History Slays: the Iliad and Odyssey Comprehension Questions

Who is credited with writing the Iliad and Odyssey?

When does the Iliad take place?

What is the Iliad?

Hint: The historian says it!

Who throws the apple into the crowd and demands the most beautiful goddess must be chosen?

Which goddess does Paris choose as the most beautiful?

What is Paris given as a gift for choosing her?

Why does the Trojan War begin?

Why does Achilles refuse to fight anymore?

True or False: When Achilles refused to fight, the other soldiers didn't want to fight without him.

Who dresses in Achilles armor to attack the Trojan soldiers? (He is killed by Hector)

True or False: Achilles mother is the goddess of the sky.

True or False: Hephaestus makes new armor for Achilles to protect him.

True or False: After killing Hector, Achilles ties Hector's body to a chariot and drags it around the walls of Troy.

Achilles is mostly immortal. Explain.

True or False: The Greeks pretend to retreat and leave behind a giant wooden fox.

True or False: The Greeks win the Trojan war.

True or False: Odysseus was the king of Ithaca.

Why do the men throw the gemstones overboard?

The men consider taking over the ship because...

True or False: The men rushed to the cave because they smelled roast lamb.

How does Polyphemus kill two of the soldiers?

What name does Odysseus give Polyphemus when he asks for his name?

True or False: The men get Polyphemus drunk. After he falls asleep they stab him in the eye and blind him.

How do the men get out of the cave?

True or False: The king gave Odysseus a sack of winds that should only be open in an emergency. However, his men waited for him to fall asleep and opened the bag, which sent them further from their home.

What happens to Odysseus's men when they go into Circe's (the beautiful lady's) house house?

What god appears to Odysseus and gives him a magic flower to protect him from Circe?

True or False: To make sure his men are not drawn into the water by the Sirens, Odysseus ties all of his men to the mast of the boat.

What causes the boat to be destroyed, leaving only Odysseus alive?

True or False: All of the men die except Odysseus.

True or False: Odysseus stayed on the island with Calypso for five years.

True or False: Odysseus eventually makes it home to his wife and son.