The Iliad and the Odyssey Trivia
The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia explores two foundational works of ancient Greek literature traditionally attributed to Homer. Among the oldest surviving poems in the Western canon, these epics have shaped storytelling for centuries and continue to resonate with modern readers through their heroes, gods, battles, and journeys.
Easy The Iliad and the Odyssey Trivia
13 questions
These easy The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia questions are great for beginners and kids around age 12 and under.
Question 1
Who is the traditional author of both The Iliad and the Odyssey?
Answer: Homer
Both epics are traditionally attributed to Homer.
Question 2
Which epic tells the long journey home of Odysseus?
- A.The Aeneid
- B.Oedipus Rex
- C.The Odyssey
- D.The Iliad
Answer: The Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of the two major surviving ancient Greek epics attributed to Homer.
Question 3
Which Homeric epic centers on the Trojan War and includes Achilles?
- A.The Iliad
- B.The Odyssey
- C.Theogony
- D.Metamorphoses
Answer: The Iliad
The Iliad is one of the two major surviving ancient Greek epics attributed to Homer.
Question 4
In what language were both The Iliad and the Odyssey composed?
Answer: Ancient Greek
Both epics were composed in ancient Greek.
Question 5
What poetic meter are both epics part of?
Answer: Dactylic hexameter
Both works belong to the tradition of dactylic hexameter poetry.
Question 6
Which Trojan prince helps set the Trojan War in motion?
Answer: Paris
Paris is the Trojan prince whose actions help cause the Trojan War.
Question 7
Who is the wife of Menelaus before she is taken to Troy?
Answer: Helen
Helen is the wife of Menelaus before she is taken to Troy.
Question 8
Which Spartan king is married to Helen?
Answer: Menelaus
Menelaus is the Spartan king whose wife is Helen.
Question 9
Who kills Hector outside Troy in the Iliad?
Answer: Achilles
Achilles kills Hector outside Troy.
Question 10
True or false: The Iliad ends after Troy has already fallen.?
Answer: False
The Iliad ends before the fall of Troy.
Question 11
What famous piece of armor gets a long description in the Iliad?
Answer: The Shield of Achilles
The Shield of Achilles is described at length in the Iliad.
Question 12
Which Greek warrior is known as a prominent fighter in the Iliad: Diomedes, Orpheus, or Telemachus?
- A.Diomedes
- B.Orpheus
- C.Telemachus
- D.Tiresias
Answer: Diomedes
Diomedes is a prominent Greek warrior in the Iliad.
Question 13
Which mighty Greek fighter is singled out as one of the strongest in the Iliad?
Answer: Ajax the Great
Ajax the Great is one of the strongest Greek fighters in the Iliad.
The Iliad and the Odyssey Family Trivia
12 questions
These family The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia questions are built for mixed-age game nights, classrooms, and groups.
Question 1
In which war is the story of the Iliad set?
Answer: The Trojan War
The Iliad takes place during the Trojan War.
Question 2
Who commands the Greek forces at Troy in the Iliad?
Answer: Agamemnon
Agamemnon is the leader of the Greek forces at Troy.
Question 3
What special nickname is Achilles often given in the Iliad?
Answer: Swift-footed Achilles
Achilles is often addressed with the epithet 'swift-footed.'.
Question 4
Who is Achilles' mother, the goddess who cares deeply for him?
Answer: Thetis
Thetis is the divine mother of Achilles.
Question 5
Which warrior goes into battle wearing Achilles' armor?
Answer: Patroclus
Patroclus enters battle wearing Achilles' armor.
Question 6
After Patroclus drives the Trojans back from the ships, who kills him?
Answer: Hector
Hector kills Patroclus after Patroclus pushes the Trojans back from the ships.
Question 7
Which god forges new armor for Achilles after Patroclus dies?
Answer: Hephaestus
After Patroclus dies, Achilles receives new armor forged by Hephaestus.
Question 8
After the duel with Hector, what does Achilles drag behind his chariot?
Answer: Hector's body
After defeating Hector, Achilles drags Hector's body behind his chariot.
Question 9
Who secretly visits Achilles to ask for Hector's body back?
Answer: King Priam
Priam bravely goes to Achilles to ransom Hector's body.
Question 10
Who is Hector's wife in the Iliad?
Answer: Andromache
Andromache is Hector's wife.
Question 11
Odysseus rules which island kingdom?
Answer: Ithaca
Odysseus is the king of Ithaca.
Question 12
At the very start of the Odyssey, where is Odysseus stranded?
