Wednesday, February 25

Today we completed book 9, so students must read book 10 for Thursday. Also, each student created his or her personal odyssey including ten significant events from his or her life.

We will attempt to read through book 10, but we may carry that over to Friday.

Regardless, Friday we will have a vocabulary quiz over the 10 words we've discussed in the past week.

The new words include:
-lament: to mourn deeply; to feel or express sorrow or regret; sorrow, moan, weep, hurt; I lamented Heath Ledger's death.

-fawn: (pg 107)–to behave affectionately; flatter, butter up, brownnose, kiss up

-intrigue (noun) – scheme or plot; trickery, plan, conspiracy, “The intrigue caused many to fear.”

-defile- to corrupt or violate; dishonor, stain, make impure; “It hurts others when you defile their property or character.

-renowned: famous; well-known; superstar

-smite: strike hard; hit; whack

-tantalize (124) to torment by keeping something desirable out of reach; bitter disappointment; provoke, taunt, frustrate, tempt;

-prodigious (125): – extraordinary, marvelous, monstrous; gigantic, immeasurable; I was honored to receive such a prodigious scholarship.

**Remember you can earn extra credit for bringing in vocabulary words you find in your reading. You must follow the four square examples from class.

NEW WEEK: Monday, February 23

Today, instead of taking a quiz, we reviewed book 8 as a class. The students all wrote two questions about the book, and then in pairs, they answered others' questions.

Skype chats-tonight (Monday) 7-10 pm AND Thursday 7-10 pm for assistance on research papers and/or questions on the reading for the next day

Two new vocabulary words:
1) intrigue- scheme or plot; trickery; Poseidon's intrigue against Odysseus caused him many problems along his odyssey.
2) defile- to violate or corrupt; to make impure; It is rude to defile someone's property or character.
-Other words to know: odyssey, Greek for Calypso
**Vocabulary quiz FRIDAY**

Began creating our personal odysseys (timeline of our lives). Each student must include ten significant events that have occurred in his/her lifetime. These are due tomorrow (Tuesday).

Read book 9 for Tuesday.

Thursday, February 19

Quiz over books 6 & 7.

Acted out books 6 & 7.

Review from previous days:

odyssey- a long, wandering and eventful trip; quest; adventure

Calypso (in Greek)- to conceal or cover; hide; disguise

Notes:

2 Characteristics (strengths) of Odysseus: 1) His ability to endure  2) His ability to think for himself under pressure

Homeric simile: an extended (long) comparison using like or as; written by Homer (the author)

Heroism: Odysseus thinks it's better to die in battle than to die in the sea.  

Role of women: Up to this point, they have been the ones to help Odysseus (Athena, Nausicaa, Arete, Calypso, Ino)

Poseidon: Angry with Odysseus still, and he's related to the Phaeacians. (warning sign!)

Why doesn't Odysseus reveal himself to King Alcinous and Queen Arete immediately?  He just met them, so he still fears/distrusts them.  Just like we don't share who we are with strangers.  We tell them a little bit, but we don't tell them our whole life story right off the bat.

**Keep reading for setting, characters, and plot.

**Look for vocabulary words.

**Thursday: Night off of reading!

**Over the weekend: Read Book 8.  Quiz on Monday.

Slight CHANGE to schedule

Note the following change to the schedule:

Wednesday night, you must read books six (6) AND seven (7) to discuss in class Thursday. You will have a double quiz covering both books, so BE PREPARED.

Thursday=no reading assignment. Enjoy a night off!

Friday will be a reflection day with Mrs. Feller. Read chapter 8 over the weekend and come ready to be quizzed on it Monday.

Keep looking for vocabulary, and keep an eye out for setting, characters, and the major events of the books you read.

Also, take note of any character strengths or weaknesses you see in Odysseus.

Daily Agenda 4/1

Today's Objectives:

• Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
• Students will identify intention, attitude, and bias of the author.
• Students will explain how the author uses literary devices.
• Students will analyze narrative elements in the text.

Indiana Standards:
10.1.2, 10.1.4, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.9, 10.3.13, 10.3.11, 10.3.12

Activities:

• Turn in "Odyssey Top Ten" / vocabulary lesson 23-24
• Discuss chapters one and two

Announcements:

• Poetry reading Thursday, April 10, 6:30-8:30 at Barnes and Noble
• Last day for "Odyssey Top Ten" = Friday, 4/4
• Vocabulary due today
• substitute on Friday: Ms. Endress
• last day of grading period = 4/11
• Feller's last day = 4/11
• long-term sub: Ms. Yelton
• If you plan to own To Kill a Mockingbird, start looking for a copy now

Daily Agenda 3/31

Today's Objective:
Students will be able to answer questions about "The Metamorphosis" including vocabulary, reading comprehension (fiction and nonfiction), and written response with at least 75% proficiency after reading the novella on their own.

