Lotus Eaters and the Long Way Home Quiz

Answer:

After the successful siege and destruction of Troy, all the Greek warlords returned to their homes. Among them was the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, who embarked on a ten-year journey with multiple encounters along the way.
Location: The shores of Asia Minor.

Cicones were a race of warriors who lived in Thrace. Odysseus and his companions sacked their city, but the Cicones fought back and Odysseus lost many of his men.
Alleged location: Ismarida, near Maroneia in Thrace.

The Lotus Eaters ate the lotus fruit, a fruit that caused oblivion. Some of Odysseus' men ate the fruit and forgot the desire to return to their homeland, a fact that caused Odysseus to force them onto the boats.
Alleged location: The island of Djerba in Tunisia.

The Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, was a man-eating monster with one eye. Odysseus had to blind him to escape, provoking the wrath of Poseidon, who made his journey home even more difficult.
Alleged location: Sicily, near Etna.

Aeolus was the god of the winds. When Odysseus arrived on his island, the god gave him a bag which held all the winds, except Zephyrus. He asked Odysseus not to open the bag until he arrived home and to let Zephyrus guide his ships. The crew, thinking that the god had given Odysseus riches, opened the bag and let all the winds out. The storm that was created pushed them away from their destination.
Alleged location: The Lipari Islands, north of Sicily.

The Laestrygonians were man-eating giants. All the ships of Odysseus, except his own, entered the harbor where they were attacked and destroyed by the giants. Only Odysseus' ship remained.
Alleged location: Sardinia.

Circe, the sorceress, turned men into animals. She turned Odysseus' men into pigs and, with her magic, managed to keep Odysseus on her island for one year.
Alleged location: Circe's land, called Aeaea, was either in the Balearic Islands or on the island of Elba.

The Sirens were monsters with the body of a bird and the face of a woman. With their magical songs, they enchanted the sailors and lured them to their island, where they ate them. Circe warned Odyssus about them, and he sealed his men's ears with wax and tied himself to the mast to make it past their song.
Alleged location: One of Corsica, Ischia, or Capri.

Scylla and Charybdis were two sea-monsters; Scylla had six heads, and Charybdis was a vortex that sucked the sea. Odysseus managed to go through them on the side of Scylla, who devoured six of his men.
Alleged location: Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the Italian mainland.

When Odysseus reached the island of the nymph Calypso, he was the only survivor of his crew. Calypso fell in love with him and kept him on her island for seven years, until Hermes, on Zeus' orders, freed him.
Alleged location: Ogygia, Calypso's island, is either Gozo in the Maltese archipelago or Gavdos, an island between Crete and Libya.

One last storm destroyed Odysseus' raft, and he was wrecked on Scheria, the island of the Phaeacians. He was found on the shore by Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinoos, who helped him and guided him to Ithaca.
Alleged location: It is almost certain that the island is Corfu.

At last, Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus. He returned in disguise, killed the suitors who claimed his throne and his wife, and, after twenty years, he reunited with Penelope and Telemachus.
Location: Ionian Sea.