Answer: Ogygia
The Odyssey opens with Odysseus stranded on Calypso's island, Ogygia.
Fun The Iliad and the Odyssey Trivia
13 questions
These fun The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia questions highlight surprising moments and playful facts for game-night groups.
Question 1
Whose cattle does Odysseus' crew disastrously decide to slaughter?
- A.Helios
- B.Poseidon
- C.Apollo
- D.Hermes
Answer: Helios
The crew bring catastrophe on themselves by killing the cattle of Helios.
Question 2
After the sacred cattle are killed, which god blasts Odysseus' last ship?
- A.Ares
- B.Hermes
- C.Hephaestus
- D.Zeus
Answer: Zeus
Zeus destroys Odysseus' final ship after the killing of Helios's cattle.
Question 3
The Odyssey is centered on whose long trip home after the Trojan War?
- A.Achilles
- B.Hector
- C.Ajax
- D.Odysseus
Answer: Odysseus
The poem follows Odysseus on his journey home after the Trojan War.
Question 4
Which singing danger shows up in the Odyssey: Sirens or Muses?
- A.Furies
- B.Nereids
- C.Sirens
- D.Muses
Answer: Sirens
The Sirens appear in the Odyssey.
Question 5
Odysseus has to thread the needle between which two famous hazards?
- A.Sphinx and Chimera
- B.Harpies and Cyclopes
- C.Scylla and Charybdis
- D.Cerberus and the Hydra
Answer: Scylla and Charybdis
Scylla and Charybdis are among the dangers Odysseus faces.
Question 6
While Odysseus is away, who keep crowding his household like the world's worst houseguests?
Answer: The suitors
Suitors fill Odysseus's house during his long absence.
Question 7
Who buys herself time by weaving a shroud and then secretly undoing the work?
Answer: Penelope
Penelope delays remarriage by weaving and unweaving a shroud.
Question 8
What object helps Odysseus prove who he is when it is time to stop pretending?
Answer: His bow
Odysseus proves his identity in part through his skill with his bow.
Question 9
In the embassy sent to Achilles, which elder figure joins Odysseus and Ajax?
- A.Nestor
- B.Patroclus
- C.Priam
- D.Phoenix
Answer: Phoenix
The embassy to Achilles includes Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix.
Question 10
Who gives Odysseus a bag packed with the adverse winds?
Answer: Aeolus
Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag containing the adverse winds.
Question 11
When Odysseus washes up in Phaeacia, who is the first person there to meet him?
Answer: Nausicaa
Nausicaa is the first person in Phaeacia to encounter the shipwrecked Odysseus.
Question 12
Which loyal swineherd stays true to Odysseus even while the suitors take over?
- A.Telemachus
- B.Eumaeus
- C.Eurylochus
- D.Laertes
Answer: Eumaeus
Eumaeus remains loyal to Odysseus during the suitors' occupation of the household.
Question 13
Who gets startled by Hector's horsehair-crested helmet in a family scene at Troy?
Answer: Astyanax
Astyanax is frightened by Hector's helmet during a domestic moment in Troy.
Funny The Iliad and the Odyssey Trivia
13 questions
These funny The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia questions highlight playful moments, odd facts, and inside jokes.
Question 1
When Odysseus makes the grim math decision to lose six men instead of risking the whole ship, which monster is he choosing to face?
- A.Proteus
- B.Calypso
- C.Scylla
- D.Charybdis
Answer: Scylla
Odysseus chooses the danger of Scylla, accepting the loss of six men rather than risking the entire ship at Charybdis.
Question 2
True or false: Odysseus decides it is better to risk the whole crew at Charybdis than to lose a few men to Scylla.?
Answer: False
False. He chooses to lose six men to Scylla rather than risk the entire ship at Charybdis.
Question 3
Odysseus picks the option that is awful but not total-ship-awful. Who is the six-man problem in that choice?
Answer: Scylla
The specific choice is Scylla, whose attack costs six men, instead of the greater risk posed by Charybdis.
Question 4
Which singer turns Odysseus into an unwilling crying audience member by performing about the Trojan War?
- A.Dolon
- B.Elpenor
- C.Demodocus
- D.Proteus
Answer: Demodocus
Demodocus moves Odysseus to tears by singing about the Trojan War.
Question 5
Who delivers the musical emotional damage that makes Odysseus cry?
Answer: Demodocus
It is Demodocus whose song about the Trojan War moves Odysseus to tears.
Question 6
True or false: Demodocus makes Odysseus cry by singing about the Trojan War.?