Today's Standards:
10.1.2, 10.1.4, 10.2.4, 10.3.2, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.9, 10.3.13, 10.3.11, 10.3.12, 10.4.2, 10.4.5, 10.4.11, 10.5.2

Today's Activities:

• Turn in Odyssey Top Ten project
• Receive copy of calendar (next two weeks)
• Take test

Today's Announcements:

• Last day for Odyssey Top Ten project = Friday, April 4
• Vocabulary due tomorrow (lessons 23-24)
• Sub Friday for Mrs. Feller's tech day -- Ms. Endress
• End of grading period = Friday, April 11
• Feller's last day = Friday, April 11; sub: Ms. Yelton
• If you plan to own your own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, please begin looking to purchase one now; best deal = Target

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

Daily Agenda 3/14

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Watch live action Odyssey
* Discuss movie
* Receive Metamorphosis books -- read entire book for Spring Break

Today's Announcements:
* meet in lab Monday and Tuesday
* Vocabulary 19-20 due Tuesday

Daily Agenda 3/13

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Read / discuss / skim books 16-18

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 19-20 due Tuesday

Daily Agenda 3/12

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Read / discuss / skim books 13-15

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 19-20 due yesterday

Daily Agenda 3/11

Today's Activities:
* Double history period -- meet in Ms. Hercules' room

Today's Announcements:
* Last day for interviews = today
* Vocabulary 19-20 due today

Daily Agenda 3/10

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12, 10.7.5

Today's Activities:
* Watch cartoon Odyssey
* Write at least 3 similarities on note card; 3 differences on other side

Today's Announcements:
* Interviews due TODAY -- last day accepted = 3/11
* Vocabulary 19-20 due tomorrow
* Double history period tomorrow -- meet in Ms. Hercules' room

Odyssey, Part II Notes

Odysseus returns

• Returns on King Alcinous’s ship
• Must dress as beggar
• Athena is helper/guardian

Eumaeus

• Faithful servant
• Swineherd (pig keeper)
• Doesn’t know O b/c of disguise
• Welcomes/nice to O

Telemachus

• O’s son
• Traveled to Pylos and Sparta to find dad
• Athena said “go home”
• O’s house is over-run with suitors
• T’s mom must choose new husband
• Athena warns: suitors plan ambush
• T gets home secretly
• T has been away 1 year

Father and son meet

• Dogs play with T
• O doesn’t recognize T
• E is very happy to see T – acts like dad
• T says to E: I want to see you first
• First thing: T, E, and O share a meal
• T and O don’t know each other b/c O wears disguise
• Athena changes O to young and new
• T thinks O is a god
• T denies O is father
• T finally accepts O as father
• They both cry

Beggar and his faithful dog

• Argos = O’s dog
• Trained by O
• Hunter dog
• Sleeps on dung, abandoned
• Wags tail when he hears O
• Very good hunting dog
• No one takes care of him now
• Argos dies

Penelope

• P delayed the suitors by telling them she must weave a rug for lost husband
• Each night, she undid the work from that day
• One of the maids tattled on her

• P supports O (as beggar)
• P wants to talk to O about O
• P gets mad at T for letting O be abused by suitors
• P sings praises of O
• O and T later discuss plan
• O will test P and maids
• Some maids not faithful
• O tells P three things: (1) “Beggar” makes up origin when he talks to P; (2) O praises himself to P; (3) O tells P that he is on his way

Eurycleia and Odysseus

• P = happy at O’s news
• P tells Eury to wash O’s feet (sign of respect)
• Eury = O’s nurse / nanny
• Eury recognizes O by scar on leg
• O makes Eury promise NOT to tell

Penelope

• P decides to test suitors
• O is very mad at suitors and maids
• Athena says: don’t fear – suitors will die

The Test of the Great Bow

• P proposes “impossible” task for suitors
• String bow = impossible for all except O
• O left his bow in Ithaca
• Test is twofold: string bow and shoot arrow clean through 12 axhead sockets
• Many suitors try; all fail

Faithful servants

• Swineherd and cowherd leave; they are sad
• O asks them if they’d be faithful to O if he returns
• Both say they’d be faithful
• O reveals himself to them
• If they help O defeat suitors, he promises wives, cattle, and houses to both
• O shows them his scar
• Tells them to return to room
• When he asks for the bow, suitors will laugh
• Give him the bow anyway
• Tell women to bar the doors and lock them tight
• If they hear screams / fighting – don’t open the door

