17 RL SP Odyssey: Odysseus' Revenge (Bk 22)
Aim: How does Odysseus establish his authority as an epic hero in the episode of “The Challenge” and “Odysseus’ Revenge”?
Do Now: The Ancient Greeks viewed revenge as a form of social justice. They believed that if a horrid wrongdoing was done upon them, they had the right to return the favor; in whatever means they found just. The Greek values greatly resembled the Hammurabi Code of Law for Justice: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” mentality, meaning that whatever crime the perpetrator committed, the punishment brought upon him should be equal or fitting of the crime.
In our class discussion we talked about how revenge in our society is an unethical and immature way to pay someone back for whatever wrong that they have committed. We talked about how in our society, instead of getting revenge we wait for karma.
We also talked about how in school there is a no tolerance policy where even if someone does something wrong to you, you can’t retaliate or else you would also get in trouble for it. Personally I somewhat agree with Hammurabi's code, where if someone takes something from you, you should get to take something from them. But I don’t agree with Hammurabi’s code in extreme cases, such as taking an eye for an eye. I feel instead the punishment should be jail time instead of taking the perpetrators eye.
Words to know:
implacable(adj): unrelenting, stubborn; impossible to calm or appease
quiver(n): a portable case for holding arrows
entrails(n-pl): internal organs, the intestines; within
The readings that we were supposed to read prior to this lesson
then
Whole class discussion
“But the man skilled in all ways of contending, satisfied by the great bow’s look and heft, like a musician, like a harper, when he draws with quiet hand upon his instrument he draws between his thumb and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg; so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow. Then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it, so the taut gut vibrating hummed and sang a swallows note” (Homer 1370-1379).
What epic simile is created in the lines above, from “The Challenge”? Explain the comparison.
The epic simile that is being used in these lines above is comparing Odysseus’ skill with the bow to an expert harp player.
Which of Odysseus’ qualities are being highlighted here?
How is Homer presenting Odysseus to the audience ?
This highlights Odysseus' qualities of using the weapon and being able to string the bow. Homer is also presenting Odysseus being delicate but still being skillful.
Image of Odysseus stringing his bow
Here are some videos that were provided in this lesson
The Odyssey by Homer | Book 22 Summary and Analysis [1:58]
Acting The Odyssey 1997 (Odysseus’ Revenge) [9:18]
Analyze both paintings depicting Odysseus killing the suitors. Do you believe the artists accurately depicted Odysseus’ attack on the suitors? Would you evaluate this to be a “fair” fight-- why or why not?
We discussed that the artists accurately depicted Odysseus’ attack on the suitors, but we felt that the artist on the right depicted the battle more accurately because in the right picture it has Odysseus holding a bow just like how it was in the text. We said that this wasn’t a fair fight because Odysseus had a plan set up. But I think that the fight was fair because Odysseus only had his son and 2 other men, while there were many more suitors that outnumbered them.
Teamwork
We discussed that Odysseus invoked Apollo as a way to get his blessing since he is the god of archery. Antinous was the first to die and the rest of the suitors were surprised and thought that it was an assassin instead of Odysseus. Eurymachus said that since Antinous was the one who banded them all together that they shouldn’t be punished because he is already dead and that the rest of the suitors should receive a lesser punishment. The 3 crimes that the suitors committed was that they were in Odysseus’ house and using all his resources, they tried to court his wife while he was still alive, and their disdain for the gods. Odysseus denies Eurymachus’ request for the restitution because he feels that just giving land and cattle isn’t enough of a punishment. We discussed that Odysseus was somewhat justified in killing the suitors because they had disrespected him and they tried to take his wife. Also we said that since it is the greek society it is sort of expected that he killed the suitors.
18 RL SP Odyssey: Penelope's Test
Aim: How does Penelope’s test for Odysseus establish their fidelity toward each other while finally providing closure for Odysseus and his journey?
Do Now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
Do Now:
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
—T. S. Eliot, “East Coker III” (From Four Quartets)
We discussed that Eliot meant that to gain something you must sacrifice something as well. That you must lose your possessions to gain something and to get new information you must be ignorant.
Here are the texts and videos provided
Penelope: The Faithful Wife of Odysseus - Mythology Dictionary - See U in History [3:00]
Teamwork
We discussed that Athena made Odysseus look like a young king once again, making him look better. Odysseus is displeased with Penelope because she didn’t recognize him when they revealed his true identity. Penelope's response to this was that there have been many imposters trying to trick her into believing that they were Odysseus but they weren’t. Penelope outwit’s Odysseus by saying that she moved the bed that he made from his own hands to see if he gets angry about it, and she could tell that it is the real Odysseus if he gets angry about it.
Reflection
I learned that revenge in ancient greek was much like Hammurabi’s code and that the perpetrators get punished severely for any crime they commit. I learned that the punishment in ancient greek wasn’t about if it was fair or not, so that if a punishment was fair but the punisher didn’t think that it was enough, they could have a more brutal punishment. I also learned that to get to somewhere you have to lose something. And for Odysseus for him to get home and finally be able to stay with Penelope he had to sacrifice his men and he had to kill several suitors. In addition we learned about all the troubles Penelope went through while Odysseus was gone. I learned this so that I could further understand Odysseus as a character. That we could understand that the journey for Odysseus was hard and that he had to sacrifice many things, and he had to kill people to be finally reunited with his wife Penelope. We also learned this to understand Penelope and what hardships she went through. I will use what I learned in the future by knowing that to get to where I want to be I have to be willing to sacrifice some things and that there may be hardships along the way. But I still have to keep going or else I will never get what I want or get where I want to be.
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