The prescribed books from the Odyssey are: 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12.
The topics are:
• Odysseus as a hero
• the role and characterisation of Odysseus, Calypso, Nausicaa, Alcinous, Arete, Polyphemus, the Cyclopes, Circe and Athene
• the presentation of the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis
• the role of the gods
• the role of women (to include Calypso and Circe as well as the mortal women)
• Xenia (the guest–host relationship) in the Odyssey
• civilisation and barbarism
• Homer’s narrative and descriptive techniques
• Homer as a story-teller and the idea of epic.
Extracts on the exam paper are from: Homer, The Odyssey, translated by E.V. Rieu, revised by D.C.H. Rieu, published by Penguin, 1991 (2003), ISBN-10 0-14044-911-6.
Past Papers: |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
MS |
MS |
MS |
MS |
MS |