Odysseus revealed

• O asks for bow – suitors don’t like the idea
• P says O must have a chance – accepts him as suitor
• E removes P and all maids from room
• T had removed all suitors weapons from room before
• O tests the bow for weaknesses – suitors jest
• O easily strings the bow
• Zeus thundered
• O easily shoots arrow through axes
• T stands by his father with weapons, ready to defend

Death at the Palace

• O must deal with more than 100 suitors
• O confronts Antinous, meanest of suitors
• Antinous broke a stool on O; teased and ridiculed him
• O loses his rags and aims for Antinous
• O shoots Antinous through the throat
• Suitors are angry, but find no weapons or shields
• O reveals himself: “Your last hour has come. You die in blood.”
• Eurymachus tries to bargin with reason and bribery:
• Reason: why kill more? You already killed Antinous, the cause of all troubles
• Bribery: we’ll replenish what we’ve used
• O says: you all will die for what you’ve done
• T helps his father kill all suitors
• Suitors can’t leave because doors are locked

Odysseus and the maids

• O makes maids clean up dead suitors
• T “pays” maids by hanging them in courtyard
• They were loyal to suitors and had to be punished

Odysseus and Penelope

• Eury tells P of O’s return and defeat of suitors
• P still doesn’t believe – wants to test O
• T is angry at P for not welcoming O
• P says: she is shocked and confused
• Later, P says to move bed into hall
• O says: bed can’t be moved
• O says: he built bed around an olive tree
• P very happy that O is her husband

Daily Agenda 3/6

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Quiz, books 9-12
* Discuss books 13-24 of the Odyssey (part II) / look at notes

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 17-18 due TUESDAY
* Any questions regarding interview assignment ? Due Friday 3/7.
* movie tomorrow over the Odyssey

Daily Agenda 3/5

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Discuss book 11
* Begin reading / discussing book 12; finish the rest for HW

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 17-18 due YESTERDAY
* Any questions regarding interview assignment ? Due Friday 3/7.
* Quiz over books 9-12 tomorrow

Odyssey, Book 12 Notes

The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis; The Cattle of the Sun God

Major concepts:

• the burial of Elpenor
• Circe's helpfulness
• Odysseus leadership - its success and failures
• Eurylochus' role
• the South Wind
• the absoluteness of the Gods
• Odysseus' endurance

Study Guide Questions:

1. Why should Odysseus be wary of the Sirens?
2. What should he and his men do to keep safe from the Sirens?
3. Describe Scylla.
4. What will Charybdis do if Odysseus's ship gets too close?
5. What does Odysseus keep secret from his men?
6. What advice does Odysseus take that Circe gives him about Scylla and Charybdis? What does this tell us about leadership?
7. Why are the cattle of Helios' island so tempting?
8. What warning does Odysseus give his men?
9. This is not the first time Odysseus' warnings are ignored. Whose fault is this?
10. This is also not the first time Odysseus's orders are defied. Does this absolve him of responsibility?

Page 127.
Vocabulary: none.

• Format of book 12 also follows that of books 9 & 10 -- two smaller incidents followed by a larger, more complex one
• "...then drew our ship on to the sands..." --> why don't Odysseus's men just stay on the ship to eat and sleep? Greek ships were designed merely as tools of transport -- there wasn't a designated area for eating / sleeping
• "I sent some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor...." --> note the care they take when preparing / burying Elpenor
• "...you will have died twice, to other people's once..." --> because Odysseus visited the land of the dead

Page 128.
Vocabulary: unwarily

• "Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from the others..." --> Circe tells Odysseus advice in secret -- leaving it up to him to decide what to share with his men -- note in the next few pages what he decides to share and what he decides to keep secret
• "First you will come to the Sirens..." --> Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens -- they will hypnotize Odysseus and his men through their singing; she tells him he may listen to them but must first protect himself and his men -- how does she suggest doing this?
• Sirens may have come from the Greek seire, meaning "rope" --> their music / singing "binds" people, like rope
• "Inside it Scylla sits and yelps..." --> note the intricate description of Scylla -- what does she look like?

Page 129.
Vocabulary: none.

• "A large fig tree..." --> this is important; take note of this
• "...the sucking whirlpool of Charybdis..." --> Circe warns Odysseus about Charybdis -- what does she look like?
• "You will now come to the Thrinacian island...seven herds of catlle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock...." --> 350 total cattle -- does this represent the days of the year? is this a clever warning about not "wasting time" ?
• Phaesthusa = "radiant" ; Lampetie = "shining"
• "If you leave these flocks unharmed..." --> does this warning sound familiar? Check out Teiresias's speech on 117

Page 130.
Vocabulary: none.

