Blogger #12, Alexander Handal, Period 5, 4/27/21, Day B

 3 RL SP Odyssey: Homer’s Invocation

Aim: How does Homer’s invocation establish tone for the beginning of the Odyssey.

Do Now: Class Discussion 

“How do you become inspired? Where does it originate?

 

I said what inspires me is to do better than the people around me, and to please the people around me like my family. Some of my classmates said other things like listening to music, playing sports, and seeing different things in nature.

 

After going over the class discussion question, Mrs. Peterson put us into groups so we could change our group name to something that had to do with The Odyssey. My groups changed our  name to the fairest because of the 3 “Fairest” goddesses that fought over the golden apple.

 

The Nine Muses: 

After going over our name changes, we started the lesson out by going over the nine muses and what role each one of them plays. We learned that each muse was an inspiration for poets and artists, and some of their different roles were comedy and dancing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKCWfbrY8k This is the video we watched about the nine muses.

 

After learning about the Muses we read about the word invoke and its definition, and how Homer uses it in lines 1-17 in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, Homer invokes the Muses because he wants to tell the story of Odysseus, and he can only do that if he is granted it from the Muses. We then answered some questions about lines 1-17 to help us further our understanding of The Odyssey.

Homer’s Invocation     This is the link to lines 1-17

 

1. What is your opinion of Odysseus so far after hearing Homer's invocation to the muses and learning about the Trojan War?

My opinion of Odysseus is that he is very selfless and prioritizes others above himself. In the end though he is still a human and has human faults like arrogance. 

2. How does Homer maintain the audience’s interest in the story, knowing that the audience is aware of the outcome from the very beginning?

He maintains the audience's interest because he uses different literary devices that keep the reader engaged and makes them want to keep reading.  

3. What does the invocation of the Muse in the opening lines clarify about Odysseus’ culpability (responsibility for a fault or wrong; blame) during his voyage home?

The invocation of the Muse clarifies Odysseus's culpability because it says Odysseus couldn’t save his crew after they killed and feasted on Helios's cattle.

4 RL SP: Odyssey: Sailing from Troy & Lotus Eaters

Today’s lesson was a double lesson in which the 2nd lesson was a continuation of the 1st lesson.

Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book IX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?

 

We started out by going over the two do now questions and how they related to Odysseus and his journey home. Mrs. Peterson then asked us what would we feel like if we were away from home for a long amount of time.

1. What would you miss the most and why?

What my class came up with for what we miss the most if we were away from home for a long time is family, friends, your bed, familiar surroundings, and a home cooked meal. You won’t know how much you miss these things until you are actually away from home.

2. Why do we have sayings like the ones below?

We have these saying because they are so true, and once we get home there is nothing like it. I could say this from personal experience, even when i'm having a good time on vacation I still sometimes miss just staying home and relaxing on the couch or going to the park to hang out with my friends.

We then quickly went over the STEAL method and how it could help us with our characterization. We didn't go over it in depth because of the lack of time, so Mrs. Peterson provided a link for us to watch that would help us.

Characterization Lesson | Using Disney's Frozen [4:55]

• SPEECH - What does the character say? 

How does the character speak?

• THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the 

character’s private thoughts and feelings?

• EFFECTS - What is revealed through the character’s 

effect on other people? 

How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?

• ACTIONS - What does the character do? 

How does the character behave?

• LOOKS - What does the character look like? 

How does the character dress?

We then continued our reading from the other lesson and read pages 18-69 from sailing from “Sailing from Troy”. The link is provided right here. Sailing from Troy

Like how we did in lines 1-17 we then answered some questions in our groups about the lines we just read, and we went over them as a class.

GROUP WORK

1. Keep in mind that the Odyssey is the account of Odysseus' ten year journey back home to Ithaca. He misses his family and home; therefore, we will often find connections to this throughout the poem.  

Identify lines in which Odysseus talks about his home in Ithaca.  

• How does he feel about it?  (Specific lines/evidence that describe these feelings)  

He is definitely homesick about Ithaca. He loves his home more than anything else and the one thing he wants to do is to go back and see his family and home. The text states “I shall not see on Earth a place more dear.” This shows how dear his home is to him, and he just wants to get back.

