Blogger #27 - Christopher Salguero - Period 7 - 5/20/2021 - Day C

 Aim: How does "The Cattle of the Sun God" episode illustrate the culminating challenge Odysseus faces as a leader?

Do Now: Kahoot

Class Discussion: Trust

We had a long class discussion on how we would react if one of our close friends, who we trusted very much, did something that we had told them not to do. I had stated that I would forgive the person as if they have already gained my trust, they must have a reason to have broken this trust. Kenneth had said that he would cut ties with the person, and Alma said that she wouldn’t trust that person as much with secrets or to do anything she asked of them.

Following this discussion, we read “The Cattle of the Sun God” in the spirit reading format we usually do.

Class Discussion: 

Lines 863-893

Eurylochus is also Odysseus' brother in law and shows loyalty to Odysseus; until this point.

1. Why do you think there was a change in his character in "The Cattle of the Sun God"?

2. What reason does Eurylochus give the crew members to justify the betrayal of Tiresias' warning to Odysseus?

This second discussion was led by Lixiang, he had added that the character Eurylochus had changed as a result of their dire situations explaining that he had begun to lead Odysseus’ men without the permission of Odysseus. He added that Eurylochus had thought it was best to eat the cattle before Odysseus could wake up as the wrath of the gods was a better way of dying than to that of starvation.

How do their behaviors present a role reversal? (Consider their actions/behaviors on Circe’s island in comparison.)

What are some of the signs that the gods give to the men after they begin to eat the cattle? What are these signs an example of? (Reflect back to your reading of The Alchemist!)

Omen: Anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future (something of prophetic significance)

How do the men react to these warnings, and what is the 

significance of their reactions? 

This was the continuation of our class discussion that was led off by Oscar and Joanne. Joanne had stated that the role of leader was suddenly Odysseus’ again as Eurylochus had become a coward and wanted to leave the men behind, while Odysseus wanted to try his best and save them. Oscar then answered the second question by stating that the gods altered the weather to make the journey a more difficult one for the men. Joanne came into the conversation once again and stated that the cattle had begun to move weirdly, showing a sign of the god’s altercations and the men ate the cattle knowing that this weird movement would result in their deaths anyways.

Teamwork:

1. What similarities do you see in Eurylochus' speech to the crew in this episode and Odysseus' speech in “Scylla and Charybdis”?

Lines 894-954

2. In "The Cattle of the Sun God", what does the wrath of the gods say about their involvement amongst mortals?

1. Assess their involvement!

2. What are some of their behaviors/actions at this point of the episode?

3. What details in lines 920-921 clarify the flashback presented here?

I was unsure about what my teammates had mentioned most of the time that we were doing group work as the talking had not started very early, and I was in the bathroom while most of the actual talking was going on and I did not catch very much of what my group was saying and the information did not stick with me. 

Class Discussion: 

Do the members of the crew

deserve the punishment they received for killing the cattle? 

Explain.

I had not spoken during this class discussion in class, but I did not believe that all of the men deserved the punishment they received for killing the cattle. The only man that should have gotten any punishment was Eurylochus as he had swayed the other men to kill the cattle and eat with him. This was also a way of survival, and the men deserved to not be punished as they had just been thinking about how they would survive. Ayad had an opinion that was the opposite of mine, as he believed that the men got everything they deserved because they had already been warned by the gods multiple times.

Class Discussion: 

Is Odysseus learning to not be so proud and too confident? Has his hubris been “put in check”? Explain.

This conversation was mainly led by Oscar and he stated that Odysseus had changed as a character after losing many of his men, he stated that after losing as many men as he had Odysseus learned that he shouldn’t be confident all the time and realize when he might be outmatched.

Homework:

For homework this cycle, Ms.Peterson had assigned us another class Virtual Debate where we would have to choose which man we would have followed, Odysseus or Eurylochus, and have to respond to one classmate with our thoughts on their response and either agree or disagree with their opinion.