• "I will therefore tell you about them..." --> Odysseus tells his men that he wants them to know the whole truth -- does he tell it to them?
• "I had hardly finished telling everything to the men..." --> they reach the island of the Sirens -- will Odysseus take Circe's advice? what does he do to protect himself? what does he do to protect his men?
• "Come here, renowned Odysseus, honor to the Achaean name..." --> a curious person like Odysseus would have had trouble resisting the knowledge the Sirens had to offer
• How do Odysseus's men react when he motions for them to release him?
• Possibly, the Sirens represented irresistible temptation to those who desire knowledge -- which ultimately leads to death or destruction -- does this moral reflect any other "myths" or stories we know about?
• "This is not the first time that we have been in danger..." --> true, but look at his next statement on the next page

Page 131.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel saved us then..." --> really? I mean, really really?
• "I said nothing about the awful monster..." --> wasn't Odysseus going to be up-front and honest with all of his men?
• "...one thing only did I disobey Circe's strict instructiosn -- I put on my armor...." --> out of selfishness? no one else was able to put on armor
• "...we could see the water all inside whirling..." --> what happens when Odysseus and his men encounter Scylla and Charybdis?
• The death of his men with Scylla is even more horrible than the Cyclops because it was drawn out and because the men were calling out to him as they were being carried away / eaten by the monster
• "Then I remembered what the blind Theban prophet Teiresias had told me..." --> Odysseus remembers the warning -- will he follow through?

Page 132.
Vocabulary: behests

• "...listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me..." --> does he really tell them anything?
• Eurylochus convinces Odysseus and the men that they need to stay on the island and rest. Why does Odysseus give in when he knows the risk?
• "...each one of you must take his solemn oath..." --> Odysseus makes them promise not to hurt the cattle
• "In the third watch of the night..." --> in the Iliad, Greeks divided the day into 3 parts, not 2
• "We have meat and drink in the ship, let us mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle..." --> Odysseus reminds them not to eat the cattle
• "For a whole month..." --> they are stranded for a month -- will the food last?

Page 133.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...catching birds, and taking whatever they could lay their hands on..." --> food ran out
• "I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show me some means of getting away....by and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep..." --> why is it when the most important moment comes that Odysseus falls asleep???
• "All deaths are bad enough but there is none so bad as famine...." --> Eurylochus leads the men in a rebellion -- what makes famine, according to Eurylochus, so bad?
• Eurylochus realizes the calculated risk, but is willing to take it -- what will the men do for the Sun God if/when they reach home safely?
• "...no barley left..." --> therefore, they didn't have wine and couldn't perform a proper sacrifice
• "I began to smell hot roast meat..." --> Odysseus realizes what happened while he was gone -- who does he blame for his falling asleep?
• "If they do not square accounts with me about my cows..." --> Sun God tells Zeus -- if you don't fix this, I'll hide (the sun will no longer shine); Zeus agrees to help the Sun God by "shiver{ing} their ship into little pieces with a bolt of white lightning..."

Page 134.
Vocabulary: backstay

• "I was told all this by Calypso..." --> was anyone else wondering how Odysseus knew what Zeus said to the Sun God?
• "...the hides of the cattle crawled about..." --> the chopped up cattle pieces move about and still moo -- wouldn't people consider this 'tainted meat' and avoid eating it? Odysseus's men don't.
• "...the son of Cronus raised a black cloud..." --> Zeus crashes Odysseus's ship
• "...but I was carried aloft toward the fig tree..." --> Odysseus catches onto the fig tree -- which saves his life from Charybdis

Page 135.
Vocabulary: none.

• "Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the gods stranded me on the Ogygian island..." --> Odysseus arrives at Calypso's island in his story -- which finally brings us to the present

Additional Notes:

• Interesting that with Poseidon as the antagonist that the Sun God (not Poseidon) is ultimately responsible for the death of his shipmates
• Did the men deserve death as a punishment? Were they guilty? (1) they were warned; (2) they swore an oath not to touch the cattle; (3) they were fully aware of a risk of disobeying; (4) they did not have resources to conduct a proper sacrifice; (5) the moo-ing meat did not deter them from further slaughtering / eating the meat
• Is the men's betrayal to Odysseus and subsequent slaughter / outrageous behavior similar to any other groups in the Odyssey?

