the odyssey short essay questions

The Odyssey

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Homer's The Odyssey . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Odyssey: Introduction

The odyssey: plot summary, the odyssey: detailed summary & analysis, the odyssey: themes, the odyssey: quotes, the odyssey: characters, the odyssey: symbols, the odyssey: theme wheel, brief biography of homer.

Historical Context of The Odyssey

Other books related to the odyssey.

• Full Title: The Odyssey
• When Written: 8th or 7th century BC.
• Where Written: Ancient Greece
• When Published: The poem was passed down orally for many generations, but the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos established a committee to compile and revise Homer's manuscripts in the 6th century BC. The oldest complete manuscript of the poem dates back to the 10th or 11th century AD. Dozens of English translations have been published since the 17th century.
• Literary Period: Ancient Greece (pre-Classical)
• Genre: Epic Poem
• Setting: The Pelopponese and the Ionian islands in Mycenaean Greece, in the 10 years after the fall of Troy, circa 12th century BC.
• Climax: The slaughter of the suitors
• Antagonist: The suitors, Poseidon
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for The Odyssey

The Limits of Papyrus. The Odyssey was initially recorded on fragile papyrus scrolls; some people believe that the length of each of the twenty-four books was determined by the length of a single scroll, which would break if it exceeded a certain size.

Son of Telemachus. The Oracle at Delphi claimed that Homer was Telemachus's son.

The Odyssey

The odyssey study guide.

Most likely written between 750 and 650 B.C., The Odyssey is an epic poem about the wanderings of the Greek hero Odysseus following his victory in the Trojan War (which, if it did indeed take place, occurred in the 12th-century B.C. in Mycenaean Greece). Originally composed in the Ionic Greek dialect in dactylic hexameter (most English translations use iambic pentameter), The Odyssey , alongside the slightly earlier Iliad (a violent account of the Trojan War), ushered in a new age of Western literature. The Odyssey has been so influential that its primary theme -- the desire for home -- may be the most important one in modern narratives, used for stories as diverse as The Wizard of Oz and James Joyce's directly allusive Ulysses . The Odyssey is also notable for its exploration of its hero's sensitive interior life, a stark contrast to the nonstop action of The Iliad .

There has been fervent debate, especially since the 19th century, over the authorship of both poems. Some scholars maintain that they are the work of multiple writers, while others believe that both are the product of a blind bard named Homer . It is now generally agreed that a singer-poet named Homer from the city of Smyrna on the western coast of Asia Minor did exist around the time of the composition of both poems, though the rest is still disputable. One likely theory is that the illiterate Homer had memorized heroic stories that had been passed down through the ages and altered them slightly when he sang them to audiences and strummed a simple stringed instrument for musical accompaniment. Someone else then cobbled together Homer's various narratives and wrote down first The Iliad , then The Odyssey , most likely on a papyrus scroll. The stories were then copied, and undoubtedly evolved, over time, helping explain particularly the uneven final third of T he Odyssey .

To buy them time between improvisations, the singer-poets repeated stories (such as that of Agamemnon's murder in The Odyssey) and used recurring epithets -- pithy tags attached to characters ("grey-eyed Athena ," "swift-footed Achilles") -- and epic (or Homeric) similes, or repetitive poetic comparisons ("rosy-fingered Dawn," "the wine-dark sea"). It is important to remember that The Iliad and The Odyssey were originally oral entertainment -- much of the pleasure for the ancient Greeks came not from the narratives‹ with which they were familiar, ‹but rather from the sound of the poetry, which is still unmatched in the epic poetic tradition for its beauty and grandeur.

The Odyssey Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Odyssey is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What universal themes does Homer explore in the Odyssey?

Check out these themes below:

What do you learn about the character of Odysseus through the poet's introduction in Book 1?

In Book I, we learn that Odysseus fought in the Trojan War, that he has been on the island of Ogygia for eight years, that Poseidon is planning to make his journey home extremely difficult because Odysseus blinded his son, and that his Odysseus'...

summarize terisias' prophecy in the odyssey?

In the Odyssey, Circe sends Odysseus to Tiresias to advise him how to get home. The prophet tells him that he will survive the trip, but if his crew touches the cattle of Helios, they will not. His crew ends up eating the cattle and subsequently...

Study Guide for The Odyssey

The Odyssey study guide contains a biography of Homer, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Odyssey
• The Odyssey Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Odyssey

The Odyssey essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Odyssey by Homer.

• The Underworld in The Aeneid Versus The Odyssey
• A Musing Contrast
• Homeric Formalism
• The Evolution of Civil Justice
• Modus Operandi - The Ways of Greek Literature

Lesson Plan for The Odyssey

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Odyssey
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Odyssey Bibliography

E-Text of The Odyssey

The Odyssey e-text contains the full text of The Odyssey by Homer.

• Books 13-16

Wikipedia Entries for The Odyssey

• Introduction

• study guides
• lesson plans
• homework help

The Odyssey Short Essay - Answer Key

1. Explain the circumstances that lead Athene to intervene on Odysseus' behalf at the very beginning of the poem.

It is ordained by the immortals that Odysseus will return home, though he will come on a stranger's ship and his return will be late. Athena realizes that he has been languishing on Calypso's island for seven years, and it is time for him to go home. It also happens that Poseidon, who is holding a grudge against Odysseus, is not on Olympus, so Athena would not have to directly challenge him.

