Download Cattle of the Sun God Reading Notes

English 9
Name: ______________________________
Date: _______________________________
The Odyssey Book 12: The Cattle of the Sun God
Reading Notes (lines 844-930)
1. Check your understanding. Upon arriving at the island of Thrinakia in the early hours of the
morning, where did Odysseus put his ship?
2. Check your understanding. What does Odysseus mean when he says about the god Helios: “No
man avoids his eye” (l. 858)?
3. Draw on previous knowledge. Given what you know about ancient Greek ships, what are
“onshore gales” (l. 860) and why are they a problem?
4. Context clues. Can you figure out what Odysseus means when he says “One day I withdrew to the
interior” (l. 870) once you read a few more lines (to l. 874)? What is this “interior”?
5. Check your understanding. According to Odysseus, what did the gods of Olympus do to him
after he made his prayer to them?
6. Summarize. In his speech in lines 879-894, what does two choices does Eurylochus say that the
men have? Which choice does Eurylochus clearly prefer?
7. Infer. Eurylochus and the other men seem to be very careful about killing the cattle according to
strict religious ritual (lines 900-909). What portion of the cow was traditionally reserved as a
sacrifice to the gods?
8. Check your understanding. Which of Odysseus’ five senses first informed him that his men had
disobeyed his strict orders to not kill Helios’s cattle?
9. Visualize. The Greeks pictured their gods as being very human-like. Can you picture Helios
among the other gods reacting to the news brought to him by his daughter Lampetia?
10. Check your understanding. What threat does Helios use to pressure Zeus to make Odysseus
pay for his crime?
Character of Odysseus
Odysseus does not play a very big role in this episode, but his actions and words in the middle of the
episode show a couple things about his attitude toward the gods. What?