Bibliography

Daily Agenda 3/4

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Discuss book 10
* Begin reading / discussing book 11; finish the rest for HW

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 17-18 due TODAY
* Any questions regarding interview assignment ? Due Friday 3/7.
* Calendar adjustment: HW: finish book 11; print out book 12 notes for class tomorrow and book 13, if they're posted -- wait until 5pm please

Daily Agenda 3/3

Today's Objectives:
* Students will analyze the relationships between characters in the text, including conflicts, motivations, and interactions.
* Students will explain how the author uses stylistic devices such as simile, epithet, Homeric simile, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, alliteration, foreshadowing, repetition, and symbol to achieve particular effects in an epic.

Today's Standards:
10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.8, 10.3.12

Today's Activities:
* Receive interview assignment handouts
* Discuss requirements for interview, due by Friday
* Discuss book 9
* Begin reading / discussing book 10; receive book 10 notes

Today's Announcements:
* Vocabulary 17-18 due Tuesday of this week
* Calendar adjustment: HW: finish book 10; print out book 11 notes for class tomorrow

Odyssey, Book 11 Notes

The visit to the dead

Major concepts:

• The importance of treating the dead with respect (Elpenor)
• The ritual Odysseus performs in order to meet those in the Underworld.
• The prophecy of Teiresias and the importance of prophecy (this seems to underscore the inevitability of fate).
• The parade of women followed by a break in the narration for some Phaeacian reaction before Odysseus nreturns to his story.
• Agamemnon's rage at his wife's betrayal.
• How Ajax reacts to Odysseus; the cause of this reaction.
• What Achilles tells Odysseus about the misery of the dead.

Study Guide Questions:

1. What does Odysseus do to call the souls of the dead to him?
2. Who is Teiresias and what does Odysseus want from him?
3. What does Odysseus learn about his journey from Teiresias?
4. What should Odysseus do to the suitors at his house?
5. What does Teiresias say Odysseus should do after dealing with the suitors?
6. What favor does Elpenor ask of Odysseus?
7. What is the name of Odysseus's mother and how did she die?
8. Why can't Odysseus hug his dead mother?
9. What does Agamemnon tell Odysseus about how men should feel about women? Is it significant that earlier in the book we hear about celebrated women?
10. What is the reason for Ajax's anger at Odysseus?

Page 115.
Vocabulary: aft, feckless

• Land of the Dead -- stop # 8
• "...weeping and in great distress of mind...."
• "I drew my sword and dug the trench a cubit each way...." --> Odysseus follows the instructions given to him by Circe in book 10; cubit was a rough measurement from the knuckles to the elbow
• "...Teiresias should have a black sheep..." --> black animals were sacrificed to the gods of the underworld

Page 116.
Vocabulary: feckless

• "...not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias..." --> again, he follows Circe's instructions here
• "...my comrade Elpenor..." --> how is Elpenor able to speak to Odysseus before he partakes of the blood? perhaps because his body is left unburied at Circe's palace?
• "...how did you come down here..." --> interesting that he asks this when he already knows how Elpenor ended up there
• "...and by Telemachus who is the only hope of your house..." --> at this time, Telemachus would have been only 13 years old
• "Do not go thence leaving me unmourned..." --> Elpenor asks for Odysseus to give him a proper burial -- the only hope of a person in the Land of the Dead would be remembrance
• "Then came the ghost of my dead mother Anticlea..." --> he will allow her to drink after he hears from Teiresias on the next page
• "Stand back from the trench and withdraw your sword..." --> Teiresias prepares to speak to Odysseus

Page 117.
Vocabulary: winnowing, ebb

• "...when he had drank of the blood he began his prophecy..." --> this will be important
• "Poseidon, who still nurses his bitter grudge..." --> Poseidon is still angry
• "...Thrinacian island..." --> this disaster will occur in book 12
• "If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home..." --> Teiresias's warning: do not kill or eat the cattle
• "...you will take your revenge on these suitors..." --> Teiresias advises revenge
• Teiresias's other instructions: (1) take an oar to a place where no one knows it is an oar; (2) wait until someone asks about it; (3) bury the oar in the ground; (4) make a sacrifice to Poseidon; (5) return home and make a sacrifice to the other gods --> reason for these instructions? vague. apparently it has something to do with preserving his life until old age
• despite Circe saying that Teiresias will be very informative about the way home, he really isn't; he will actually learn more from Circe when he returns to her after he leaves the land of the dead
• "Any ghost that you let taste of the blood..." --> Teiresias explains how to get Anticlea to speak to Odysseus
• she asks him how he got there and why he's there

Page 118.
Vocabulary: none.

