Book XV Practice Quiz — The Odyssey
by Homer — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Book XV
Why does Athena visit Telemachus at the beginning of Book XV?
She tells him to return home to Ithaca immediately, warning that the suitors are plotting to ambush and kill him in the strait between Ithaca and Samos.
What does Athena instruct Telemachus to do when he arrives in Ithaca?
She tells him to send his ship and crew on to the town but go straight to the swineherd Eumaeus, stay the night, and then send Eumaeus to inform Penelope of his safe return.
What three gifts do Menelaus and Helen give Telemachus before he leaves Sparta?
Menelaus gives a golden double cup and a silver mixing-bowl with a gold-inlaid rim (the work of Vulcan). Helen gives an embroidered robe she made herself for his future bride.
Why does Telemachus avoid visiting Nestor at Pylos on his return journey?
He fears the old king will insist on hosting him out of kindness and delay his urgent return to Ithaca. He asks Pisistratus to drop him at his ship instead.
Who is Theoclymenus and why does he seek passage on Telemachus's ship?
He is a seer descended from the prophet Melampus. He is fleeing Argos because he killed a kinsman, and the dead man's relatives are pursuing him.
What does the disguised Odysseus propose to Eumaeus that tests the swineherd's loyalty?
Odysseus says he wants to leave and go beg among the suitors in town. Eumaeus strongly discourages this, insisting the stranger stay at the hut until Telemachus returns.
What is the story of Eumaeus's origins as he tells it to Odysseus?
Eumaeus was born a prince on the island of Syra, kidnapped as a child by Phoenician traders through the treachery of a Phoenician slave woman, and sold to Laertes on Ithaca.
How does Book XV end?
Telemachus arrives in Ithaca, entrusts the seer Theoclymenus to his companion Piraeus, and heads on foot toward Eumaeus's homestead where his disguised father awaits.
How does Helen demonstrate her intelligence when the eagle omen appears?
While Menelaus deliberates on the proper interpretation, Helen speaks first and confidently declares the eagle seizing a goose means Odysseus will return from his wanderings to take revenge on the suitors.
What does Eumaeus reveal about Odysseus's mother Anticlea?
She died of grief over her absent son Odysseus. While alive, she raised Eumaeus alongside her own daughter Ctimene, treating the slave boy with great kindness.
How does Pisistratus show his character when Telemachus wants to leave Sparta immediately?
He counsels patience, saying they cannot drive in the dark and should wait for Menelaus to give proper farewell gifts, reminding Telemachus that a guest should never forget a kind host.
What role does Theoclymenus play when Telemachus reaches Ithaca?
He interprets a hawk tearing a dove as a divine omen meaning Telemachus's house will remain the most royal in Ithaca, reinforcing his function as a prophetic figure.
How does Eumaeus describe the condition of Laertes in Book XV?
He says Laertes is still living but prays for death, terribly distressed by his son's absence and aged beyond his years by grief over his wife's death.
How does the theme of xenia (hospitality) appear in Book XV?
It appears in Menelaus's lavish farewell gifts, Eumaeus's protection of the disguised Odysseus, Telemachus's acceptance of the fugitive Theoclymenus, and Pisistratus's insistence on proper guest protocol.
How does the theme of displacement and slavery connect Eumaeus to the larger epic?
Eumaeus's kidnapping and enslavement mirrors the broader theme of people torn from their homes throughout the epic. His story shows that nobility comes from character, not birth status.
What does Eumaeus's statement about storytelling reveal about a key theme of the epic?
He says a man who has suffered takes pleasure in recalling past sorrows, reflecting the epic's own function as a narrative of suffering and homecoming and how storytelling creates bonds between people.
How does the theme of divine guidance manifest in Book XV?
Athena directly instructs Telemachus to return home, Minerva sends a fair wind for his voyage, and two bird omens from the gods foreshadow Odysseus's return and the suitors' doom.
What literary device is created by having Odysseus sit disguised while Eumaeus describes his family's grief?
Dramatic irony. Odysseus hears about the suffering his absence has caused his own family, while Eumaeus has no idea he is speaking to his master.
How does Homer use parallel narrative structure in Book XV?
He alternates between Telemachus's journey home and Odysseus at Eumaeus's hut, building suspense as the two plotlines converge toward the father-son reunion in Book XVI.
What function does the genealogy of Theoclymenus serve as a literary device?
The detailed genealogy tracing Theoclymenus back to the prophet Melampus follows Homeric convention of establishing credentials through ancestry, validating his authority as a seer.
How do the two bird omens in Book XV function as foreshadowing?
Both use predator-prey imagery—an eagle seizing a goose and a hawk tearing a dove—to foreshadow the violent reckoning awaiting the suitors when Odysseus returns.
What does the word "suppliant" mean in the context of Theoclymenus asking for passage?
A person who humbly begs for help or protection, invoking religious and social obligation. In ancient Greece, refusing a suppliant was considered an offense against the gods.
What are "gewgaws" as mentioned in Eumaeus's story about the Phoenician traders?
Showy but cheap trinkets or decorative items of little value, used by the Phoenician merchants as trade goods.
What is a "drink-offering" as described when Telemachus sacrifices at his ship?
A libation—a ritual pouring of wine or other liquid as an offering to the gods, typically performed before important undertakings like voyages.
What does Helen say when she interprets the eagle omen at Telemachus's departure?
She declares that just as the eagle came from the mountain to seize the goose, Odysseus will return to take his revenge—"if indeed he is not back already and hatching mischief for the suitors."
What does Eumaeus say about the value of sharing stories of suffering?
He says "when a man has suffered much, and been buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory of sorrows that have long gone by."