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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. What is Penelope's reason for wanting to come to Aiaia?

2. How old is Telegonus when he accepts Athena's offer?

3. What does Circe once tell Telemachus about family?

4. What is Circe's hope for her transformation as the book ends?

5. What does Odysseus ask Telemachus to do with the slave girls who had laid with the suitors?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 22, what does Telemachus tell Circe he and his mother, Penelope, had to endure while Odysseus was away at the wars?

2. What happens to Circe during her pregnancy in Chapter 18?

3. What does Circe use as leverage against Helios when she summons him to ask him to lift her exile in Chapter 25?

4. What does Telemachus tell Circe about his father Odysseus's behavior when he returned from the wars to Ithaca?

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

6. What happens to Telegonus on Ithaca?

7. In Chapter 16, why does Odysseus at first refuse to eat Circe's food?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Circe speaks, in her first-person narration, of her own recklessness as the novel progresses. Choose two or three instances in which Circe takes risks or engages in what she herself cites as reckless behavior and write an essay about her motivations and the results of her actions.

Essay Topic 3

After some initial and understandable awkwardness, Circe and Penelope, Odysseus's wife, cultivate something that approaches affection and friendship. Write an essay comparing and contrasting Circe's and Penelope's traits, and explain why the two women were able to find common ground despite the difficulties of their connection.

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