Aim: How does The Odyssey, Book X further enhance our understanding of Odysseus’ plight; through his journey as a hero?
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Do now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
Describe a time when you, or someone you know, felt something had to be done out of obligation (a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment). Tell the outcome.
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In the beginning of our class, our do-now was a class discussion about when we had to do something out of obligation. Justin had started our discussion with his sister and how she would help him out with homework and projects. He talks about how he would also do the same if he saw her needing help. Daniel added on how since his grandma had worked hard for his family, whenever she is feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, he would take care of the chores. Ms. Peterson discussed how she would also help her parents the same way. An example of doing something out of obligation is when someone who’s elderly or pregnant is on the bus, you would give your seat up for them so they wouldn’t grow tired standing up.
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Epithets:
An epithet is an adjective or a descriptive phrase that expresses a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.
Homer repeatedly describes many of his characters or objects in his story with the same phrase.
Epithets are a common element of epic poems that let the reader easily identify the character or object (similar to a nickname!)
One character or object can be given many different epithets
Why do you think Homer may use epithets?
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On this slide gives a good definition of what an epithet is and how it is used with Homer’s writing in The Odyssey. As the question states, the reason for Homer’s use of epithets is to aid with recognizing and visualizing the characters. This helps him differentiate between characters he introduces, as there are many characters in the epic poem. The next slides covers examples of uses for epithets.
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Epithets Examples:
Odysseus:
"The great tactician"
This term creates the image of Odysseus as being intelligent, and probably comes from his being the initiator of the idea for the "Trojan horse."
”The man of twists and turns"
Athena:
"The clear eyed goddess"
This helps the reader imagine that Athena is alert, and wise - farseeing.
Sunrise:
“Rosy Fingered Dawn”
Zeus:
“Son of Cronos”, “Who marshalls the thunderclouds”
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Group Discussion: For the next twenty minutes, we were put into breakout groups to answer the questions based on what we read in Book X of the Odyssey last cycle. After, we were brought back together for another class discussion.
Odysseus and his men find themselves faced in a plethora of problems by their carelessness and their tragic flaw. Their tragic flaw was being too prideful, which ended with them unable to get home for ten years. Firstly, they were very close to coming home before Odysseus's crewmates got suspicious of him. Then they opened a bag of wind which was suspected to be filled with riches. That caused them to drift all the way back where they started the journey back home. Another incident was when they ended up at Circe’s island, when the men were careless enough for Circe to turn them into pigs. Odysseus’s men should be mostly blamed for the problems, but Odysseus should also take responsibility for them since he was their leader. After all, when they were stuck at the cyclops's island, the men told Odysseus to turn back but he didn’t, causing more lives and time to be taken.
Circe’s island compared to The Land of the Lotus Eaters by their way of treatment to the men. Circe traps the men and turns them into pigs, as well as forcing them to believe they are living a comfortable and desired lifestyle. The Land of the Lotus Eater causes the men to stay on the land and eat lotus, not wanting to go home. It can be argued which treatments were worse than others. Firstly, in Circe’s island, she put them in a headspace which didn’t allow the men to be aware they were tricked and the Lotus eater land just created happiness for them. However, Circe does let them go, turning them back into humans and even offers the luxury for them, as the Lotus eaters didn't have the power to snap them back to reality.
The deal that Odysseus proposed to Circe was that he will sleep with her if she will not harm him or his men. Agreeing to this, she undoed her spell and allowed them all to stay on the island. After this, Odysseus’s heart felt ‘sore’ and ‘troubled,’ as he still was loyal to his wife penelope. Some may say he was faithful to her, however he was more faithful to his men since he is doing what he must to keep them safe as well as get them home. This tells us that Odysseus still cares about Penelope however he must get home to her first. So, survival is what he needs to think about.
Odysseus demonstrates his actions are motivated through “obligation” and not through some other force or factor through some instances when he has to sleep with Circe in exchange for his safety. His obligation was to get him and his men back home. However, after a year, the reversal of roles of his men telling Odysseus to get back home says that his obligation is no longer to get back home. He has left it for the luxurys of Circe’s island when he has the ability and free will to leave the island as he pleased.
Hermes has a reputation for “trickery.” Consider that he is the one who informed Circe that Odysseus would be coming, as well as he advised Odysseus as to how to “best” Circe with her magic potions and wand. He has used his trickery to deceive both Circe and Odysseus. He told Circes that Odysseus would be arriving at her island and Odysseus how to avoid her spell. However, what had happened after Odysseus wasn’t casted under her spell was Odyseus’s doing. He would’ve demanded his men and his freedom out since Circes was now revealed vulnerable. However, he chose to sleep with her.
The epithets were as stated below:
Favorite of Zeus, Odysseus
Hermes of Golden Wand, Hermes
a goddess skilled in magic potions, Circes
the Slayer of Argus, Hermes
That concludes today’s lessons, here are some links to help enhance our understanding of the lesson.
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 1 Summary and Analysis [3:03]
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 2 Summary and Analysis [2:41]
The Odyssey by Homer | Books 3-4 Summary and Analysis [3:00]
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 5 Summary and Analysis [1:58]
The Odyssey by Homer | Books 6-7 Summary and Analysis [1:56]
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 8 Summary and Analysis [2:04]
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 10 Summary and Analysis [2:31]
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Reflection:
Overall, today’s lesson helped me have a better understanding of the Odyssey and Homer’ writing style. The Do Now allowed me to learn more about why Odysseus had to do what he had to do for the sake of survival, even if he had to be disloyal to his wife Penelope. It helped show me what Odysseus’s obligations were, which was to get his men back home. I also learned about the use of epithets, phases to describe a character. It aids the understanding of why many characters have many descriptive names and descriptions and how I will be able to recognize some of them. The group discussion ties in with the comprehension of Book X of The Odyssey, using group work to help us along the way. The questions really got me thinking about what I had read and to interpret what the characters were thinking and why some of the characters have to take these specific actions to get to their goal. The purpose of this lesson was to have a better grasp of how Homer writes in his epic poems and the content of them. I definitely see myself using epithets in my writing as it can help me expand my vocabulary instead of just using a character’s name over and over again. All and all, this lesson helped me understand the content of Book X and how Homer describes his characters.
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