Study Questions: Odyssey 5-10
(Stanley Lombardo Translation)
For Monday, February 01, 2021
(Prepare the questions that match the last digit of your student ID #)
Important Words:
XENIA ‘HOSPITALITY’ (ξενία, ΞΕΝΙΑ)
NOSTOS ‘HOMECOMING’ (νόστος, ΝΟΣΤΟΣ)
KLEOS ‘FAME, GLORY, RENOWN’ (κλέος, ΚΛΕΟΣ)
DOLOS ‘TRICKERY, CLEVERNESS’ (δόλος, ΔΟΛΟΣ)
METIS ‘CUNNING INTELLIGENCE’ (μῆτις, ΜΗΤΙΣ)
ANAGNORISIS ‘RECOGNITION’ (ἀναγνώρισις, ΑΝΑΓΝΩΡΙΣΙΣ)
ODYSSEY 5
1. What was Calypso doing when Hermes found her, and what does that tell us about the pastimes of nymphs? How did Calypso recognize Hermes? How was Hermes dressed? [Image: Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus: Gerard de Lairesse c. 1670.]
2. How does Calypso offer XENIA to Hermes? Image: Jacob Jordaens ‘Hemes entertained by Calypso’. Antwerp 1593-1678.
3. What remark does Hermes make that reminds us that he is a greedy god?
4. What is Calypso’s attitude towards the other gods — when she hears why Hermes has come? What mythological exempla does she cite?
5. Why does Odysseus elicit an oath from Calypso? What does this tell us about Odysseus’ outlook on life?
6. How does Odysseus’ meal (sitting in the chair where Hermes had sat) compare with that of Hermes, and why?
7. What does Odysseus tell Calypso before they go to bed and make love?
8. When Poseidon’s storm is overwhelming Odysseus, he wishes he had died in Troy. Why does he express that thought?
9. How did the White Goddess Ino help Odysseus? [Image: Hans Meyer engraving, 1881] What pun does she make on Odysseus’ name (5.341)? Who had made this same pun in book 1 (68)? Who makes the same pun at 5.426?
10. What is Odysseus’ first reaction to Ino’s gift of the veil? What does this tell us about Odysseus’ outlook on life?
11. Why does Odysseus pray to the “Riverlord” (448)? Why do you think that the river heeds him without an offer of a quid pro quo?
ODYSSEY 6
12. At the beginning of Book 6 when Athena visits Nausicaa at night, into what does the goddess metamorphose herself, and why?
13. How does Homer describe Mt. Olympus in Odyssey book 6?
14. To which goddess does Homer compare Nausicaa as she plays with her girlfriends?
Ulysses and Nausicaa. 1888 Jean Veber
15. To which goddess does the naked Odysseus compare Nausicaa? To what non-human thing does he compare her? How are these two related? (149ff)
16. What wish does Odysseus make for Nausicaa? How can this be seen as a wish for himself? (183)
17. How does Athena help Odysseus “dress for success,” and how successful is she?
18. What does Nausicaa tell Odysseus that he must do in order to win his way back to his homeland? What does this tell us about gender roles in the palace of Scheria?
19. Why does Athena not appear face-to-face to Odysseus yet?
ODYSSEY 7
20. Is there anything remarkable about the palace of Alcinous and Arete and its environs? If so,what? Do you get the sense that this is a ‘normal’ Homeric royal dwelling?
21. How is xenia for Odysseus displayed in the Palace of Alcinous?
22. What is dangerous about Arete’s questions (line 255 “And who gave you these clothes?”)
23. Why do you think that Alcinous wishes for Odysseus as his son-in-law before even finding out his name or origin?
ODYSSEY 8
24. How does the bard (aoidos) Demodocus on Scheria compare and contrast with the bard Phemius on Ithaca (book 1.163, 342-373)?
25. What are the themes of the three songs which Demodocus sings? What is Odysseus’ reaction to each one? How are his reactions to the songs important for the narrative?
26. What athletic events are included in the Phaeacian games?
27. How does the rudeness of Euryalus prompt Odysseus to action (174 ff)?
28. What four things does Alcinous say the Phaeacians are famous for?
29. Demodocus’ song of the love of Ares and Aphrodite can be seen as a parallel and paradigm for Odysseus. How so?
30. What are the gender roles on Olympus when it comes to looking at a naked couple in bed? (346ff)
31. What do you think Nausicaa’s emotions are when she wishes Odysseus good luck? (497)
32. Comment on the simile that compares Odysseus’ reaction to the Trojan Horse story with a woman weeping for her husband (564ff).
33. How is the scene where the song makes Odysseus cry (540-578) similar to that one in book 1, which shows Penelope’s reaction to Phemius’ song (343ff)? What does this tell us about song?
ODYSSEY 9
34. How does Odysseus introduce his name to the Phaeacians?
35. What prompts Odysseus to explore Polyphemus’ cave?
36. How are the laws of xenia parodied in the Cyclops scene?
37. Who is to blame for the death of Odysseus’ men at the hands of the Cyclops? Why?
_______________________________________________________________
Here is a vase painting with a scene from Odyssey 9. Can you identify it with anything you read in the text? Are there differences from the text? _____________________________________________________________
ODYSSEY 10
38. Why does the wind god Aeolus not grant Odysseus and his men hospitality upon their second arrival at the floating island?
39. What kind of xenia do Odysseus’ men encounter among the Laestrygonians?
40. How is Circe like Calypso? How is she different?
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