Aim: How can we evaluate Odysseus’ leadership through his decision-making in his encounter with “Scylla and Charybdis” in Homer’s Odyssey?
I attended the remote class on May 17th, 2021 (Day C)
Do Now: Would you sacrifice one person in order to save five other people and what would influence it?
For me, I said yes. It’s better to have one person die then five people unless under some circumstances where that one person is very important or meaningful to me.
-> The do now was based on the Trolley Problem which we got to watch a youtube video about in class. It describes a scenario where a trolley was heading toward 2 groups of people and where you can’t warn them. You, though, have the power to flip the switch of the railway to make the trolley hit one person instead of the other 5 people. This problem was made to test morals and see if the decisions you have made would change depending on the people in either groups.
This is the youtube video in which we watched in class : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOpf6KcWYyw&t=1s
Then, we participated in a Kahoot in which different scenarios were planned out to see what the class would vote.
The scenarios are:
1 : Standard Trolley Problem : in video - 2 people out of the class would let 5 people die and 28 people would kill the one person and save the 5.
2 : The five people are killers who escaped from prison : 21 people out of the class would kill the 5 killers and 9 people would still kill the one.
3 : The one worker is going to die from sickness in a week : 6 people out of the class would do nothing and let 5 people die and 24 would kill the one worker.
4 : The 5 people are all pregnant women : 6 people out of the class would do nothing and 24 people would save the 5 women.
5 : The one worker is your best friend : 21 people out of the class would do nothing and save the friend and 9 people would kill the best friend.
6 : There isn’t one worker but actually workers : 11 would do nothing and let 5 people die and 19 would kill the 4 people.
7 : The one person is a world class surgeon ; 10 people would do nothing and 20 people would save the surgeon.
Discussion:
This then led to our discussion about Odysseus and the story.
Bernice started by saying that in the end you are trying to save people so in the end you would save more people.
Joanee said that some situations can have specialities like the best friend and surgeon scenario and that it depends on the person you are saving.
After Joanne, Darren stated that factors mattered in this situation.
Sofia said that it also depends on the health of the 2 groups of people.
Overall we discussed that this problem involved a lot of morals and how this problem “pulled our heart strings.”
Scylla and Charybdis:
Scylla is a six headed monster who when ships pass by it swallows the crew members head by head. It was created by Circe who got jealous of the sea god being in love with Scylla and poured a potion into the pool that Scylla would later go into. The potion made her into a monster.
Charybdis:
Charybdis was a naiad who was the daughter of the sea god. She stole Heracles’ cattle one day which resulted in being punished by Zeus and turned into a monster or a whirl pool.
Reading:
After the discussion of these 2 monsters, the class spirited read a passage from Odyssey talking about the 2 sea monsters and the advice that Circe gave him which was to sacrifice 6 men to Scylla in order to save the other men/crew since if he went through Charybdis he and his crew might not make it out alive at all. This related to the Trolley problem of morals and sacrificing someone in order to save more people along the way.
We proposed the question of Why did Odyssey choose to sacrifice 6 men and who influenced him into doing it?
Allusions:
Mrs Peterson explained it as a reference to something but not explained and the class discussed it. Loezee, Eric, Ayad and other people participated in the conversions stating that it can help create the mood and contribute to the theme.
USU - Usually - Universal shortcut to say Usually which can be used as a shortcut for notes or other important docs.
Ending:
After more discussions and teamwork where we could earn points, the class officially concluded with Mrs. Peterson stating that we wouldn't have physical homework but instead mental homework
Reflection:
Overall, I learned a lot about morals, factors that come into play when making decisions and about Odysseus and the sea monsters. I also learned about how Odysseus had to make a choice between killing people in order to save more people just like we did in the Trolley Problem. I also learned about allusions and how it was presented in the short passage that we spirit read in class and how it affected the story. I also learned about how the class felt about the Trolley Problems using the kahoot and seeing the majority vote. I think I learned a lot from this lesson and will hopefully continue to expand my knowledge of Odysseus and other figurative languages.
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