• "But tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die?" --> Odysseus wonders at his mother's death since when he left for Troy she was still living; note her response at the end of the next paragraph
• "Tell me again what my wife intends doing..." --> this is the first mention of Penelope since he left Calypso's island; it would have been very difficult for him to return home and rule his kingdom if Penelope has chosen a new husband
• "...I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother's ghost..." --> Odysseus finds he is unable to hug his mother because she has no flesh

Page 119.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...soon Persephone sent up the ghosts of the wives and daughters of all the most famous men...." --> begins the "Catalog of Women" -- perhaps its purpose was to show how great families come into being and eventually how they can be corrupted; does this have a lesson for Odysseus especially in regards to the family he wishes to return to?
• "...first I saw was Tyro..." --> fell in love with a river god -- not the river
• "Next to her I saw Antiope..." --> Zeus disguised himself as her husband
• "Then I saw Alcmena..." --> mother to Heracles; Heracles means "glory of Hera" though Hera hated Heracles because he was the result of an affair Zeus had with Alcmena
• "...fair Epicaste..." --> Oedipus's mother and wife
• "Then I saw Chloris..."

Page 120.
Vocabulary: none.

• "And I saw Leda..." --> mother of Helen and Clytaimestra
• "After her I saw Iphimedeia..."
• "Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne..." --> Ariadne from the Minotaur / Theseus story
• "I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle..."
• "Here he ended..." --> Odysseus takes a break from the Catalog of Women and returns to his storytelling at Phaeacia with Alcinous and Arete

Page 121.
Vocabulary: august, charlatan

• "Our guest is indeed very anxious to get home..." --> Arete and Alcinous persuade Odysseus to stay another day -- but to what end? again, Homer is vague
• "...there is a style about your language..." --> Alcinous compliments Odysseus's storytelling and asks about the heroes who Odysseus knew from the war
• "I will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their return, through the treachery of a wicked woman...." --> is he referring to Helen or Clytaimestra here? vague.
• "How did you come by your death, King Agamemnon?" --> finally, Agamemnon will be able to tell his side of the story

Page 122.
Vocabulary: none.

• "Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me..." --> Agamemnon puts much emphasis on his wife's role in his death, though it seems as if the action was carried out by Aegisthus
• "...as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house..." --> simile
• "...my comrades were slain like sheep..." --> simile
• "I heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytaimestra killed her close beside me...." --> Agamemnon planned to bring Cassandra home and keep her as a mistress along with his own wife; Cassandra was cursed to always tell the truth but to have no one ever believe her
• "...I was going to be welcomed home by my children..." --> note how Homer fails to mention that Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to assure a safe trip on the way to Troy
• "...and not be too friendly even with your own wife...." --> Agamemnon warns against trusting any woman -- he reinforces this several times over the next paragraph
• Agamemnon wants to know about his son, Orestes (recall what Orestes did to avenge his father)

Page 123.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax..." --> Odysseus meets some more war heroes
• "Do not, therefore, take it so much to heart even if you are dead...." --> Odysseus tries to cheer Achilles up -- does it work?
• "Say not a word...in death's favor...." --> Achilles really doesn't like being dead
• Achilles and Peleus -- strong bond between father and son; note Achilles's response on the next page when he hears about his son Neoptolemus

Page 124.
Vocabulary: asphodel, rankle

• "When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the prowess of his son...."
• "...still angry with me for having won th ecause in our dispute about the armor of Achilles..." --> Ajax is still angry at Odysseus about Achilles's armor -- when Odysseus tries to confront him about it -- how does Ajax respond in the next couple paragraphs?
• "Then I saw Minos son of Zeus..."
• "After him I saw huge Orion..."
• "And I saw Tithys son of Gaia....Two vultures on either side of him..." --> this is the same punishment Prometheus suffered for giving the humans fire
• "I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus..." --> this is where the word "tantalize" comes from

Page 125.
Vocabulary: prodigious

• "And I saw Sisyphus..."
• "After him I saw mighty Heracles..." --> one of the only mortals who was later turned into a god; why is his body elsewhere and his soul here in the underworld?
• "...but I got the hound out of Hades..." --> the hound referred to here is Cerberus
• "...the head of the awful monster Gorgon..." --> by looking at the head, mortals were turned to stone
• Odysseus and his mean leave the Land of the Dead at last

Bibliography

Odyssey, Book 10 Notes

Aeolus; The Laestrygones; Circe

Major concepts:

• King Aeolus's gift to Odysseus
• Odysseus letting his "guard down"
• Aeolus's belief that Odysseus is not favored by the gods
• Aeolus's attitude toward second chances
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches the land of the Laestrygonians
• Odysseus's caution when he reaches Aeaea
• Circe's initial reception of Odysseus's men and her witchcraft
• the role of Hermes
• Odysseus as seducer and seduced
• the importance of Circe's promise
• the luxury of the palace
• Circe's ultimate support and hospitality
• the need to visit Hades and hear from Teiresias

