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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the purpose of Telemachus' quest?
(a) He has to appeal to the gods for help.
(b) He has to assemble an army of heroes.
(c) He has to find Odysseus.
(d) He is to find word or rumor about Odysseus and his fate.

2. As a result of the meeting of the assembly in Book 2, what do the suitors decide to do?
(a) It's time to go home.
(b) To court other women, too.
(c) It's time to give something back to Telemachus and his estate.
(d) Continue behaving as they have been.

3. Why was Menelaus late returning from Troy?
(a) His pilot died.
(b) They endured rough seas and wind.
(c) They were pirating.
(d) All of the answers are correct.

4. As Odysseus and his men push away from the Cyclops island, what does Odysseus do?
(a) He taunts Polyphemus.
(b) He mourns the loss of his crewmen.
(c) He prays to the gods for deliverance.
(d) He spurs his crew to go faster.

5. Why doesn't the other Cyclops help Polyphemus in Book 9?
(a) He never helps anyone else.
(b) Polyphemus said "No man is murdering me."
(c) They couldn't get past the boulder guarding the opening of his cave.
(d) He always screams, so they didn't believe him.

6. What is Nestor doing when Telemachus arrives in Pylos?
(a) He is holding a feast in honor of Athene.
(b) He is holding a feast in honor of Poseidon.
(c) He is holding a feast in honor of Hermes.
(d) He is holding a feast in honor of Zeus.

7. What advice does Circe give Odysseus regarding Scylla and Charybdis?
(a) Flight is best.
(b) Take down Scylla with the mast of his ship.
(c) Ply these monsters with a few of his crew.
(d) Odysseus will need lots of courage.

8. Why does Odysseus have to go to Hades in Book 10?
(a) To see Teiresias who will tell him how to get home.
(b) He must see Hades and Persephone to ask for help.
(c) He must see the fallen heroes to ask for advice.
(d) It's the gateway home.

9. While Telemachus is in Lycaedaemon, what plan do the suitors devise to punish Telemachus for leaving?
(a) To steal all his goods.
(b) To discredit him in Ithaca.
(c) To kill him on the open sea.
(d) To take Penelope away.

10. To whom does Odysseus pray while in the meadow awaiting the appropriate time to arrive at the palace in Book 6?
(a) Poseidon.
(b) Apollo.
(c) Athene.
(d) Zeus.

11. Where is Poseidon coming from when he sees Odysseus on his raft in Book 5?
(a) Egypt.
(b) Mt. Olympus.
(c) Ethiopia.
(d) Libya.

12. Having left Ogygia and survived Poseidon's attack, what is Odysseus' new problem, now that he spots land?
(a) The sea is deep as it ends abruptly on the steep bluff.
(b) All answers are correct.
(c) There is no safe harbor.
(d) The coast is a bluff and jagged reefs.

13. Who killed Aegisthus for the murder of Agamemnon?
(a) Orestes.
(b) Atreus.
(c) Menelaus.
(d) Nestor.

14. Where is Telemachus going during this journey?
(a) Ephyra and Crete.
(b) Pylos and Ephryra.
(c) Sparta and Pylos.
(d) Sparta and Taphos.

15. How does the Cyclops in Book 9 show hospitality?
(a) He offers them food, wine, and a place to sleep.
(b) He dashes two men's brains out and eats them.
(c) He offers them food and wine.
(d) He gives them the stranger's gift.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color yarn does Nausicaa's mother spin?

2. What does Menelaus first reveal regarding Odysseus when Telemachus tells Menelaus who he is and the purpose of his visit?

3. Why did Odysseus and Ajax fight?

4. What does Mentes tell Telemachus in Book 1 that he must do?

5. How many times has the meeting of the assembly occurred since Odysseus left?

(see the answer keys)

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