Answer: True
True. Demodocus's Trojan War song brings Odysseus to tears.
Question 7
What household item doubles as a very inconvenient lie detector for Odysseus's identity?
Answer: Olive-tree bed
The bed built from a rooted olive tree serves is a sign of Odysseus's identity.
Question 8
Which object proves Odysseus is really Odysseus, because apparently furniture can keep secrets?
- A.Olive-tree bed
- B.Wooden Horse
- C.Dolon's helmet
- D.Demodocus's lyre
Answer: Olive-tree bed
The rooted olive-tree bed is the sign of Odysseus's identity.
Question 9
True or false: The sign of Odysseus's identity is a bed built from a rooted olive tree.?
Answer: True
True. The olive-tree bed is the key sign of identity.
Question 10
Menelaus tells Telemachus that which shape-shifting source revealed Odysseus was stuck with Calypso?
- A.Demodocus
- B.Dolon
- C.Elpenor
- D.Proteus
Answer: Proteus
Menelaus says that Proteus revealed Odysseus was being held by Calypso.
Question 11
Who is the revealer in Menelaus's report to Telemachus about Odysseus being held by Calypso?
Answer: Proteus
The figure named by Menelaus is Proteus.
Question 12
During a night raid, which unlucky Trojan spills the plans after being captured by the Greeks?
- A.Melanthius
- B.Dolon
- C.Demodocus
- D.Elpenor
Answer: Dolon
Dolon is captured in a night raid and reveals Trojan plans to the Greeks.
Question 13
Who gets caught in the dark and ends up giving the Greeks Trojan plans?
Answer: Dolon
That captured figure is Dolon.
Hard The Iliad and the Odyssey Trivia
14 questions
These hard The Iliad and the Odyssey trivia questions are for expert fans who want a real challenge.
Question 1
Which captive womanâs seizure by Agamemnon triggers the quarrel that propels the action of the Iliad?
Answer: Briseis
The central quarrel begins when Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles.
Question 2
Name the object Odysseusâ crew disastrously open when Ithaca is already in sight, undoing Aeolusâs aid.?
Answer: The wind bag
Aeolus helps Odysseus, but the crew ruin it by opening the wind bag while Ithaca is visible.
Question 3
Which figure keeps Odysseus on her island for years?
Answer: Calypso
Calypso is the one who detains Odysseus on her island for years.
Question 4
Early in the Iliad, which god sends a plague upon the Greek camp?
Answer: Apollo
Apollo is the god who sends the plague on the Greek camp early in the poem.
Question 5
Agamemnonâs refusal to return which woman brings Apolloâs plague on the Achaean camp?
Answer: Chryseis
The plague comes after Agamemnon refuses to give back Chryseis.
Question 6
Which river god turns on Achilles because the hero has clogged the river with Trojan corpses?
Answer: Scamander
Scamander fights Achilles for choking the river with bodies.
Question 7
On Mount Ida, who distracts Zeus by seducing him?
Answer: Hera
Hera distracts Zeus through seduction on Mount Ida in the Iliad.
Question 8
Which people wipe out all of Odysseusâ ships except the one he had prudently kept apart from the harbor?
Answer: The Laestrygonians
The Laestrygonians destroy every ship but the one Odysseus had moored separately.
Question 9
During the Iliadâs night raid, Odysseus and Diomedes make off with the horses belonging to which man?
Answer: Rhesus
In the same night raid, Odysseus and Diomedes steal the horses of Rhesus.
Question 10
Multiple choice: the first rupture between Achilles and Agamemnon centers on Agamemnon taking whom?
- A.Hera
- B.Calypso
- C.Briseis
- D.Chryseis
Answer: Briseis
The quarrel starts when Agamemnon takes Briseis from Achilles.
Question 11
Who is the long-term island captor in Odysseusâ travelsâthe one responsible for keeping him for years rather than days?
Answer: Calypso
Calypso is specifically the figure who keeps Odysseus on her island for years.
Question 12
Which Olympian launches the Iliadâs early epidemic among the Greeks?
Answer: Apollo
Apollo sends the plague on the Greek camp early in the Iliad.
Question 13
Fill in the missing grievance: Apollo punishes the Achaeans after Agamemnon refuses to return _____.?
Answer: Chryseis
The refusal to return Chryseis is the reason given for Apolloâs plague.
Question 14
If Achilles had simply used the river as a river instead of a body chute, which offended river god would have had less reason to fight him?
Answer: Scamander
Scamander fights Achilles because Achilles chokes the river with Trojan corpses.
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