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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Athena's message for in Chapter 23?

2. Who comes to Aiaia with a message from Athena in Chapter 23?

3. What does Circe name her son?

4. What does Telegonus tell Odysseus before Odysseus dies?

5. What does Telemachus actually do with the slave girls who had laid with the suitors?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Circe keep Telemachus safe as they face Scylla?

2. How does Telemachus reply to Athena when she makes her request of him?

3. What does Circe think Athena must feel when her son Telegonus says he will go to Italy in Telemachus's place?

4. What kinds of stories does Odysseus tell Circe about his life during Chapter 16?

5. In Chapter 24, what does Telegonus tell Circe he is surprised about having to do with her protective spell on Aiaia that keeps the gods out?

6. What does Penelope teach Telegonus to do that he had never been able to do before?

7. What does Penelope ask Circe for to help her mourn for her husband?

8. What does Circe suspect the gods of doing to torment her during childbirth?

9. What does Athena want Telemachus to do when she visits him on Aiaia?

10. What is Circe's most significant act of transformation, which she preforms on herself in Chapter 27, meant to achieve?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From the first ship bearing Daedalus to the small ship Circe finally leaves Aiaia on with Telemachus centuries later, ships play an important role in the action of this novel. Write an essay analyzing the symbolism of ships in Circe.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing how both Aetees's and Helios's indifference to Circe contributes to her own expectations for how she deserves to be treated by other men she meets later in life.

Essay Topic 3

What lessons do Circe, other gods, and mortals learn about the role of prophecies and the fates during the course of the novel? Is there any instance in which a character or characters seem to have been able to change the outcome of a prophecy? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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