysseus expressing when he describes how him and his men felt about the opposing
army with these phrases: ".. like the leaves and baldes of spring.." "So doom appeared to us,
dark word of Zeus for us , our evil days" - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔They are worried
about the threat of the opposing men being too great
How threatening did the enemy appear to Odysseus? (".. like the leaves and baldes of
spring.." "So doom appeared to us, dark word of Zeus for us , our evil days") - CORRECT
ANSWER- ✔✔They appeared threatening and ready to fight
What kind of creature does the verb Scattered evoke? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Mice or
small animals
What comparison does it suggest between Cyclops and Odysseus and his men? (Scattered ) -
CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔It shows how much larger the Cyclops is than the men and it
shows how the men were very scared that the Cyclops would scoop them up and eat them.
What do these verbs (Wheezing, Fumbled, Squatted, Thrown) suggest about the Cyclops'
condition? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔He is tired, hurt, and clumsy
What does this reveal about Cyclops' pain, anger, and remaining strength? (Wheezing,
Fumbled, Squatted, Thrown) - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔He is in a lot of pain and he is
becoming very weak. He is very angry too.
What do these contrasting words express about his home and his future? ("...the honey lights
of home.... but anguish lies ahead) - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔It shows that his home is
wonderful, but his furture is not.
UPDATED Actual Questions and
CORRECT Answers
Why does Odysseus leave home? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Odysseus leaves home to go
fight in the Trojan War
Why does Cyclops live alone in a cave? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔The Cyclops lies alone
in a cave because they have no meaning or muster; they have no purpose in life
Why does Odysseus go to Hades, the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus goes to Hades, the land of the dead, to speak to the blind prophet Tiresias so he
can find a way to go back home
To whom does Odysseus speak to in the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus speaks to the blind prophet Tiresias in the land of the dead.
After twenty years, how does Odysseus finally get home? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Odysseus finally comes home because great seafarers, the phaeacians, take him on their
boat and take him home.
What are Antinous and the others doing in Odysseus' house? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Antinous and the others are trying to marry Odysseus' wife and they are taking control
over the household and the people living in it.
What test does Penelope use to choose a husband from among the suitors? - CORRECT
ANSWER- ✔✔Penelope decides to tell the suitors that if they can string and shoot
Odysseus's bow and hit the targets they can marry her. But she knows no one can do any of
that other than Odysseus himself.
Why does Odysseus go to the land of the dead? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Odysseus goes
to the land of the dead to seek advice from the Prophet Tiresias on how to get home.
, What brings the spirits of the dead to Odysseus? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔The spirits
come to Odysseus when he sacrifices the black lamb and pours its blood into a trench.
What does Tiresias say that Odysseus and his men must not do? - CORRECT ANSWER-
✔✔Tiresias tells Odysseus and his men must not eat Helios's cattle or else all of his men will
die and he will not return home a awhile.
What is Odysseus expressing when he describes how him and his men felt about the opposing
army with these phrases: ".. like the leaves and baldes of spring.." "So doom appeared to us,
dark word of Zeus for us , our evil days" - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔They are worried
about the threat of the opposing men being too great
How threatening did the enemy appear to Odysseus? (".. like the leaves and baldes of
spring.." "So doom appeared to us, dark word of Zeus for us , our evil days") - CORRECT
ANSWER- ✔✔They appeared threatening and ready to fight
What kind of creature does the verb Scattered evoke? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔Mice or
small animals
What comparison does it suggest between Cyclops and Odysseus and his men? (Scattered ) -
CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔It shows how much larger the Cyclops is than the men and it
shows how the men were very scared that the Cyclops would scoop them up and eat them.
What do these verbs (Wheezing, Fumbled, Squatted, Thrown) suggest about the Cyclops'
condition? - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔He is tired, hurt, and clumsy
What does this reveal about Cyclops' pain, anger, and remaining strength? (Wheezing,
Fumbled, Squatted, Thrown) - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔He is in a lot of pain and he is
becoming very weak. He is very angry too.
What do these contrasting words express about his home and his future? ("...the honey lights
of home.... but anguish lies ahead) - CORRECT ANSWER- ✔✔It shows that his home is
wonderful, but his furture is not.
