Aim: How does The Odyssey, Book X further enhance our understanding of Odysseus’ plight; through his journey as a hero?
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.
To respond to the Do Now, Fiona started off the conversation. She started by saying people are obligated to wear their seatbelts during car rides whether it is for a long or short duration of time. The outcome would be that the seatbelts would protect you and the people around you from getting hurt in an accident. For adults, the worst situation would be getting a ticket or fine. To add on, Vanessa stated that not only herself but everyone should be obligated to give a seat on a bus to the elderly, the disabled, and pregnant women. Mrs. Peterson agreed by saing all of us are young whipper snappers and that we do not necessarily need to be seated on a bus. Coincidentally, Mrs. Peterson spoke about her obligation as an only child to take care and be there for her parents especially being that they are around 70 years old and may not have the strength to do what they need to do unlike young adults. Furthermore, from my experience, I am obligated to do what my parents can’t do. For example, translating english to cantonese for my parents. Helping them carry groceries back from the supermarket. Double checking that the bills were paid correctly. Blocking phone numbers that seem to be scam risks calls. Everyday duties that seem to be your parents’ will soon be your responsibility and it is always better to start now than never.
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
**MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE EPITHETS IN YOUR CHEAT SHEET**
The Odyssey, Book X
Epithets Examples:
Odysseus:
"The great tactician"
This term creates the image of Odysseus as being intelligent, and probably comes his from 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”
We have everyday epithets used for sailors:
“Red skies at night, sailors delight.”
“Red skies at dawn, sailors be warned.”
If sailors see red skies in the morning, it most likely means sailors are going to have bad weather and this is very dangerous for sailors.
Why do you think Homer may use epithets?
Ayah started off by stating that it is another way of introducing a character’s traits without stating it directly. It is more appealing to readers. In my opinion, I would group the use of epithets with figurative language. Using epithets use a set of words to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison.
Did you know…the Odyssey is over a thousand words—1700 to be exact? You are going to encounter a lot of characters in this epic, so using epithets will help you solidify which character the epic will be talking about and also to differentiate between the characters.
GROUP DISCUSSION
How does Odysseus and his men find themselves faced with a plethora of problems?
Evaluate the types of problems that they face. Can you assess if Odysseus’ men are solely to blame for their problems, and does Odysseus appear to be the constant problem-solver? Or can you provide some other explanation for what’s at hand?
In the breakout room, our group discussed that the plethora of problems Odysseus and his men faced can be fully blamed on Odysseus. One example being the bag of wind. Vincent stated that if Odysseus had been a good leader, he would not have held any secrets from his men and told them that he had a “bag of wind”. But being that Odysseus held this secret from his men, his men opened the bag of wind and ended up being swept back to the island.
2. How does Circe’s Island compare to the Land of the Lotus Eaters?
Can one treatment be deemed as worse than the other? Why/Why Not?
How does her actions towards the men compare to the actions of the Lotus Eaters?
In our group, Marooha stated that she believed that Circe’s island is far more worse than the Land of the Lotus Eater because Circe’s island takes in people, but those people can never escape. On the other hand, the Land of the Lotus Eaters do not force you to be tricked into eating the flowers and they also take care of you. In addition, I added onto Marooha saying that if you were to battle on Circe's island, you would be battling against a goddess while on the Land of the Lotus Eaters, you would be battling the natives.
“There I stood, at the gate of the goddess of the lovely tresses, and I called to her and she heard my voice. She came out straight away to open the shining doors, and invited me to enter. I did so, with a troubled heart” (Odysseus Tells His Tale: Encountering Circe)
Describe the “deal” Odysseus strikes with Circe, as well as her response/instructions.
How does he feel about her directives?
Why is Odysseus’ heart “sore” and “troubled”? What does this reveal about his character?
Has he been faithful?
Before the breakout room ended, I said that I believe Odysseus did what was right and he is still faithful. Even though he slept with another woman, he did this to save his men and I believe I would have done the same to save my family or friends. In addition, I believe Penelope would understand Odysseus and the circumstances he had to accept in order to save his men.
Reflection:
At the end of each lesson, we always refer back to the aim. We take in everything we learned and implement it so we can answer the Aim. The Aim for this lesson was how does The Odyssey, Book X further enhance our understanding of Odysseus’ plight; through his journey as a hero? Now at first, I had no idea what plight meant and after reading the definition, it means a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation. I connected this definition with The Odyssey because Odysseus definitely had an unfortunate situation/journey. Being a king who went missing for 20 years without your wife and son, you have to to pity Odysseus. However, our class argued about the “journey as a hero” part because of the deal he made with Circe on Circe’s Island. The deal Odysseus had with Circe was that if he slept with her, she would free his men which had turned into pigs. Now, we implement the Do Now discussion. Do you think Odyssesus was obligated to sleep with Circe in order to save his men? Or do you think he should have left his men to be Circe’s livestock? This argument has yet to conclude, but my answer would be that Odysseus should have felt the obligation to save his men.
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