AnswersOnline ELA 9 - AThe Odyssey and Epic Poetry: An Introduction, Part 1

The Odyssey: Central Ideas and Character Motivation, Part 2 Answers

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Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.'AyeHe'll smash our timbers and our heads together!'I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled:'Cyclops,if ever mortal man inquirehow you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes' son, whose home's on Ithaca!'

A
anger and pride
B
gratitude and relief
C
weakness and fear
D
joy and excitement
2
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Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.At this he gave a mighty sob and rumbled: 'Now comes the weird upon me, spoken of old.A wizard, grand and wondrous, lived here—Telemus,a son of Euryinus; great length of dayshe had in wizardry among the Cyclopes,and these things he foretold for time to come: my great eye lost, and at Odysseus' hands.Always I had in mind some giant, armed in giant force, would come against me here.But this, but you—small, pitiful and twiggy—you put me down with wine, you blinded me. Come back, Odysseus, and I'll treat you well, praying the god of earthquake to befriend you—his son I am, for he by his avowalfathered me, and if he will, he mayheal me of this black wound—he and no other of all the happy gods or mortal men.’

A
He is trying to regain his sight and avenge himself upon Odysseus.
B
He wants to obey the Greek custom of providing food and shelter to guests.
C
He fears far more harm will come to him if does not befriend Odysseus.
D
He wants to take revenge on Odysseus.
3

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Neither reply nor pity came from him, but in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor. Then he dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion—everything: innards, flesh, and marrow bones.

A
He has gone hungry for a very long time.
B
He is savage and brutal like a wild animal.
C
He is terrified of Odysseus and his men.
D
He is very similar to his father, Poseidon.
4

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Then,his chores being all dispatched, he caught another brace of men to make his breakfast, and whisked away his great door slab to let his sheep go through—but he, behind,reset the stone as one would cap a quiver.

A
the door slab to the Cyclops’ sheep
B
the stone to a quiver
C
a brace of men to breakfast
D
the Cyclops’ chores to the men
5

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.'We are from Troy, Achaeans, blown off courseby shifting gales on the Great South Sea;homeward bound, but taking routes and ways uncommon; so the will of Zeus would have it.We served under Agamemnon, son of Atreus—the whole world knows what cityhe laid waste, what armies he destroyed.It was our luck to come here; here we stand, beholden for your help, or any giftsyou give—as custom is to honor strangers.We would entreat you, great Sir, have a carefor the gods' courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.'He answered thisfrom his brute chest, unmoved:'You are a ninny,or else you come from the other end of nowhere,telling me, mind the gods! We Cyclopes care not a whistle for your thundering Zeusor all the gods in bliss; we have more force by far.I would not let you go for fear of Zeus—you or your friends—unless I had a whim to.

A
He lives in fear of Zeus and all the rest of the Greek gods.
B
He sided and fought with the Trojans during the war.
C
He is eager to provide food and shelter to his guests.
D
He does not live by the same rules and customs as the Greeks.
6

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.'My ship?Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a-tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land's end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I.'

A
Odysseus knows that Poseidon is the Cyclops’ father.
B
Odysseus is afraid the Cyclops will steal their ship.
C
Odysseus does not want to reveal their only means of escape.
D
Odysseus does not know what has happened to his ship.
7

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.As in a smithyone sees a white-hot axehead or an adzeplunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam–the way they make soft iron hale and hard—:just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.

A
that the Cyclops only has one eye.
B
how brutal Odysseus and his men are.
C
the size of the wooden spear.
D
how hot the spear actually is.
8

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Then,his chores being all dispatched, he caught another brace of men to make his breakfast, and whisked away his great door slab to let his sheep go through—but he, behind,reset the stone as one would cap a quiver.

A
the Cyclops has eaten another bunch of Odysseus’s men.
B
Odysseus and his men are still trapped inside the cave.
C
the enormous stone is easily and routinely moved by the giant Cyclops.
D
the Cyclops takes his sheep out to pasture with him in the mornings.
9

Which excerpts contain examples of epic similes? Select 3 options.

A
"…its crackling roots blazed and hissed –as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens – that's the iron's strength – so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round that stake."
B
Or are you wandering rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage other folk by sea?'
C
Then he dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion—everything: innards, flesh, and marrow bones.
D
When the young Dawn with finger tips of rose lit up the world, the Cyclops built a fire and milked his handsome ewes, all in due order, putting the sucklings to the mothers.
10

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Here are the means I thought would serve my turn:a club, or staff, lay there along the fold—an olive tree, felled green and left to season for Cyclops' hand. And it was like a mast a lugger of twenty oars, broad in the beam—a deep-sea-going craft—might carry: so long, so big around, it seemed.

A
like a deep-sea-going ship or vessel
B
like an olive tree, just felled and still green
C
like the Cyclops, large and wide
D
like the mast of an enormously large ship
11

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.but Cyclops went on filling up his bellywith manflesh and great gulps of whey,then lay down like a mast among his sheep.

A
the Cyclops and the mast of a ship
B
the Cyclops’ belly and his sheep
C
manflesh and gulps of whey
D
a mast and a flock of sheep
12

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Neither reply nor pity came from him, but in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor.

A
how helpless Odysseus’s men are in the clutches of the Cyclops.
B
how violently and uncivilized the Cyclops behaves himself.
C
that Cyclops is enormous in comparison to Odysseus and his men.
D
that there is no possible escape for Odysseus and his men.
13

Based on this excerpt, what inference can be made about Odysseus? Select two options.

A
Odysseus is a careless leader who does not care about the safety of his crew.
B
Odysseus’s curiosity about the Cyclops is stronger than his good judgment.
C
Odysseus wants to see if the Cyclops has anything to give to him and his men.
D
Odysseus is worried about appearing weak in front of his men.
14

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.Why nottake these cheeses, get them stowed, come back,throw open all the pens, and make a run for it?We'll drive the kids and lambs aboard. We sayput out again on good salt water!'Ah,how sound that was! Yet I refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer—no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends.

A
A great leader makes decisions that are good for him, no matter how they affect his men.
B
A great leader listens to his men and considers their thoughts and opinions.
C
A great leader has great self-control and makes sound decisions.
D
A great leader takes risks in order to gain more treasure and learn about foreign lands.
15

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.In the next land we found were Cyclopes, giants, louts, without a law to bless them.In ignorance leaving the fruitage of the earth in mysteryto the immortal gods, they neither plownor sow by hand, nor till the ground, though grain— wild wheat and barley—grows untended, andwine-grapes, in clusters, ripen in heaven's rain.Cyclopes have no muster and no meeting,no consultation or old tribal ways,but each one dwells in his own mountain cave dealing out rough justice to wife and child,indifferent to what the others do.

A
They are hospitable and welcoming to visitors of their homes.
B
They are uncivilized creatures who are potentially dangerous.
C
They will band together against common enemies, if needed.
D
They value education and sophistication above everything else.

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