After reading these lines and answering the questions, we continue the story with lines 70-105. This section of “The Odyssey'' was about the Lotus eaters and how Odysseu’s crew almost got stranded on the island with them. The link to these lines is right here. Lotus Eaters. Similar to the other parts of the story we read, we then answered some questions about these lines.

GROUP WORK

2. What kind of world do you think the Lotus Eaters live in?

• Describe the type of lifestyle it is?

I think they live in a world that is a paradise where they forget about all their memories like home or family.

3. What do you think Homer is implying about this lifestyle/world?

1. How does The Odyssey characterize the land of the Lotus-eaters as a veritable (real or genuine) paradise?  And, why, then, is this land seen by Odysseus and others as negative, and something from which to escape?  What do you think is wrong with such a place, if anything?

This is seen as negative because those people just want to get home more than others, and they would rather see family and friends before living in this paradise.

4. Consider the kind of leader Odysseus appears to be in "Sailing from Troy."

• How do his leadership abilities compare to how he is in "The Lotus Eaters?"

• Has your opinion of him changed? Why/Why not?

• Why do you think these events are important to understanding Odysseus' character?

Odysseus changes as a leader throughout the book. In “Sailing from Troy” he displays a weak leader by plundering cities, but in “The Lotus Eaters” he acts like a strong leader by displaying care for his men. My opinion changes because he changed from a weak person who doesn’t care about anything to someone who does care for his men and crew. These events are important because they show change in his character development. They show a bad person changing into a strong leader.

5. In your notes, create a group list of the key events in "The Lotus Eaters."

-See’s some of his crew get “hypnotized” by the Lotus flowers

-Displays leadership skills by caring for his crew and wanting the best for them.

Reflection: These two lessons that we went through today were jammed packed with all sorts of new and interesting information. We learned so much about different aspects of “The Odyssey” and of Greek mythology in general. The main gist of the lesson was learning about “The Odyssey” and how different things like invocations and characterization are included in the story. We learned about Greek mythology with the nine Muses and how impactful they were on peoples lives at the time. This lesson was a great stepping stone for me to help learn more about Greek mythology and understand it’s culture and daily life better. This lesson will also be really useful as background knowledge of “The Odyssey” because we have 18 lessons in total that have to do with “The Odyssey”. The connections from this lesson to others will help me perceive them and understand them in a whole new matter.

 

 

Blogger #11, Gabrielle Go, Period 5, 4/29/21, Day B

 

For this cycle’s class, we had two lessons that were both very discussion based.

3 RL SP Odyssey: Homer’s Invocation

Aim: How does Homer’s invocation establish tone for the beginning of the Odyssey.

Do Now: Class Discussion 

“How do you become inspired? Where does it originate?”

As a class, we shared some things that we were able to draw inspiration from. Some of the answers included listening to music, hobbies, nature, and other surroundings. The point of this do now was to realize that inspiration comes from a variety of different places and things. 

After this, we took time to discuss new team names with our assigned groups. The point masters and managers changed the old team names to the new ones in their respective class documents.

Lesson: 

After changing our team names, we watched a video that taught us a little bit about the nine muses.  The nine muses are goddesses of arts, literature, and sciences. Each muse inspired a different kind of art, writing, or science. People would pay respects to a muse for inspiration and success in their field. The nine muses were:

• Clio: History

• Calliope: Epic poetry

• Erato: Love poetry

• Thalia: Comedy

• Melpomene: Tragedy

• Euterpe: Lyrical arts

• Terpsichore: Dance

• Polymnia: Storytelling

• Urania: Astronomy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKCWfbrY8k 

We also learned that invocation stems from the word invoke, which in this context meant to “call on a deity or spirit in prayer, as a witness, or for inspiration.”  This relates to Homer and the Odyssey because in the beginning of his poem, he invokes the muses for their blessing so that he can deliver the story of Odysseus well. Homer’s invocation can be found in lines 1-17, which we read as a class. We then discussed some questions to help us dig deeper into the text.  As a class we were able to add on to each other and formulate answers that are summarized below.

1.  “What is your opinion of Odysseus so far after hearing Homer's invocation to the muses and learning about the Trojan War?”

He was probably selfless and brave because Homer says it is a great tale and he needs the muses blessing to do it justice. He also may have been somewhat careless because he let his crew offend the sun god.

