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
- Why should Odysseus be wary of the Sirens?
- What should he and his men do to keep safe from the Sirens?
- Describe Scylla.
- What will Charybdis do if Odysseus's ship gets too close?
- What does Odysseus keep secret from his men?
- What advice does Odysseus take that Circe gives him about Scylla and Charybdis? What does this tell us about leadership?
- Why are the cattle of Helios' island so tempting?
- What warning does Odysseus give his men?
- This is not the first time Odysseus' warnings are ignored. Whose fault is this?
- 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?