Study Guide Answer Key: Book 9

Use the answers to the questions below as a guide to evaluate student understanding.  Use the Pronouncing Glossary at the back of The Odyssey if you need help with names and places.

What is Ilium?

Troy

What mistake do Odysseus’s men make at Ismarus? What are the consequences?

They do not leave after their initial victory. They lose six men per ship in battle.

How does Odysseus intervene with his crewmen’s lotus addictions?

He ties them up and stows them under the rowing benches.

Who is Maron? What important gift does he give Odysseus?

Maron is a priest of Apollo rescued by Odysseus. The most important gift he gives Odysseus is some very strong wine.

What is the Cyclops’s civilization like?

They are “lawless brutes.” They do not really have a civilization. Their food grows wild. They do not have government (council). Their land is not cultivated and they live in caves. They do not fear or revere the gods.

What do the crewmen want to do when they see the cave? Why does Odysseus insist on staying?

The crewmen want to steal food and leave. Odysseus wants to stay to see what gifts he will be given.

Why doesn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops when he first has the chance?

He realizes that he would never be able to get the door open on his own. 

What guest gift does the Cyclops give Odysseus for telling him his “name”?

The Cyclops promises to eat him last.

How do Odysseus and his men get out of the cave?

They cling to the bottom of sheep.

What major mistake does Odysseus make?

He tells Polyphemus his real name. With that information, Polyphemus is able to pray to Poseidon for vengeance.