The Odyssey

by Homer

English I

Name:______Hour:______

The Odyssey Background Notes

English I

What We Have Gained from the Ancient Greeks

Values

System of Laws

Political Theories

Architecture

Language

Theater

Homer and His Epics

Blind ______, 700s BC

Told ______and ______

Works are considered “______,” which are long, narrative poems that tell about heroes and their adventures

The Epic

Covers several ______

Told in many ______

Relates to the ______of a civilization

“______” (passing stories to future generations by word of mouth)

The Epic Hero

No “______” powers

______to family, country, and god(s)

______- overcomes fear because of duty (against evil, for good)

______- uses mind in tough situations

Higher being/force ______him on quest

Gods and Goddesses: Polytheism

Ancient Greeks were ______(many gods and goddesses)

Gods and goddesses

Were ______(couldn’t die)

Controlled ______(could die)

Represented ______or specific ______

Lived on MountOlympus

Some gods and goddesses in The Odyssey:

Poseidon=god of the ______

Athena=goddess of ______and the arts of ______and ______

Hermes=the ______god

Zeus=______of the gods

Who are the gods and how do they play a role in this epic?

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. In the epic, she was Odysseus'goddess protector,she assists Odysseus and his son Telemachus on numerous occasions.

Zeus is the king of all gods and often punishes Odysseus for his or his men’s mistakes, or helps him, like hiding him from Scylla's six heads.

Poseidon is the god of the seas. Poseidon holds a grudge against Odysseus for thinking he did not need help from the gods. What angers him more is Odysseus blinding his son, Polyphemus. He makes Odysseus' journey home all the more difficult.

Hermes is the messenger of the gods. Hermes helped Odysseus twice in the Odyssey. He gave him the magical herb Moly to protect him form Circe's witchery, and he convinced Calypso to let him off of her island.

Helios is the god of the sun. Odysseus' men upset him when they eat his cattle on his island.

The Odyssey: The Story of Odysseus and His Struggle to Return Home

In Book 1, we see the gods on top of ______. The goddess of war, ______, urges Zeus to bring Odysseus home.

In Book 2, we learn that Odysseus palace is infested with ______, men trying to win the heart of his wife, ______. An eagle slashes the throats of the suitors and Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, sets of to find news of his father.

In Book 3, Telemachus seeks advice from King Nestor who tells him to find ______.

In Book 4, Telemachus learns that Odysseus is being held against his will by the goddess ______.

In Book 5, the king of the gods, ______, sends the messenger god, ______, to Calypso’s island to free Odysseus. After his ship is destroyed by his enemy, the sea god ______, he washes ashore on Calypso’s island.

In Book 6, Odysseus is washed ashore on the island of Phaecia and is accepted as a ______.

In Book 7, Odysseus is greated by King ______.

In Book 8, Odysseus is asked his ______and asked to tell his story.

In Book 9, the wandering stories begin – the raid on Cicones and the Lotus Eaters, and the encounter with Poseidon’s son, ______.

In Book 10, the wanderings continue with the encounter of the wind god, ______, the adventure of the Laistrygones, and the Witch ______who turns all of Odysseus’ men into ______.

In Book 11, the wanderings continue to the Land of the Dead, Scheria, and return to Circe’s island.

In Book 12, the wanderings continue into the Sirens, Scylla, and ______. The lost men eat the cattle of ______then are punished. Finally, Odysseus is rescued by ______thus ending Odysseus’ story to King Alcinous.

Modern Epics

______

Odysseus’ Wanderings

1.Troy: After the victory at Troy, Odysseus and his men begin their journey home from here.

2.The Island of the Cicones: After leaving Troy, they stop to raid this island for supplies. The Cicones attack on horseback, and Odysseus lost 72 of his men.

3.The Island of the Lotus Eaters: Odysseus sends his men out to search for food, and has to recover them when they eat the Lotus Flower.

4.The Island of the Cyclopes: Here, Odysseus and his men find a Cyclops' cave, lured by his cheese and wine. The cyclops, Polyphemus, traps them inside the cave. Odysseus and his men blind the cyclops, and then sneak out under his heard of sheep.

