The OdysseyVocabulary

The Odyssey Book 1

Muse: a daughter of Zeus, credited with divine inspiration

harried: tormented, harrassed

The Odyssey Book 9

mustered: assembled, gathered

stern: the rear end of a ship

victuals: food

The Odyssey Book 9

ponderous: heavy in a clumsy way; bulky

profusion: abundancenectar and ambrosia: the drink and food of the gods

The Odyssey Book 9

smithy: blacksmith’s shop

adze: an axlike tool with a curved blade

sage: wise

The Odyssey Book 9

breach: openingadversary: an opponent, enemy

avowal: honest admission

The Odyssey Book 9

aft: behindoffing: the part of the deep sea visible from the shore

The Odyssey Book 10

fawned on: showed affection for

ambrosial: fit for the gods

foreboding: a sense of approaching evil

The Odyssey Book 11

assuage: to calm or pacify

flay: to strip off the outer skin of

The Odyssey Book 12

kneaded: squeezed and pressed

abominably: in a hateful way; horribly

The Odyssey Book 12

maelstrom: a large, violent whirlpool

founder: sinkcombers: breaking waves

The Odyssey Book 12

travail: painful effortgrapple: grasp

The Odyssey Book 17

swineherd: a person whose job is to take care of pigs

muzzle: the long nose and mouth of an animal

The Odyssey Book 17

rubbish: things that are no longer useful and have been thrown out

dung: the solid waste of an animal

The Odyssey Book 17

savage: not domesticated; lacking restraints of human behavior that are no longer useful and have been thrown out

captivity: state of being kept in a place and not free

The Odyssey Book 17

suitors: men wanting to marry a particular woman

The Odyssey Book 21

beggar: a person who lives by begging for food and money

archery: sport or skill of shooting a bow and arrow

The Odyssey Book 21

quiver: case in which arrows are carried

commandeer: to take control of by force

The Odyssey Book 21

adversity: hardship; misfortune

heft: weightsmote: struck; affected sharply

The Odyssey Book 22

revelry: noisy merrymaking, festivity

runnels: streamsmortal: certain to die, causing death

The Odyssey Book 22

entrails: internal organsrash: foolish; thoughtlessrestitution: a making good for loss or damage; repayment

The Odyssey Book 22

tithe: paymentimplacable: impossible to soothe, unforgiving

The Odyssey Book 23

lavished: showeredimmortals of Olympus: the Greek gods, who live on Mt. Olympus

The Odyssey Book 23

tremulous: marked by trembling of shaking

desolation: lonely grief, misery