Odyssey Book 7

By Corey Wieczorek

In the beginning of the chapter Athena diguises herself as a young girl. Why do you think she does this? Why not just reveal herself to Odysseus? Why does Athena tell the story of Queen Arete's ancestory? How is that useful or relavent to Odysseus? It it strange that the king married his niece? What does that show about Ancient Greek culture? Why is it important for Homer/the storyteller to describe in detail the splendor of the palace? Was it strange for Odysseus to appeal specifically to the queen instead of the king? What does this show about the importance of the queen's approval in the palace? Why does Homer/the storyteller use Odysseus to recount what we read in previous chapters? What is the value in retelling what just happened? Feel free to answer any or all of these questions.

The Odyssey Book 6

Hello everyone,

In this book, Odysseus awoke on distant shores in the land of the Phaeacians. There, the princess Nausicaa and her band of bathing handmaidens encountered the lost Odysseus. He quickly sweet talked them and convinced them to help him on his journey home. Not only this, but Athena intervenes, so surely enough, Nausicaa begins to fall in love with him. The chapter ends with the image of an angry Poseidon.

Questions: How exactly does Athena interfere in Odysseus' affairs in this particular chapter? What effects will this have on the inhabitants of Phaeacia? Furthermore, look at the use of language in this book. How does it complement the storyline? Also, name some epithets of characters. Take the king, for example. Lastly, why are there always handmaidens that are beautiful but slightly less so than the princess they escort? How does this reflect on Greek culture?

Book 5 Question

When all of the Gods gathered to decide Odysseus's fate, how do you think the Gods should have punished Odysseus? Do you think that his punishment was fair? Why or why not? Do you think it was fair of Zeus to take away Odysseus who Calypso loved? When the Gods gather to decide to let Odysseus go, do you think that it was unfair that they did not let Poseidon know what they were doing and do you think that they could have waited until he returned? Finally do you think that it was the right decision to let Odysseus go free? 

Secrets of Dactylic Hexameter Revealed!

The Odyssey is written in a meter called dactylic hexameter. Remember Shakespeare's iambic pentameter? This is similar.

You might think of pterodactyls, or you might think of hexagons, or your eyes might just glaze over when you hear the phrase "dactylic hexameter."

You're actually right about the pterodactyls; their name is Greek for winged (pteró) fingers (daktylos). The daktylos part is what we need to remember right now.


You're right about the hexagon part too —"hex" is Greek for six, of course. That six-sided shape has something in common with the ancient Greek metrical scheme, which is made up of six "feet," or rhythmic units per line (just as iambic pentameter was made up of five — think pentagon).

Here's the thing about fingers: look at your pointer finger:
Notice it has one long section and two short ones. This is your clue to the dactyl part of dactylic hexameter:

The rhythm goes like this: long-short-short / long-short-short / long-short-short, etc. There are six "feet" in one line of Homeric verse — six, as in "hex."

But there's a trick at the end of the line! Just as all our fingers don't have three sections, neither do the feet of dactylic hexameter. The last foot is a thumb, otherwise known as a "spondee." How many sections in a thumb? Two — just like a spondee, which has two beats, usually long-long.

So, in short, dactylic hexameter is a metrical scheme in poetry which is made up of six (hex) feet, most of which are dactyls (like fingers: long-short-short).

Here's a mnemonic device for you: the very word "poetry" is itself a dactyl (thanks to Will Shortz of NY Times Crossword fame for, er, pointing this out).