5.The Island of Aeolus: Aeolus, the god of the winds, gives Odysseus all of the bad winds, so he can safely sail home. Odysseus' men go against his orders and open the bag, and all of the winds escape.

6.The Island of the Laestrygonians: The Laestrygonians, a race of cannibals, eat the Greeks. Only the men on Odysseus' ship and himself survive.

7.Circe's Island: Circe turns Odysseus' men to swine, but Odysseus is protected from her magic with the help of Hermes, who gave him a magical herb called Moly. Odysseus ends up staying there for what seems like a short time, but ended up being a couple years. Before Odysseus departs, Circe finally tells him that he needs to find the blind prophet Teiresias in the Underworld.

8.The Underworld: Odysseus consults the prophet Teiresias to ask how he can get home, and finds his mother there, who has committed suicide in depression.

9.The Island of the Sirens: Odysseus and his men pass here, an island with women singing their luring songs, trying to reel in sailors. So they do not hear, Odysseus fills his mens ears with beeswax, and he has them tie him to the mast.

10.Scylla and Charybdis: Odysseus chooses to sail for Scylla, a six-headed sea serpent, rather than Charybdis, a giant whirlpool. He did this because he knew that if he went to Charybdis, the whole ship would be destroyed. However, if he went towards Scylla, six men would die. A sacrifice the brave Odysseus decided to make.

11.The Island of Helios: They stop here, and Odysseus falls asleep praying to Athena. While sleeping, his men once again go against his orders and eat Helios' cattle. This outrages the god, and he threatens never to rise again. As a punishment, Zeus throws a bolt of lightning at the ship, and turns it to splinters. Only Odysseus survives.

12.Ogygia (Calypso's Island): Odysseus finds this island after drifting in the sea. It is a island of women, with a nymph named Calypso, with whom Odysseus has a seven-year affair with. After the seven years, Hermes convinces Calypso to let Odysseus build a new ship so he could sail home.

13.The Island of the Phaecians: The Phaecians accept Odysseus, and he explains his ten-year journey to them during a feast. They happily give him a ride home on one of their magical ships.

14.Ithaca: Odysseus finally arrives home, and sees his son, Telemachus, for the first time in 15 years. He and Telemachus kill all of the suitors, and Odysseus takes his place as king, once again, alongside his wife Penelope.















Odysseus Hero Chart

What makes a hero? Listed in the left-hand column of the chart below are some heroic traits common to epics and myths. For each trait, give examples from stories from The Odyssey to show ways Odysseus displays these traits. At the bottom of the chart is a row for weaknesses (or “tragic flaws”).

Key Traits of a Hero / Examples from The Odyssey
Cite details from the excerpt to support your opinion of weaknesses you find in Odysseus. Please use story titles, page numbers (and line numbers if possible) to accompany your examples.
Intelligence and Resourcefulness
Strength
Bravery
Loyalty
Weaknesses

“I am Laertes’ Son”

(893-896)

  1. How many years does Odysseus fight in the Trojan War? How many years does Odysseus live with Calypso? How many has he been gone in total?

War: ___
Calypso:___Total:____

  1. Where is Odysseus when he begins to tell his story?
  1. While Odysseus describes himself, he uses the vocabulary word formidable:

I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim.

Knowing that guile means to use quick-thinking or trickery to achieve one’s goals, how does Odysseus characterize himself (in your own words, please)?

  1. Where is Odysseus’s home? Who is there waiting for him? (HINT: Look back to 893 or think back to our notes for the second part of the question.)

5. Summarize the incident with the Cicones that occurs when Odysseus and his crew are on journey home. Your summary should be between 3-5 sentences.

  1. Remember that one kind of figurative language is simile which is a comparison of two unlike things using like or as. Please identify and explain the simile in the lines below. Remember that to explain, you must tell what two things are being compared and what the author means by the figurative language.

