About
A retelling of part of the Odyssey in which Odysseus and his fleet continue their journey and encounter giant cannibals, a beautiful witch, and the Land of the Dead.
Read one section at a time, then discuss the questions to review understanding. These questions are a starting place for conversation, not a complete test of the chapter.
Chapter 1
Comprehension questions
What’s a vision?
Page 12 — the act or power of seeing
12
What caused Odysseus to anchor his ship away from the others?
Page 14 — He had a bad feeling
14
How did listening to his feelings save him?
Page 18 — The other men were destroyed by the giants
18
Chapter 2
Comprehension questions
What gave Odysseus’s men hope in this chapter?
Page 25 — The gods provided a large deer for food and Odysseus spoke encouraging to them
25
Chapter 3
Comprehension questions
What did Odysseus mean when he told his men to “harness their fears”?
Page 29 — Control their fears and not panic
29
Why were the men following Eurylochus so anxious and frightened?
Page 30 — They were terrified to come upon monsters
30
Describe Eurylochus’s adventure.
Page 34 — He and his men came to a stone wall and went through the gate; they came upon wolves and lions that didn’t attack but were like pets; they came to the inner courtyard of a palace and heard a woman singing and saw her weaving at a loom in the window; she beckoned the men to come in and they all went in except for Eurylochus; she turned those men into pigs
34
Chapter 4
Comprehension questions
What responsibility did Odysseus feel toward the men that were pigs?
Page 41 — They were his men, and he knew he needed to save them
41
Define courage.
Page 43 — mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty
43
Describe the strange man and how he helped Odysseus.
Page 43 — The god Hermes; he gave Odysseus an herb and told him how to protect himself from Circe the enchantress
43
Chapter 5
Comprehension questions
Why did Circe finally free Odysseus’s men?
Page 53 — He demanded it
53
What softened Circe and persuaded her to host all of Odysseus’s men?
Page 54 — The brotherly love the men had for him and each other
54
What did Odysseus decide at the end of this chapter?
Page 58 — To linger with Circe until he and his men were strong enough to travel
58
Chapter 6
Comprehension questions
Why was Odysseus unhappy with Circe’s explanation of how to get home?
Page 62 — He needed to go see Tiresias on the land of the dead
62
How did Circe assist Odysseus and his men at the end of this chapter?
Page 67 — She filled the sails with wind and sent the boat flying over the waves
67
Chapter 7
Comprehension questions
Why was Odysseus horrified to see his mother in the land of the dead?
Page 72 — If she was there, it meant she had died
72
Chapter 8
Comprehension questions
What instructions did Tiresias give to Odysseus?
Page 76 — How to get home; they can’t touch any sheep or cattle as they come to an island, or they will perish
76
Describe Odysseus’s conversation with his mother?
Page 81 — It was sad for him; he learned of her death from a broken heart and the status of his other family members
81
Chapter 9
Comprehension questions
Summarize what happens in this chapter?
Page 83 — Odysseus allowed other spirits to drink from the trench and he saw and talked to great men of the past; then he went back to his ship and sailed for home
83
Describe two spirits Odysseus saw.
Page 83 — Agamemnon-high king of the Greek forces during the Trojan war; Achilles-bravest of all Greeks; Tantalus-a king whose great pride shared the gods; Sisyphus-a cruel king whom the gods had condemned to forever roll a huge rock uphill; Heracles-a great warrior
83
Why was Odysseus grateful when he left the land of the dead?
Page 92 — That he was still among the living
92
Word reference: venture
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Worksheets
Practice sheets with space to write your answers.
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