Odyssey Quiz: Epic Form
A quiz tests the conventions of the epic, such as the invocation, the epithet, and the epic simile.
Version A
GREAT BOOKSMr. Reed
Quiz – Epic Form
NameDatePer.
1.
Whom does the epic poet invoke for inspiration?
2.
Where does the poet state the theme? [Give something more specific than beginning, middle, or end.]
3.
What Latin term is used to describe the epic convention of beginning the action in the middle of the plot?
4.
What epic convention is used to relate detailed lists of events, descriptions, persons, conditions, and so forth?
5.
Which epic convention involves an elaborate, involved, ornate comparison?
6.
Which epic convention is a stock word or phrase almost inseparably associated with a character or location?
7.
Where must every epic hero journey at least once during the course of his story?
8.
In what tone are the epic hero’s extended speeches delivered?
9.
What type of epic deals with the traditions, mythical or historical, of a nation and is original with the poet who writes it?
10.
What type of epic develops from the orally transmitted poetry of anonymous poets, and is often based on fact?
BONUS:
A.
Identify one conventional epic - other than the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Odyssey - by giving its title, its type, and its nationality.
Version B
GREAT BOOKSMr. Reed
Quiz – Epic Form (2)
NameDatePer.
On your answer sheet, indicate the epic convention represented by each item.
1.
As when a goatherd looks out from a watch-tower of a hill over the sea, carrying with it much tempest, showing to him blacker than pitch, coming on driven by the west wind, and he shudders to see it, and drives his flock in to a cave, so appeared the march of the Greek warriors.
2.
Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate,
And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate,
Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.
And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate,
Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.
3.
Then Athena said, “Cronides, our Father, King of Kings and Lord of Lords!”
4.
Books IX through XII of the Odyssey.
THE FOLLOWING ITEM CONTAINS TWO DIFFERENT EPIC CONVENTIONS. INDICATE BOTH.
5/6.
Given orders to do her own will, gray-eyed Athena left Olympos, dropping downward from the crests - as though the son of crooked-minded Kronos had flung a shooting star to be a sign for men on the deep seas or some broad army - a streak of radiance and a sparkling track.
7.
For I must tell you this is no affair
often or even twice ten men, but scores,
throngs of them. You shall see, here and now.
The number from Doulikhion alone
is fifty-two, picked men, with armorers,
a half dozen; twenty-four came from Same,
twenty from Zakynthos; our own island
accounts for twelve, high-ranked, and their retainers,
Medon the crier, and the Master Harper,
besides a pair of handymen at feasts.
often or even twice ten men, but scores,
throngs of them. You shall see, here and now.
The number from Doulikhion alone
is fifty-two, picked men, with armorers,
a half dozen; twenty-four came from Same,
twenty from Zakynthos; our own island
accounts for twelve, high-ranked, and their retainers,
Medon the crier, and the Master Harper,
besides a pair of handymen at feasts.
8.
Book XI of the Odyssey
9.
Of ladies, cavaliers, of love and war,
Of courtesies and of brave deeds I sing,
In times of high endeavor when the Moor
Had crossed the sea from Africa to bring
Great harm to France, when Agramante swore
In wrath, being now the youthful Moorish king,
To avenge Troiano, who was lately slain,
Upon the Roman Emperor Charlemagne.
Of courtesies and of brave deeds I sing,
In times of high endeavor when the Moor
Had crossed the sea from Africa to bring
Great harm to France, when Agramante swore
In wrath, being now the youthful Moorish king,
To avenge Troiano, who was lately slain,
Upon the Roman Emperor Charlemagne.
10.
At the time when I begin, all the others who had not been killed in the war were at home, safe from the perils of battle and sea: but he was alone, longing to get home to his wife. He was kept prisoner by a witch, Calypso...
11.
but the Earthshaker was now on his way back from the Ethiopians...
12.
Say . . . their names then known, who first, who last,
Roused from the slumber on that fiery couch
At their great Emperor’s call, as next in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
. . .
First, Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears;
. . .
Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab’s sons,
. . .
. . . Thammuz came behind,
. . .
. . . Next came . . .
Dagon . . .
. . .
Him followed Rimmon...
. . .
. . . After these appeared
. . .
Osiris, Isis, Orus, and their train -
. . .
Belial came last...
Roused from the slumber on that fiery couch
At their great Emperor’s call, as next in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
. . .
First, Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears;
. . .
Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab’s sons,
. . .
. . . Thammuz came behind,
. . .
. . . Next came . . .
Dagon . . .
. . .
Him followed Rimmon...
. . .
. . . After these appeared
. . .
Osiris, Isis, Orus, and their train -
. . .
Belial came last...
THE FOLLOWING ITEM CONTAINS TWO DIFFERENT EPIC CONVENTIONS. INDICATE BOTH.
13/14.
Now I shall tell of things that change, new being
Out of old: since you, O Gods, created
Mutable arts and gifts, give me the voice
To tell the shifting story of the world
From its beginning to the present hour.
Out of old: since you, O Gods, created
Mutable arts and gifts, give me the voice
To tell the shifting story of the world
From its beginning to the present hour.
15.
Her bridegroom, Orpheus, poet of the hour,
And pride of Rhadope, sang loud his loss
To everyone on earth. When this was done,
His wailing voice, his lyre, and himself
Came weaving through the tall gates of Taenarus
Down to the world of Death and flowing Darkness
To tell the story of his grief again.
And pride of Rhadope, sang loud his loss
To everyone on earth. When this was done,
His wailing voice, his lyre, and himself
Came weaving through the tall gates of Taenarus
Down to the world of Death and flowing Darkness
To tell the story of his grief again.
16.
Holding this, Argeiphontes, flew away swift and strong.
17.
O Muses! I High Genius! Be my aid!
O Memory, recorder of the vision,
her shall your true nobility be displayed!
O Memory, recorder of the vision,
her shall your true nobility be displayed!
18.
Your name resounds to the heavens, like the fame of a noble king, a god-fearing man who rules over a mighty nation and upholds justice, while the black soil yields him barley and wheat, his trees are heavy with fruit, the sheep wean their young unfailing, the sea provides fish; for he is a good ruler, and the people prosper under him.
19.
So may Archer Apollo strike him!
20.
Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood.
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood.
Version B answer sheet
GREAT BOOKSMr. Reed
Quiz – Epic Form (2) Answer Sheet
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