2. How does Homer maintain the audience’s interest in the story, knowing that the audience is aware of the outcome from the very beginning?

He uses literary techniques like foreshadowing so we can predict what is going to happen and it builds some suspense. He also asks for the muse's blessing in order to tell the story well.

3. What does the invocation of the Muse in the opening lines clarify about Odysseus’ culpability (responsibility for a fault or wrong; blame) during his voyage home?

He clarifies that Odysseus was not part of the offence of the sun god, but since he was the crew’s leader, he was responsible for their actions and is not without blame.

We were then told to fill out and submit an anticipation guide, which was a google form that gave a bunch of statements relating to the Odyssey and asked us if we agreed, disagreed, or were not sure about the statements. The last question was to write a paragraph explaining why we picked a specific stance on one of the statements. Below is the statement I chose to write about and the paragraph I wrote to defend my opinion.

4 RL SP: Odyssey: Sailing From Troy & Lotus Eaters

Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book IX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?

Do Now: Team List

Some of the things we said we would miss the most are our families, the security and familiarity of our homes, and pets. Mrs. Peterson pointed out that because we would miss all of these, we have sayings like the ones in the pictures she attached to the slide.

We then talked about characterization and two types of characterization. CHaracterization is the method by which an author creates the personality and appearance of their character. Direct characterization is when they tell you directly what they want you to know about their character While indirect characterization is when they show what the character is like through indirect means like thoughts, feelings, choices, and dialogue. For identifying indirect characterization, Mrs. Peterson also provided a resource called the STEAL method which stands for speech, thoughts, effect on others toward the character, actions, and looks.

She also provided a link for us to use if we wanted further clarification on the STEAL method

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZnD0AGqQ7I 

After this, we read “Sailing from Troy” which was lines 18-69. After reading, we talked about how he feels about his home in Ithaca. We said that he cares about it very much and desperately wants to return home as shown in lines 35-37 where it says “Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass his own home and his parents? In far lands he shall not, though he find a house of gold.” We moved on to the story of the Lotus Eaters which can be found in lines 70-105. The lotus Eaters lived a very carefree life in a paradise. Odysseus does not like the place because it was very addictive and no one wanted to leave, which meant that they would not go home, a place that he cherishes. His leadership skills in this excerpt change my perspective of him because before, he seemed careless and like he did not pay attention to the crew, but through this excerpt we can see that he does care and wants them to get home too. It was also mentioned that the famous series Percy Jackson and the Olympians alludes to this part of the poem when it mentions the Lotus Casino which is also a paradise that the characters did not want to leave. 

Reflection: 

This lesson has taught me a lot about Greek Mythology. I was especially interested to hear about the muses and what they had to do with the Odyssey. Homer paid respects to the muses so that his poem would do well. We learned this because it shows us a little bit about Greek culture and the role the Gods played in their lives. Usually only the Olympians and sometimes the titans are mentioned in school, but hearing about some of the other goddesses was interesting. I also learned a little bit more about Odysseus’ journey. I learned that his crew was very foolish and despite Odysseus being a hero, he was still flawed. In the beginning, he did not watch over his crew and they ended up offending Helios, the god of the sun. But during the Lotus Eater excerpt, he looks after his crew and does whatever it takes to get them all back on the ship and en route home. We learned this because it helped us spot how authors can use different strategies to show or tell us what their characters are like. I think that I can definitely use these lessons in the future because knowing how to identify characters and their traits is extremely important to understanding a text. If I make a more conscious effort to understand characters and see them the way the author wants me to see them, I can understand stories from a newer and more in depth perspective. Being able to characterize the people the author is writing about can also help other reading skills like understanding motives and identifying relationships or connections between the characters.

Blogger #10, Lowell Ewing, Period 5, 4/27/21, Day B

 Part 1

Aim: How does Homer's invocation establish tone for the beginning of the Odyssey?

Do Now: CLASS DISCUSSION

How do you become inspired?  Where does it originate?

The class discussed a variety of things that inspired them, such as music, their surroundings, and people who shared their hobbies and interests.

Afterwards, everyone was split into breakout rooms to discuss a name change for their respective teams. My groups changed their name to the Trojans. Some more interesting name changes were Homer’s Fans and Kallisti.