2. Why does Telemachus take advice from Mentes, a relative stranger to him, in Book 1?

Mentes, who is Athena in disguise, only speaks of what is pressing in Telemachus' heart. He knows that something needs to be done, but without a strong male presence, he has not had much guidance. Mentes speaks to him as a father speaks to his son, and Telemachus is susceptible.

(read all 60 Short Essay Questions and Answers)

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The Odyssey’s Plot: Short Summary

Odysseus’ journey is long and unforgiving. He encounters plenty of hardships on his way. So what is The Odyssey about? In this article, we have summarized the most critical parts of the plot.

For starters, The Odyssey’ s timeline is nonlinear, meaning the plot takes us back and forth in time. The epic poem culminates with Odysseus’ safe return home and the slaughter of the suitors. Once the rightful king is back, the gods call for peace.

It has been around twenty years since the end of the Trojan War, and Ithaca is still missing its king, Odysseus. Many presume him dead, but his wife Penelope and son Telemachus are hopeful. Their palace is overrun by Penelope’s suitors – ignorant aristocrats that are hoping to marry the queen. It is when all seems lost that Athena, the Greek goddess, decides to intervene. Using disguises, she guides Telemachus to leave Ithaca in search of his father.

Meanwhile, Odysseus has been stuck on the island of the nymph Calypso for the last seven years. With some godly intervention, he is finally allowed to sail back home. Unfortunately, earlier on his adventures, Odysseus earned the wrath of Poseidon – god of the sea. This is why his raft crashes. The hero finds himself on Scheria, the island of the Phaeacians. After getting help from their princess Nausicaa, Odysseus finds himself in the royal palace. Unable to hold back his tears at the song about the Trojan War, he tells the Phaeacians who he is.

This is Odysseus’ story .

After the war, he and his men landed on Ismaros. There they suffered losses fighting with the Cicones. They traveled to the island of the Lotus-Eaters next and discovered that the plants cause memory loss. Escaping for fear of forgetting home, they arrived at an island populated by man-eating Cyclops.

After getting trapped in a cave by one of them, Odysseus devised a cunning plan of escape. He blinded the creature and taunted him as they were escaping. However, it turned out that this Cyclops was Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and he asked his father to curse Odysseus.

The crew then landed on the island of the wind god Aiolos, who aided them in their journey. He bagged the winds so that the men may return to Ithaca sooner. When the home was on the horizon, Odysseus’ men opened the sacks. They released the winds, causing a storm. They found themselves in the land of Laestrygonians, man-eating giants, who ate more of the crew and destroyed eleven of the twelve ships. Only Odysseus’ ship survived.

Their next stop was the island of the sorceress Circe. She turned some of the men into pigs, but Odysseus managed to turn them back with the help of the gods. Exhausted after their long journey, they stayed on the island for an entire year.

Circe advises that Odysseus must visit the Underworld before going home, and he obliges. To get there, he and his crew swam past the man-drowning Sirens, the sea monster Scylla, and whirlpool Charybdis.

In the Underworld, Odysseus sees his dead friends (including Achilles) and mother and receives a prophecy from Tiresias. According to him, only he will return home alive.

The prophecy came true. Odysseus’ men, tired and disheartened, disobeyed his orders not to eat the cattle of the sun god Helios. Zeus punished them, and they all died in a storm. Only Odysseus survived, washing up on Calypso’s island.

After this heartfelt story, the Phaeacians help Odysseus by giving him gifts and a ship to travel. Odysseus returns home. With Athena’s help, he is disguised as a beggar as he visits the house of Eumaeus, the swineherd. Meanwhile, Telemachus returns from his journey and is reunited with his father. The three of them plan their revenge against the suitors that overrun the palace. Still in disguise, Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants and wife. He determines who is still on his side and who he can trust. Penelope, finally giving in under pressure, proposes a contest for the suitors. Whoever can manage to string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through a dozen ax heads will be her new husband.

The next day, the suitors struggle and are unable to pull off the feat. This is when Odysseus steps up and reveals himself, easily winning the challenge. With his son, loyal servants, and aid from Athena, he begins to slaughter the suitors. After that, Odysseus forces the traitorous maids to clean up the palace before killing them off too. He reunites with his wife, who still cannot honestly believe that Odysseus is alive and back. After passing Penelope’s one more cunning test, the two lovingly embrace.

At the end of the story, Odysseus visits his old father, Laertes. This is where they are stormed by a group demanding revenge for the slaughter of the suitors. Odysseus kills their leader. But before the conflict can progress any further, Athena orders peace between the two sides.

This is the end of The Odyssey ’s story and the article as well. Thanks for reading! To create a summary in a few clicks, you can try our online summarizer . To find out about the epic, check the links below.

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IvyPanda. (2024, May 21). The Odyssey’s Plot: Short Summary. https://ivypanda.com/lit/the-odyssey/short-summary/

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge — An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge: A Study in Psychological Realism

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge: a Study in Psychological Realism

• Categories: An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Realism

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Words: 757 |

Published: Jun 6, 2024

Words: 757 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Narrative structure and temporal distortion, imagery and sensory detail, the illusion of reality.

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