Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book IX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?
Do Now: Consider the fact that Odysseus has been trying to return to his home in Ithaca for 10 years. Imagine being away from your home for that long. What would you miss the most and why? Why do we have sayings like the ones below?
Name Change:
The class started with a name change when we were sent to the breakout rooms we discussed many ideas but we ended up with the name “Eat the Rich”. When we got back we heard many creative names from other groups like the muses, des-troy-ers …
Do Now Review:
Many people during the do now would miss the obvious friends and family. But Abigail brought up a good point that many people would also miss the home food, an example was given about how when one goes to college they miss many of the home comforts like home cooked meals, company with your loved ones… Others also mentioned that they would miss privacy and their special place in their home. Nicole made everyone smile when she mentioned she would miss her PC which was true but really funny as everyone else brought up something sentimental. We established that home is a place of comfort and that it can’t just be replaced and will always be held close to our heart.
Lesson:
We started off with some “spirit reading” when we read about Characterization. Characterization was split into two:
Direct Characterization: The author TELLS the reader exactly what they want you to know about the character
Indirect Characterization: The author SHOWS the reader what they want them to know.
Ms. Peterson then gives us a good acronym which we can use to help us identify Indirect Characterization:
S peech
T houghts
E ffect on others toward the character
A ctions
L ooks
We then watch a video that helps give us an example of some Indirect characterization in the movie Frozen: Characterization Lesson | Using Disney's Frozen [4:55]
Our class then “Spirit Read” “Sailing from Troy (lines 18-69)”
After reading the text we go into our groups and try to identify lines or phrases that Odysseus uses to describe his home in Ithaca.
Odysseus first gives us a geological overview of where his homeland is located and then mentions how “ Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass his own home and his parents?” (line 35). When we returned to the whole group everyone and Maximus mentioned how Odysseus described the area of Ithaca then also explained how home cannot be replaced.
We then read the section “Lotus Eaters”
We again go into our groups to discuss what happened in the lines that we read out group described how Odysseus’s crew ate the lotus and lost all motive to try to go home which was their motivation. Our group mentioned that having a reward present in front of them was more alluring that having a reward that they had to work for. The people that ate the lotuses were in denial and providing themselves with a false reality which could happen in real life when one is satisfied with their current possessions and standings. I thought that by eating the flower they were giving themselves false satisfaction which led to them becoming more delusional. Zeus put the crew off course and made them sail toward the island and there some of Odysseus’s crew started to explore the island ate the flower and lost the urge to return home, they were then dragged and tied onto the boat where they left the island. This could be taken as a metaphor when one becomes too prideful of what they currently have and refuse to work hard. This would be negative because the only reason the crew pushed on was because they wanted to return home to their families.
Reflection:
Throughout the lesson we learned that Odysseus was a great leader. We at first described him as a plunderer and a not so great leader, in the story of the “Lotus Eater” we can see that Odysseus never lost sight of their goals of returning home and even if he has to take his crewmates by force. We can see growth in his characteristics and how he is a hero. We have many examples in the Odyssey where Odysseus is characterized directly and indirectly by displaying his perseverance throughout the journey and how he pushes forward to get his crew home.
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