The Odyssey Homer

The Odyssey by Homer

Part OneSupplemental Vocabulary

Epithet•A word or phrase used to

describe someone

•Zeus the lord of the cloud

Epic Simile• An epic simile is an extended simile

developed over several lines.

• Example:

Example• Having a snow day is like a day at the beach.

I can lounge on my sofa as if it were my multicolored stripped beach chair. I can close my eyes and listen to my favorite television shows as if it were the waves crashing upon the shore. It is total peace and relaxation as I drift to sleep to all of the sounds around me.

Invocation• A serious request.• A prayer asking for help.

• The Odyssey begins with an invocation on page 595 (blue) the poet asks for inspiration in telling the story of his hero…it also gives a brief summary of the hero’s adventures

Muse•One of the goddesses who

preside over the arts.

Part One

Vocabulary

Seventeen words! Know them!

Formidable

•Adjective•Very impressive•Men hold me formidable.

Guile•Noun•Cunning• Slyness•Men hold me formidable

for guile in peace and war.

Muster (ed)•Verb• To gather•All ships’ companies

mustered alongside for the midday meal.

Indifferent•Adjective•Without interest in

Victual (vital)•Noun•Food•A wineskin full I brought

along and victuals in a bag.

Civility•Noun•Politeness•…a wild man, ignorant of

civility.

Appall (ed)•Adjective•Horrified•We cried aloud, lifting our

hands to Zeus, powerless, looking at this, appalled…

Ponderous• Adjective• Extremely heavy thoughts•…we could never move his

ponderous doorway slab inside.

Lugger (lagger)• Noun• A small sailing vessel

Profusion• Noun• An abundance

Shipwright• Noun• Carpenter who builds or repairs

ships• I leaned on it turning it as a

shipwright turns a drill.

Smithy• Noun• A workshop where metal is

heated and worked

• In a smithy one sees a white-hot axhead or an adz.

Adz•Noun•An ax-like tool

Hale•Adjective • Strong•… the way they make soft

iron hale.

Mammoth • Adjective• Gigantic• Out of the cave the mammoth

Polyphemus roared in answer:

Breach •Noun•An opening or gap (in a

wall)

Titanic• Adjective• Huge

Part One Vocabulary

•“The Sirens”, “Scylla and Charybdis”, “The Cattle of the Sun God”

Nymph•Noun•A nature goddess

Brace (s)•Noun•Rope used to swing or

secure the sails of a ship

Plumb•Adverb•Exactly

Ardor•Noun•Great passion; emotional

warmth

Founder (ing)•Verb•To sink

Comber (s)•Noun• Large ocean wave

Travail •Noun•Agony

Spume•Noun •Foam or froth

Blanch (ed)•Verb•To pale

Grapple•Noun•A grip

Appease

•Verb•To satisfy

Supplication

•Noun•A humble prayer or request

Insidious•Adjective•Treacherous

Entrails•Noun• Internal organs of humans

or animals

Tripe•Noun• The stomach lining of

cattle used as food

Overweening•Adjective•Overbearing

Restitution•Noun•The making good or paying for damage or loss

Forestay(s)

•Noun•A rope supporting the

front mast of a ship

Bilge•Noun• The water around the

lower part of a ship

Contentious•Adjective•Quarrelsome; ready to argue