Study Guide Questions:

1. What favor does Aeolus do for Odysseus and his men?
2. What stupid mistake do some of the men make on the ship? Was it preventable? Explain.
3. How does Odysseus lose 11 of his 12 ships and a very large portion of his men?
4. What sort of character is Circe? Why (aside from her magic) is she able to turn Odysseus's men into pigs? What have they done to offend her or what weakness do they show?
5. What does Hermes give to Odysseus? What is it supposed to do?
6. What makes Odysseus succumb for a time to Circe's enticements? What is his mistake here?
7. How does Odysseus get Circe to release his men?
8. How long does Odysseus stay with Circe in her palace?
9. Why does Odysseus need to visit the Land of the Dead and consult with Teiresias?
10. How is Circe like Calypso? How is she different?

• the formatting of book 10 mimics that of book 9: two shorter incidents followed by a longer, more complex one
• themes started in book 9 will continue to develop in book 10: tension between Odysseus and his men; Odysseus's vulnerability to accusations of cowardice and obstinancy (Odyssey seems more set to stay with Circe than his men)

Page 103.
Vocabulary: savor, flayed

• Aeolian island: stop # 5
• Aeolus --> name means "changeful" -- appropriate (1) ruler of the winds; (2) lives on a floating island; and (3) treats Odysseus different two times
• Hippotas --> name means "horseman" -- connections to Poseidon (god of horses)
• "...so he made the sons marry the daughters..." --> a practice of the gods, not humans
• "All day long the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savor of roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all." --> personification
• "Aeolus entertained me for a whole month" --> verbal cue
• "...he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up in the hide as in a sack..." --> Aelous bags up all the winds except for the West wind "which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose"
• "...for we were lost through our own folly..." --> foreshadowing / will pride play a role in this?
• "Nine days and nine nights did we sail..." --> they can see Ithaca by the tenth day

Page 104.
Vocabulary: prevailed, lamented

• "...for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands..." --> because he didn't trust them?
• "...the men fell to talking among themselves..." --> what do the men decide to do here? what is their motivation? how does this reflect on Odysseus as a leader?
• distrust is mutual between Odysseus and his men
• "They loosed the sack...raised a storm that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country." --> what happens when they open the sack?
• "...knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on..." --> Odysseus contemplates suicide
• "We took pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go...." --> INFER: how will Aeolus react when Odysseus asks him for help again?
• "My men have undone me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me." --> Odysseus blames his men mostly for what happened. Who do you believe is at fault?
• "Vilest of mankind, get you gone....Be off, for you come here as one abhorred of heaven." --> Odysseus has not said or done anything to indicate the gods hate him (he fell asleep -- not by any god or goddess's commands; his men unleashed the winds, again, of their own free will) so why would Aeolus assume he is hated by the gods?
• "Six days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day, we reached the rocky stronghold of Lamus -- Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians...." --> stop # 6

Page 105.
Vocabulary: reconnoitre, forthwith

• "...we found it land-locked under steep cliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands..." --> does this place sound dangerous? why/why not?
• "I kept my own ship outside..." --> important that Odysseus's ship is isolated from the others
• the Laestrygonians have "a level road" for firewood transport (industrialized) and a "place of assembly" (law and order) --> so are they "civilized"?
• "...so she directed them to her father's house...they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain...." --> the guide leads them straight to danger -- are the laws of hospitality broken here?
• "He snatched up one of them, and began to make his dinner off him then and there..." --> cannibals, like the Cyclops
• "...they threw vast rocks at us from the cliffs as through they had been mere stones..." --> the ships in the harbor are destroyed before they have the opportunity to leave
• "While they were thus killing my men within the harbor I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and told my men to row with all their might..." --> is Odysseus acting like a coward here? how does this reflect on his leadership? is he doing the right thing?
• "As for the others there was not one of them left...." --> Odysseus loses 11 of his 12 ships at the land of the Laestrygonians
• "...glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our comrades..." --> repetition, page 101
• "...came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives..." --> stop # 7

Page 106.
Vocabulary: fathom

• "...send some of them instead of going myself..." --> Odysseus sends his men to investigate instead of himself; how does this reflect on his leadership?
• "...sent a fine stag..." --> Odysseus kills a large deer and tries to rally his crew
• "...they uncovered their heads..." --> they had been mourning the loss of the other crewmembers
• "...the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn..." --> epithet
• "...so I divided them into two companies...I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of the other myself...." --> 22 men + 1 leader X 2 groups = 46 men; they lost 6 with the Cicones and 6 at the Cyclops's home = around 60 men total per ship

