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ANSWERS

TEST 1

1. C

2. A

3. B

4. B

5. B

6. B

7. A

8. B

9. B

10. B

11. Here are five narrative techniques to discuss:
a. The story begins in medias res, in the middle of things.
b. The use of flashbacks such as when Odysseus recalls his wanderings.
c. The use of dramatic irony, such as when Odysseus returns home in disguise.
d. The use of epithets ("red-haired Menelaos") and epic similes for vividness and characterization, and as a breather for the oral storyteller.
e. The use of repetition, as in the story of Agamemnon.

12. In Book 1 Telemakhos is powerless, boyish, wistful, passive: "sitting there, unhappy among the suitors, a boy, daydreaming." The assembly of citizens will not back him against the suitors.

On his travels Telemakhos gains information about his father, and esteem and rich gifts from Nestor and Menelaos. Helen affirms his manhood with her gift of a marriage robe. He makes Peisistratos his friend, avoids ambush, and returns to fight bravely against the suitors at his father's side.

13. Here is an outline of Odysseus' qualities, which you can develop with examples from the poem.
a. Loyalty: his yearning to return home even after eight years with Kalypso.
b. Intelligence: quick wit (inside the Trojan horse, inside the Kyklopes' cave); invention of stories (to his father, to Eumaios); perceptiveness about people (in approaching Nausikaa and Penelope).
c. Valor: in combatting the Kyklopes, the force of the ocean, the suitors.

14. Here are examples of the triumph of good over evil, which you can work into your essay:
a. Telemakhos overcomes his weakness and passivity.
b. Penelope, through ruse, postpones a decision and thus keeps the greed and arrogance of the suitors in check.
c. Odysseus conquers all obstacles and reasserts himself in Ithaka, restoring the virtues of loyalty and respect for the gods as well as rightful kingship and domestic order.

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