This was an army, trained to fight on horseback or, where the ground required, on foot. They came with dawn over that terrain like the leaves and blades of spring.

“The Lotus Eaters”

(898)

  1. The ships assemble in the water, and Odysseus orders only two men and an assistant to go ashore to investigate. Why do you think he does this and what does it reveal about his character?

  1. What happens when the men eat the lotus leaves?

How does Odysseus keep his men on the ship so they can’t escape?
“The Cyclops”

(898)

ewes(pronounced “yous”) = female sheep

ram= male sheep

  1. How does Homer make it clear that Odysseus faces an incredibly strong opponent in the Cyclops?
  1. Hospitality (kindness to guests) to strangers was extremely important to the ancient Greeks. What does Odysseus say will happen if the Cyclops does not treat the Greeks well?
  1. How does the Cyclops respond to this warning?
  1. Infer why Odysseus lies about his ship being wrecked.
  1. What does Odysseus tell the Cyclops his name is? What word does this sound like? What is ironic about this?

  1. Explain Odysseus’s trick to escape the cave.
  1. What two foolish things does Odysseus do after the escape? Why are these foolish?
  1. The Cyclops’s character flaw, underestimating his opponent, leads to his downfall here. Explain how he underestimates Odysseus.

Hero Chart –add these examples from “The Cyclops”

Key Traits of a Hero / Examples from “The Cyclops”
Intelligence and resourcefulness / Lies about ship (178-180)
Doesn’t kill Cyclops because he knows no one can move the slab over the door (200-202)
Thinks up plan
Strength / Chops down six-foot section of pole (224)
Bravery / Speaks to Cyclops despite fear (155-)
Moves to kill Cyclops (199-200)
Offers Cyclops wine; continues to speak to him despite his killing men (249)
Loyalty / Speaks well of Zeus and commander (155-)
Allows men to draw to see who will battle Cyclops
Weaknesses:
Brags about feat an taunts Cyclops; tells him true name too proud and conceited (Cyclops then asks father to curse Odysseus)

“The Witch Circe”

(911-913)

1.After the land of the Cyclops, Odysseus lands on the island of ______.

2.The wind king, ______, puts all of the wind in a bag to protect Odysseus and his men.

3.Odysseus puts the wind bag in the afterdeck of his ship, but one of the curious sailors opens it, thinking he will find ______, and causes a hurricane killing many of the men.

4.The winds blow Odysseus’ ship to the island of ______, home of the witch Circe.

5.Outside Circe’s stone house, the men encounter two animals: ______and ______.

6.The animals don’t move because Circe tames them by ______.

7.______, the admired officer, calls with the men for Circe to come and greet them.

8.All but one sailor, Eurylochus, agrees to go inside, instead he ______.

9.Circe seats all of the men on ______and she feeds them cheese, barley, honey and wine, but quickly she turns them into ______.

10.Eurylochus runs down to ______’ s ship and tells him of the sailors’ misfortunes.

11.______stops Odysseus and gives him a plant (much like what we call garlic) to help weaken Circe’s powers.

12.Realizing Circe has met her match in Odysseus, frees the men and agrees to let the men ______.

13.Odysseus eats her wine and meats to restore his heart, but after some seasons of feasting, Odysseus begs Circe to let them leave.

14. Circe agrees to let Odysseus descend into the ______, alone.

15. Here Odysseus will meet the Queen of the Underworld, ______, and seek wisdom from the blind prophet, Teiresias.

“The Land of the Dead”

(914-915)

