English Homework Help

1. What do we learn about Odysseus’s character–good and/or bad–from his encounters with female characters on his voyage?

2. What does Odysseus learn, if anything, during his voyage?

3. Study the epic simile in Book XXI (lines 512-521, page 427)) in which Odysseus is likened to a singer or “someone really skilled at playing the lyre.”  What is the significance of this simile?  Are there other places in the epic where Odysseus resembles an artist or artist figure?

4. Why does Athena disguise Odysseus as a beggar?

5. Can we divide characters between good and bad based on their role as hosts? Give some examples.

6. What do you make of Penelope and her reluctance to believe her husband has finally returned?

7. What evidence can you see that Odysseus and Penelope have a good marriage? How is she in her own way a match for her husband?