Odysseus's Journey Home Quiz

Odysseus's Journey Home

• Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, returns to his homeland after ten years fighting in the Trojan War.
• Odysseus and his crew face a series of challenges, including encounters with monstrous creatures, deadly storms, and treacherous islands.
• After leaving Troy, Odysseus and his men sail to Ismara, a Thracian town, to replenish supplies, but are attacked and forced to flee.
• Odysseus encounters the Lotus-Eaters, a people who offer a drug that makes people forget their past and desire to stay on the island.
• Odysseus confronts the cyclops Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, who imprisons and devours his crew.
• Odysseus blinds Polyphemus, and escapes the cyclops' cave after tricking him with the name "Nobody".
• By revealing his true name Odysseus, Polyphemus tells his father Poseidon of his blinding.
• Poseidon places a curse on Odysseus, guaranteeing that he will lose all but one of his men and wander the seas for ten years.
• Odysseus encounters Aeolia, the floating island of the king Aeolus, who offers him a bag of winds for his journey.
• Odysseus's men, believing the bag contains riches, open it, unleashing all the winds and driving the ship backward.
• King Aeolus refuses to aid Odysseus due to a divine curse.
• In Laestrygonia, Odysseus's scouts are eaten by the giant cannibals, destroying all but one of his ships.
• Odysseus then meets Circe, a beautiful witch, on the island of Aeaea, who transforms his men into pigs.
• Odysseus is warned by Hermes about Circe's enchantments and is given moly, a magic herb, to resist them.
• Odysseus forces Circe to revert his men to their human form, and stays with her on the island for a year.
• Circe advises Odysseus to seek the counsel of Tiresias, a blind prophet, in the Underworld.
• Odysseus visits the Underworld and learns from Tiresias about the dangers ahead, including the cattle of Helios.
• Odysseus and his men are lured by the Sirens' mesmerizing songs, but Odysseus successfully resists their allure by being tied to his ship's mast.
• The Sirens commit suicide due to Odysseus's defiance.
• Odysseus and his crew land on the island of Thrinacia, home to Helios’ cattle, and his men, starving after a month-long storm, disobey Odysseus's orders and kill the cattle.
• The sun god Helios, furious about the slaughter of his herd, forces Zeus to destroy Odysseus's ship, killing all but Odysseus himself.
• Odysseus survives for nine days and nights on the remains of his ship before washing ashore on the island of Ogygia.
• Odysseus is held captive for seven years by the goddess Calypso, who attempts to make him immortal and keep him on the island.
• Athena seeks Zeus's intervention to free Odysseus from Calypso.
• Calypso grants Odysseus freedom to return home and helps him build a raft.
• Poseidon, once again, creates a storm to destroy Odysseus's raft.
• Odysseus washes ashore naked on the island of Phaeacia, where he meets King Alcinous, Queen Arete, and their daughter Nausicaa.
• The Phaeacians, having heard Odysseus’ story, provide him with a new ship, a crew, and gifts to ensure his safe return to Ithaca.
• Athena warns Odysseus that his homeland is not as he left it and advises him to disguise himself as a beggar.
• Odysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise, finding his palace filled with suitors vying for his wife Penelope's hand.
• Odysseus stays with his loyal servant Eumaeus, while Penelope stalls her suitors by pretending to weave a burial shroud.
• Odysseus is reunited with his son Telemachus.
• Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, participates in a competition to win Penelope's hand, using his own bow to shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads, proving his identity.
• Odysseus and Telemachus kill all the suitors, regaining their home.
• Odysseus reveals his true identity to Penelope and is finally reunited with his wife.