69 pages • 2 hours read
A Thousand Ships
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-9
Reading Check
1. Who is Creusa’s husband?
2. Why has Hecabe’s youngest son been taken out of Troy?
3. Why does Penelope not blame her husband, Odysseus, for the Trojan War?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why is Calliope annoyed with the old poet?
2. Who is Antenor? How does he save himself and his family?
3. When does Hecabe say she knew Troy was doomed to fall?
Paired Resources
“The Trojan Women—and Many More—Speak Up in ‘A Thousand Ships’”
- In this NPR interview, Haynes discusses her novel and some of her inspirations.
- This connects to the themes of Centering Women’s Experiences and Giving Voice to the Silenced.
- How does Haynes’s novel address issues that remain relevant today?
- This is a translation of Proclus’ summary of the “Epic Cycle,” a collection of ancient epics on the Trojan War and its aftermath.
- This connects to the theme of The Meaning of a Hero.
- Are the warriors who fought at Troy true heroes? Why or why not?
CHAPTERS 10-15
Reading Check
1. Why does Chryseis not try to escape when she is captured by the Greeks?
2. What comforts Laodamia after her husband Protesilaus’ death?
3. What must Agamemnon do in exchange for wind to blow his ships to Troy?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Chryses respond to Chryseis’ capture? Why does this surprise Chryseis?
2. Why is Thetis forced to marry Peleus?
3. Why does Polyxena claim that Achilles does not deserve to be hated by the Trojan women?
CHAPTERS 16-24
Reading Check
1. Whom does Helen hold responsible for her decision to sail to Troy with Paris?
2. Who is Paris’ first wife?
3. With whom does Odysseus spend a year during his wanderings, according to the bards?
4. Who promises to help Hecabe avenge her son’s murder?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Hecabe blame herself for Polydorus’ death?
2. Why does Odysseus want to make sure Hecabe has no other sons in hiding?
Paired Resource
“Hele of Troy Does Countertop Dancing”
- This short poem by Margaret Atwood reimagines Helen of Troy in a more contemporary setting.
- This connects to the theme of Centering Women’s Experiences.
- How are women from ancient myths represented by modern authors? How does this representation differ from ancient sources?
CHAPTERS 25-34
Reading Check
1. Who is Eris?
2. Where does Polymestor rule as king?
3. What does Calliope show the poet instead of Helen falling at Menelaus’ feet?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Hecabe do to Polymestor? Why?
2. Why is Penelope angry with Odysseus when she learns of his journey to the Underworld?
3. Why is Polyxena happy when she finds out she is going to die?
Paired Resource
“Female Stereotypes in the Odyssey: Do Homer’s Women Have Agency?”
- This article discusses the ways women are represented in Homer’s Odyssey.
- This connects to the themes of Centering Women’s Experiences and Giving Voice to the Silenced.
- How does Homer represent women’s agency as more limited than men’s agency? How are women typically portrayed in Homer’s work?
CHAPTERS 35-43
Reading Check
1. Why does war leave no victors, according to Calliope?
2. Why did Apollo curse Cassandra after gifting her prophetic ability?
3. Why does Cassandra believe that Apollo has left her when she reaches Mycenae?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Penelope claim she deceived her suitors for three years?
2. Who is Aegisthus? What is his role in the murder of Agamemnon?
3. Why does Andromache ultimately decide she is happy that she did not die?
Recommended Next Reads
The Iliad by Homer
- Homer’s epic poem explores the heroism of men and gods alongside devastation and destruction at the end of the Trojan War.
- Shared themes include The Meaning of a Hero.
- Shared topics include the Trojan war, grief, revenge, and rage.
- The Iliad on SuperSummary
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
- This adaptation of the Trojan War myth centers the experiences of Briseis, the Trojan queen and captive of Achilles.
- Shared themes include Centering Women’s Experiences and Giving Voice to the Silenced.
- Shared topics include war, grief, power, the role of women, and women’s issues.
- The Silence of the Girls on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-9
Reading Check
1. Aeneas (Chapter 2)
2. To keep him safe (Chapter 3)
3. Because he tried to avoid going to Troy (Chapter 8)
Short Answer
1. Calliope is annoyed with the old poet because she does not understand how he thinks that there is anything in epic poetry that has not been said yet. (Chapter 1)
2. Antenor is an advisor of Priam. At the instruction of his wife, Theano, Antenor helps the Greeks get into Troy on the condition that they will not harm him and his family. (Chapter 4)
3. Hecabe tells her daughter Polyxena that she realized Troy would fall when the Amazon Penthesilea, an ally of Troy, fell in battle. (Chapters 6-7)
CHAPTERS 10-15
Reading Check
1. Because she fears her father’s disappointment (Chapter 10)
2. A bronze statue of Protesilaus (Chapter 14)
3. Sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia (Chapter 15)
Short Answer
1. When Chryseis is captured, Chryses tries to ransom her from Agamemnon. This leads Chryseis to wonder whether she was wrong to believe that her father is not interested in her. (Chapter 10)
2. Zeus forces Thetis to marry Peleus, a mortal man, when he learns of a prophecy that Thetis’ son will be more powerful than his father. (Chapter 11)
3. Polyxena tells the Trojan women that what they say makes it seem as though Achilles had no choice but to act as he did and that he therefore does not deserve to be hated. (Chapter 13)
CHAPTERS 16-24
Reading Check
1. Aphrodite, the goddess of love (Chapter 17)
2. The nymph Oenone (Chapter 20)
3. Circe (Chapter 23)
4. Odysseus (Chapter 24)
Short Answer
1. Hecabe blames herself for Polydorus’ death (and the fall of Troy) because she and Priam failed to kill their son Paris, even though there was a prophecy that Troy would fall if he lived. (Chapter 22)
2. Odysseus questions Hecabe to make sure she has no other sons in hiding because he fears that if she does, they would want to avenge the fall of Troy. (Chapter 24)
CHAPTERS 25-34
Reading Check
1. The goddess of discord (Chapter 25)
2. Thrace (Chapter 26)
3. Cassandra’s vision of Hecabe’s future (Chapter 27)
Short Answer
1. Hecabe and the other Trojan women kill Polymestor’s sons by slitting their throats, and then they gauge out his eyes. Hecabe does this to punish Polymestor for killing her son Polydorus, effectively erasing Polymestor’s bloodline like he did hers. (Chapter 28)
2. When she learns of his journey to the Underworld, Penelope becomes angry at Odysseus because this arduous journey (to speak with the prophet Tiresias) does not reveal to Odysseus anything that Penelope has not already noted in her letters—namely, that he is struggling to get home because he angered the god Poseidon. (Chapter 29)
3. Polyxena is happy to learn that she is going to be killed because she prefers death to a life of slavery. (Chapter 31)
CHAPTERS 35-43
Reading Check
1. Because the winners “only rarely survive the peace” (Chapter 35)
2. Because she refused to have sex with him, despite her promise (Chapter 36)
3. Because Clytemnestra believes her prophecies (Chapter 39)
Short Answer
1. Penelope explains in a letter to Odysseus that she deceived and put off her suitors for three years; she said that she could not marry until she had finished weaving a shroud for Odysseus’ father, Laertes, and then she unraveled her work every night to make the task go on indefinitely. (Chapter 38)
2. Aegisthus is a cousin and enemy of Agamemnon. Clytemnestra seduces him and enlists his help in murdering Agamemnon. (Chapter 39)
3. Though Andromache initially thought she would prefer death to enslavement, the birth of her son Molossus makes her happy to be alive. (Chapter 42)
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