The Nine Muses: 

-Muses serve as inspiration for poets and other artists.

-In Greek mythology, there were nine goddesses of arts, literature and science that served as muses.

-Each muse inspires different forms of prose, poetry, drama, rhetoric, or general writing. 

Homer’s invocation pays homage (special honor and respect) to these goddesses and to Ancient Greek culture in general. It also: 

• Expresses the purpose of the narrative.

• Incorporates traditions familiar to his specific audience.

Muses: The 9 Inspirational Goddesses of Greek Mythology - Mythology Dictionary - See U in History [3:06]

What exactly is an invocation?

The class was instructed to search up the definition of invoke.

Most people came up with definitions such as “to cite” or “to call upon”

Here is the definition of invoke according to Oxford Languages:

Invoke (verb): cite or appeal to (someone or something) as an authority for an action or in support of an argument.

Homer’s Invocation (lines 1-17) 

Different members of the class took turns reading out the beginning portion of the Odyssey, including Homer’s invocation. Homer tells of Odysseus’ accomplishments and briefly summarizes the many dangers that he encounters on his voyage home.

GROUP DISCUSSION

1. What is your opinion of Odysseus so far after hearing Homer's invocation to the muses and learning about the Trojan War?

2. Generally, the class seemed to think that Odysseus seemed like a great hero and an exceptionally talented individual. Some, however, were skeptical, as it is implied that Odysseus and his men were among the people ransacking temples and enslaving civilians in Troy.

2. How does Homer maintain the audience’s interest in the story, knowing that the audience is aware of the outcome from the very beginning?

3. Homer manages to summarize the hardships Odysseus had to endure during his journey home without giving too much away. This makes sure that the audience is left wanting to know more about Odysseus’ experiences.

3. What does the invocation of the Muse in the opening lines clarify about Odysseus’ culpability (responsibility for a fault or wrong; blame) during his voyage home?

4. The first few lines seem to make out that the recklessness of Odysseus’ crew destroyed them all. This may mean that, while Odysseus is somewhat responsible (he is their leader, after all), his crew is responsible for their own misfortune.

ANTICIPATION GUIDE

The class filled out a Google Form containing questions that (presumably) pertained to the events of the Odyssey.

These questions were included, but were not limited to:

Do you believe there is no place like home?

Do you agree that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?”

Do you believe that a leader should be responsible for their group?

Do you think it is better to be young and foolish or old and wise?

We were also asked to defend one of the standpoints we chose.

Part 2

Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book IX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?

Do Now: Team List

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. 

1. What would you miss the most and why?

The class came up with an array of aspects of their home and/or home life that they would miss. These included their bed, their family, the feeling of having their own space to relax in, and the familiar objects. 

2. Why do we have sayings like the ones below?

The reason for sayings such as the ones in the images below is most likely because of the comfort and nostalgia that develops when we are familiar with certain objects or environments, such as the ones in our homes.

Characterization

The method by which an author creates the personality and appearance of their character.

Direct Characterization: The author makes direct statements about the character (can be revealed through a narrator or through another character in the story). The author TELLS the reader what they want them to know.

Indirect Characterization: indirectly stated from character's actions, choices they make, dialogue/relationships with others, thoughts, feelings. The author SHOWS the reader what they want them to know.

S.T.E.A.L.

(A method for identifying indirect characterization)

• SPEECH - What does the character say? 

-How does the character speak?

• THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the 

character’s private thoughts and feelings?

• EFFECTS - What is revealed through the character’s 

effect on other people? 

-How do other characters feel or behave in 

reaction to the character?

• ACTIONS - What does the character do? 

How does the character behave?

• LOOKS - What does the character look like? 

-How does the character dress or otherwise present themselves?

Sailing from Troy (lines 18-69)

The class took turns reading the lines of the Odyssey pertaining to Odysseus’ recounting of his adventures to Alcious, the ruler of a land called Phaeacia, which Odysseus ended up in towards the end of his journey. Odysseus says that, after leaving Troy and sailing for a while, his men attacked and pillaged a land called Cicones. Shortly after, they were driven back to their boat with several men being killed in the process.

GROUP WORK

1. Keep in mind that the Odyssey is the account of Odysseus' ten year journey back home to Ithaca. He misses his family and home; therefore, we will often find connections to this throughout the poem.  

