Odyssey Top Ten

the assignment:

You are going to create a top-ten poster for events, people, and places in The Odyssey. You will give awards based on “best ___ ” and “worst ____ ” or “most ____” and “least ____” . Rate your top ten, 1 being your favorite part from the story. Include in your top ten:

• at least one place (think of all of the places Odysseus went. This should be easy.)
• at least four people or characters (yes, this can include monsters or gods or goddesses)
• at least two events (this is a part of the plot – like, a shipwreck or fight)
• your choice for the remaining 3

Write 3-5 complete sentences explaining why this event, person, or place deserves this award. You may be as creative as you like, as long as it is school appropriate. You may include “___ deserves the award of ________ because…” as one of your sentences. Avoid 2nd person pronouns. This does not have to be typed; it does, however, have to fit either in or on the provided construction paper.

the content:

places:

• Ithaca, Troy, Island of the Cicones, Land of the Lotus Eaters, Island of the Cyclops, Land of the Laestrygonians, Aeaea, The Land of the Dead, Strait of Scylla and Charybdis, Thrinakia, Calypso’s Paradise Ogygia, Phaecia

characters:

• Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus, Cicones women, Cicones army, Lotus eaters, Cyclops, Polyphemus, Aelous, Laestrygonians, Circe, Eurylochus, Elpenor, Hermes, Teresias, Antikleia, Achilles, Agamemnon, Clytaimestra, Sirens, Charybdis, Scylla, Lord Helios the Sun God, Calypso, Zeus, Poseidon, King Alcinous, Argos, Suitors, Eumaeus, Eurycleia, Antinous, Eurymachus, Maids, Athena

events:

• The Story of the Golden Apple; The Kidnapping of Helen; Odysseus Refuses to go to War; The Trojan War; Achilles's reaction to surrendering Chyrseis; Hector's Death; The Trojan Horse; Stopping at the Cicones Island; Stopping at the Lotus eaters’ Island; 3 men refuse to leave Lotus eaters’ Island; Entering Cyclops’s home; Cyclops eats first 2 men; Odysseus debates killing Cyclops; Odysseus gives Cyclops wine; Cyclops and Odysseus “name game” ; Odysseus pokes Cyclops’ eye out; Odysseus hides under sheep; Odysseus calls back to Cyclops; Odysseus receives bag of winds from Aeolus; Odysseus’s men open bag of winds; Aeolus thinks Odysseus is cursed; Circe turns Odysseus’ men into pigs; Hermes gives Odysseus moly / plan; Odysseus visits Teresias / Land of the Dead; Odysseus meets his dead mother Antiklea; Odysseus meets Agamemnon; Odysseus meets Achilles; Circe warns about Scylla, Charybdis, and Sirens; Sailing by the Sirens; Sailing by Charybdis; Sailing by Scylla; Stopping at Thrinakia; Odysseus leaves men alone / eat cattle; Helios asks Zeus for justice; Odysseus stays at Calypso’s island; Hermes tells Calypso Zeus’s decree; Calypso offers Odysseus immortality; Odysseus builds raft; raft crashes because of Poseidon’s wrath; Odysseus is found by King Alcinous’s daughter – treated kindly – receives ship; Odysseus arrives home – Meets Eumaeus and Telemachus; Telemachus searches for 1 year for father; Odysseus dresses as beggar – treated bad by suitors; Odysseus meets his old dog; Odysseus meets Penelope, still disguised – Eurycleia washes Odysseus’s feet; Penelope proposes test to suitors; Penelope wove rug to postpone wedding – caught by a servant; Odysseus, as beggar, asks for bow – suitors laugh – easily strings bow and shoots it; Odysseus and Telemachus fight suitors – all weapons gone; Odysseus and Telemachus have maids clean dead – hang them; Odysseus and Penelope talk – Odysseus proves he is Odysseus

concepts / themes:

• hospitality, hubris, epithet, loyalty, leadership, epic hero

extra help:

As always, if you feel like you need help beyond what is available in the classroom, I will be available in my classroom before school 7:00-7:25am and after school until 4:30pm. I also check my email daily and may provide assistance this way as well. I cannot provide assistance if you do not ask; claiming to "not understand" an assignment and not asking for help is inexcusable. If you do not ask for help I will assume you understand the assignment and plan to turn it in, completed, on the due date. This assignment will NOT be accepted late, so plan appropriately.

the values:

Cover Design -- with words "Odyssey Top Ten" and illustration -- 20 points
One place -- 5 points
Two Events -- 5 points
Four characters -- 5 points
Bigger numbers -- 5 points
Numbers count backwards from 10 -- 5 points
Award name in big letters -- 5 points
Explanations (3 complete sentences per item) -- 50 points
Symbols or illustrations for each item -- 50 points

Total = 150 points

Indiana State Academic Standards met by this project: 10.3.1, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.9, 10.3.13, 10.4.1, 10.4.9, 10.4.10, 10.4.11, 10.4.12, 10.5.2, 10.5.7, 10.5.8, 10.6.1, 10.6.2, 10.6.3