Page 107.
Vocabulary: fawned

• "...mountain wolves and lions..." --> compare and contrast this image with other descriptions of Nature so far (Calypso's island; Cyclops's island)
• similarities with Calypso: (1) both live alone; (2) both are unmarried goddesses; (3) both live on islands; (4) both have strange powers; (5) both are untrustworthy; (6) both sing and weave; (7) both compel Odysseus to stay with them for a time [Calypso = 7 years; Circe = 1 year]
• "As hounds crowd round their master..." --> Homeric simile
• "...all except Eurylochus, who suspected mischief and stayed outside..." --> INFER: does he have something to fear?
• "...she drugged it with wicked poisons to make them forget their homes...she turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand..." --> Circe turns them into pigs
• Eurylochus returns to tell Odysseus what happened with the other men

Page 108.
Vocabulary: lairs

• "...let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that are left..." --> Eurylochus doesn't want Odysseus to go back -- does he perhaps remember what happened in the past when Odysseus couldn't control his adventurous spirit?
• "...for I am most urgently bound to do so...." --> what is Odysseus's motivation here? does he feel guilty about abandoning the other men or will this rescue bring further glory to him?
• "Hermes with his golden wand, disguised as a young man..." --> PROBLEM: if Odysseus is the one telling the story and Hermes never reveals that he is, in fact, Hermes, then how does Odysseus know this?
• "I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty..." and "...the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it..." --> Hermes offers Odysseus a root to protect him against Circe's powers
• Note the detail of Hermes's instructions to Odysseus about how to defeat / overcome Circe in the fourth paragraph: (1) Circe will mix a potion for him to drink; (2) she will strike him with the wand in an attempt to change him, like the others; (3) Odysseus should draw his sword and act as if he's going to kill her; (4) she will ask him to bed; (5) he must not refuse her but first make her promise not to hurt him

Page 109.
Vocabulary: lair, arrayed, dumb

• "Who and whence are you...?" --> Circe is frightened; Odysseus is able to overcome Circe's powers by way of the Moly from Hermes
• Odysseus makes Circe promise not to hurt him and then goes to bed with her
• Note the hospitality in the fifth paragraph
• Circe notices Odysseus sad in the last paragraph on this page

Page 110.
Vocabulary: halloa-ballooing

• "If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes..." --> Odysseus makes Circe release his men
• "...hide all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men...." --> Circe tells Odysseus to return to the others and bring them back to her palace; he agrees
• "Eurylochus tried to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will become of us...It was all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.' " --> finally someone stands up to Odysseus and makes clear his poor leadership in the past; what does Odysseus consider doing in the next paragraph?

Page 111.
Vocabulary: flit

• "Eurylochus was not left behind after all..." --> Eurylochus had considered staying behind but feared Odysseus if he would not go
• "...so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca..." --> RECALL: what is Odysseus's main goal?
• "We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity of both meat and wine...." --> stayed for 1 year with Circe
• "Sir, it is time you began to think about going home..." --> it is his men who remind him of his goal (interesting change since in the past, it was Odysseus who had to remind his men of this)
• "You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Persephone to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias..." --> Circe tells Odysseus that he must go to the Land of the Dead

Page 112.
Vocabulary: gossamer

• "...poplars and willows..." --> trees associated with death
• Note Circe's detailed instructions of how to get Teiresias to speak to him starting at the end of paragraph 2: (1) go to where the two rivers run together; (2) dig a trench a cubit deep and a cubit wide; (3) pour a drink offering of honey mixed with milk, then wine, then water; (4) sprinkle barley meal over the whole thing; (5) offer prayers to the dead; (6) promise the dead to sacrifice his very best barren heifer and put many 'good things' on the pyre; (7) promise Teiresias to sacrifice the finest black sheep in all the flocks; (8) offer the dead a ram and a black ewe; (9) have the men skin the two sacrificed sheep; (10) offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and Persephone; (11) prevent any other dead from coming near the spilt blood until Teiresias has answered the questions
• "...certain youth named Elpenor..." --> Elpenor slept on the roof of Circe's house and heard the noise downstairs

Page 113.
Vocabulary: none.

• "...coming down by the main staircase..." --> after hearing the noise, Elpenor forgot where he was and stumbled off of the roof; he broke his neck and died; interesting that Odysseus and his men leave him without giving him a proper burial first; Odysseus will see Elpenor in the Land of the Dead

Bibliography