1.  Identify lines in which Odysseus talks about his home in Ithaca. 

Lines 21-27 and lines 35-37. 

2.  How does he feel about it? (Specific lines/evidence that describe these feelings) 

Odysseus acknowledges that Ithaca has its faults, but has some upsides as well; an example of this is located in line 27, where he states that Ithaca is “a rocky isle, but good for a boy’s training.” He also implies that he prefers it over any other place by saying “Where shall find a sweetness to surpass his own home and his parents? In far lands he shall not, though he find a house of gold.”

Lotus Eaters (lines 70-105)

In this section of the poem, Odysseus and his men sail to an island inhabited by a people known as the Lotus Eaters. Eating the lotus flower causes you to forget about your old life and only desire to eat more lotus. Odysseus is forced to flee, tying down the men who ate the lotus flowers in order to prevent them from escaping.

2. What kind of world do you think the Lotus Eaters live in?

1. Describe the type of lifestyle it is.

The Lotus Eaters seem to live in a sort of paradise, where they have no desires apart from feeling the euphoria that the lotus flower grants them. It seems like a very simple and laid-back lifestyle.

3. What do you think Homer is implying about this lifestyle/world?

1. How does The Odyssey characterize the land of the Lotus-eaters as a veritable (real or genuine) paradise?  And, why, then, is this land seen by Odysseus and others as negative, and something from which to escape?  What do you think is wrong with such a place, if anything?

2. Homer seems to be implying that the sort of world that the Lotus Eaters live in is not as desirable as it seems. The Lotus Eaters and the members of Odysseus’ crew who consume the lotus flower seem to feel an intense feeling of fulfillment and happiness while eating the plant; thus, they do not want to do anything else.

3. Odysseus, as has already been affirmed, loves his home of Ithaca, and the thought of forgetting about it and never returning seems to be alarming to him. This is what makes him want to escape the island. Living in such a place would cause you to never progress and never move on from your current position in life. This could be seen as a positive or a negative, depending on the person.

4. Consider the kind of leader Odysseus appears to be in "Sailing from Troy."

5. Odysseus does not seem to be in full control of his men, since he cannot stop them from pillaging Cicones and feasting on the animals they have slaughtered. This makes him out to be a poor leader, as any great leader would be in control of and responsible for the group they are in charge of.

1. How do his leadership abilities compare to how he is in "The Lotus Eaters?"

Odysseus seems to be a much stronger leader than he is in “Sailing from Troy.” This is because he is forced to take charge and make the difficult decision to tie up the men that are under the influence of the lotus flower in order to get them back home.

2. Has your opinion of him changed? Why/Why not?

More context is necessary to make a complete judgement of Odysseus’ character. That being said, he has improved quite a bit between his encounter with the Cicones and his encounter with the Lotus Eaters.

3. Why do you think these events are important to understanding Odysseus' character?

These events are indirect characterization and the choices Odysseus makes reflect upon his thoughts and values.

5. In your notes, create a group list of the key events in "The Lotus Eaters."

6. -Odysseus and his companions are faced with a dangerous storm.

7. -They make it through the storm, but are blown off course and are sent adrift for several days.

8. -They arrive at the island of the Lotus Eaters.

9. -Odysseus sends three men to meet the Lotus Eaters, but they do not return.

10. -Odysseus learns of the effect of the lotus flower.

11. -Odysseus chooses to tie up the men who ate the lotus flower and escape from the island.

Reflection: 

What I learned: In this lesson, I read the lines 1-105 of the Odyssey. I also learned a few useful pieces of information about Greek culture, such as the idea of the Nine Muses and what they each represent. Additionally, I gained a better definition of what an invocation is and the nuances of direct and indirect characterization. Finally, I began to form an idea of the general themes and motifs within the Odyssey.

Why I learned it: This knowledge will help me read and comprehend the rest of the Odyssey, other Greek poems and epics, and literature in general. I can find examples of the ideas that are inspired by the Muses, the Lotus Eaters, or other Greek Myths, and I can look for instances of direct and indirect characterization.

How I will use what I learned: As previously stated, the knowledge I gained will help me read poems and other literature more actively, including the Odyssey.