  1. In the Land of the Dead, Odysseus seeks to learn his destiny from the blind prophet, ______.
  1. First Odysseus has to promise to slaughter his best ______before she delivers her calf when he returns to Ithaca.
  1. In addition to the heifer, Odysseus promises to sacrifice a ______to please the nations of the dead.
  1. He also promises to let the ______flow into a well pit.
  1. Souls gather from Erebus, which is ______, like an entrance into the “Land of the Dead”. These souls are young women and men, old men suffering in pain, tender girls who have broken hearts and young soldiers who have battle scars.
  1. Odysseus commands his men to cut strips of sheep skin and burn the strips as offerings to the souls and the Queen of the Dead, ______.
  1. Soon, from the dark, Teiresias, the Prince of ______(the underworld) appears bearing a golden staff. He talks to Odysseus.
  1. Teiresias asks Odysseus why he has left the warmth of the blazing sun of land and come to this cold, joyless, place.
  1. Teiresias commands Odysseus to stand tall, put his bloody ______the air so he could taste it to speak the truth.
  1. Odysseus is warned that Poseidon, the god of the sea, is angry with him for blinding ______, Poseidon’s son.
  1. Poseidon tells Odysseus that his ship will come to Thrinakia , the island where the sun god, Helios, keeps ______.
  1. Odysseus is warned that if he or his crew attacks the cattle, then his crew and ship will be destroyed.
  1. He is also told that he will survive and return to Ithaca to find his house full of trouble: strange men ______and ______his wife.
  1. Odysseus is to fight the suitors to their death, then take an oar to a place that will become known to him. He should stop and kill a ______, a ______, and a ______to please Poseidon.
  1. Return to Ithaca, and if you do as is told, you will die a ______old man.

The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis

(916-918)

Description: Include specific details from the story to describe each of these creatures. Be specific! / Warnings: What warnings and suggestions does Circe give regarding each?
Sirens
Scylla
Charybdis

 What actually happens in this section? Summarize the action in a few sentences.

Monster Visual

INSTRUCTIONS: In groups of 3 (or individually…your choice), create a visual representation of a monster (Sirens, Scylla, or Charybdis) from Homer’s The Odyssey. Your creation must correspond to Homer’s description of the goddess. You must also include at least 3 quotations from the story about the goddess. These can be incorporated into the illustration any way you wish but the must be in MLA format for the page numbers! Feel free to use any of the supplies provided for you to complete your visual. Be creative and have fun!

Remember that in a group assignment, everyone in the group must be participating in order to receive credit. Before you turn in your creation, make sure everyone’s names and your period are written neatly on the back of your paper.

Part two: The Wanderings of Odysseus are over and he returns to Ithaca

  • In Book 13, Odysseus returns alone to the Island of Ithaca. Athena greets and advises him to go forward disguised.
  • In Book 14, Odysseus encounters his old servant and friend, yet Eumaeus doesn’t recognize Odysseus.
  • In Book 15, Telemachus leaves Sparta to return home without any trace of his father.
  • In Book 16, Telemachus visits with Eumaeus and Odysseus reveals himself to his son. As they reunite, they plan to overtake the suitors.
  • In Book 17, Telemachus returns to his mother, ______, and an old beggar who claims to have known Odysseus. The suitors reject both men, yet Odysseus’ old dog is the only one who recognizes Odysseus.
  • In Book 18, Penelope sets the deadline to select one of the suitors: she must create a tapestry in Odysseus’ honor, so she weaves by day and tears it apart during the night.
  • In Book 19, Penelope wants to talk to the beggar to hear of any news of her husband. She doesn’t recognize him, yet her servant, Eurycleia, notices Odysseus’ scar and is sworn to secrecy. Penelope tells the suitors that the only man she will marry is the one who can win the test of Odysseus’ great bow.
  • In Book 20, all assemble in the great hall.
  • In Book 21, all of the suitors fail the test, and as the beggar shoots the arrow, Athena changes him back to Odysseus for all to witness.
  • In Book 22, together Odysseus, Telemachus, and faithful servants overtake the suitors killing and punishing all who disrespected the kingdom of Ithaca.
  • In Book 23, Penelope tries to trick Odysseus because she cannot believe her husband is alive and back before her. Odysseus convinces Penelope that he has return, but to break the curse of the gods, he must first return to his father’s farm.
  • In Book 24, Odysseus sees all of the ghosts from Troy, speaks to his dead father, speaks to all of the dead suitors’ families and Athena threatens peace to all.

“The Beggar and the Faithful Dog”