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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

2. Penelope learns about the suitors' plan for Telemachus from a page, but what does she learn from her sister's phantom?
(a) Telemachus is wise beyond his years.
(b) Telemachus isn't coming back.
(c) Telemachus is bringing an army.
(d) Telemachus is guided by Athene.

3. When captured by Menelaus, who had been stuck for 20 days, what did this being reveal to him to get his freedom?
(a) Menelaus is told how to get Helen back.
(b) Menelaus is told how to get vengeance for his brother.
(c) Menelaus is told how to get home and acquire more treasure.
(d) Menelaus is told how to get home, as well as the fate of three of his friends.

4. What does Aeolus give Odysseus in Book 10?
(a) A warning.
(b) A talent of gold.
(c) A nine year ox.
(d) A sack holding the winds.

5. How does Athene reveal herself to the men gathered at Nestor's palace?
(a) She transforms into an osprey before their eyes.
(b) She transforms into a heifer before their eyes.
(c) She transforms into a horse before their eyes.
(d) She transforms into mist before their eyes.

6. Which of his six remaining sons does Nestor send with Telemachus in Book 3?
(a) Perseus.
(b) Arteus.
(c) Peisistratus.
(d) Thrasymedes.

7. After leaving the lotus-eaters, what do Odysseus and his ships find in Book 9?
(a) A land of man-eating giants.
(b) A highly populated island filled with warlike people.
(c) The pleasant island of Circe.
(d) An unspoiled land filled with goats.

8. 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.

9. How long have the suitors been coming to Odysseus' home?
(a) Four years.
(b) A couple of years.
(c) Six years.
(d) More than three years.

10. Telemachus is overrun with ________, who sponge off of him and his estate, making no amends.
(a) Sailors.
(b) Relatives.
(c) Soldiers.
(d) Suitors.

11. What is the subject of Demodocus' first song at Alcinous' feast in Book 8?
(a) The deeds and misdeeds of the gods.
(b) The famous quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles.
(c) The end of the Trojan war.
(d) The tragic end of Agamemnon.

12. Why, despite taking an oath, does Odysseus' crew slay some cattle of the Sun?
(a) They're bored.
(b) They don't care about the warning Odysseus issued.
(c) Eurylochus says that Odysseus is keeping the cattle for himself.
(d) They've run out of food.

13. According to Halitherses in Book 2, how long will Odysseus be gone before he returns to his friends and family?
(a) Seven years.
(b) Twenty years.
(c) Ten years.
(d) Eighteen years.

14. Helen and Menelaus tell tales of Odysseus' exploits in Troy. What story does Menelaus tell?
(a) Menelaus gives Odysseus credit for gaining access and intelligence of Troy in the first place.
(b) Menelaus gives Odysseus credit forbuilding the horse so they wouldn't be detected.
(c) Menelaus gives Odysseus credit for keeping the men still and quiet inside the horse.
(d) Menelaus gives Odysseus credit for contriving of the horse

15. Where is Odysseus at the beginning of the poem?
(a) Taphos.
(b) Ithaca.
(c) Ogygia.
(d) Pylos.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which word best describes Odysseus' initial reaction when Calypso offers to help him in Book 5?

2. What is special about the cattle and flocks of the Sun?

3. How many days does it take Odysseus to make his preparations and finally leave Ogygia?

4. Who interrupts Phemius' sad song of the Achaeans in Book 1?

5. Why doesn't the other Cyclops help Polyphemus in Book 9?

(see the answer keys)

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