Answer these questions in complete sentences that reflect depth of thought. Answers should be paragraphs, some being longer than others should. Some answers will be strengthened by quotes from the text.
1.Homer begins his story en medias res (in the middle) and then goes back and provides us with some background of the Trojan War. How does Agamemnon’s story compare with Odysseus’s and how could this comparison foreshadow events in Odysseus’s life?
2.How are the themes of faithfulness, deception, disguise and identity introduced in this first book?
3.How does Book II begin to highlight Telemachus’s transformation from youth to man?
4.Women introduced in this book as perhaps being cunning or deceptive. How?
5.Book III opens by showing reverence to the Gods. How? Why is this so important in their society?
6.How does this book illustrate the custom of hospitality?
7.Book IV introduces a common technique in Homer’s text known as a story within a story. At one point, we have a story within a story within a story, almost like Russian dolls. How is this illustrated? In addition, Homer uses something known as intertextuality. Introducing texts outside of the Odyssey that readers (listeners in Homer’s time) would have already been familiar. Explain where in the book this happens.
8.Infidelity is introduced in this chapter. Do we forgive Odysseus or blame him? Find quotes from Odysseus which supports your answer.
Sample Solution