Journeys and Heroes Unit Overview
Myths
Hercules - myth
Persues - myth
Achilles - myth
Back from War But Not Really Home - nonfiction
Ithaca - poem
Siren's Song - poem
Unit One PowerPoint Guided Notes
Book I:
Where is Odysseus?
What or whom is Athena disguised as?
Why do Telemachos and his mother need Odysseus?
Why does Odysseus’s wife have suitors?
What does Athena advise Telemachos to do?
Book II:
Describe the trick that Penelopeia plays on her suitors.
Book IX:
What is the first villainous thing the Cyclops does?
Why doesn’t Odysseus kill the Cyclops when he has the chance?
What does Odysseus give the Cyclops as a gift?
What does Odysseus tell the Cyclops that his name is?
How do Odysseus and his men sneak out of the Cyclops’ cave?
What foolish thing does Odysseus do?
What does the Cyclops ask his father Poseidon to do for him?
Book X:
Who is the god of wind?
What favor does he do for Odysseus and his men?
What stupid mistake do some of the men make on the ship?
What does Circe do to some of Odysseus’s men?
How does Odysseus get her to release his men?
What instructions does Circe give Odysseus?
Book XI:
Who is Teiresias?
What does Teiresias predict for Odysseus?
What is the name of Odysseus’s mother and how did she die?
Book XII:
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?
Book XVI:
Describe Athena’s changes to Odysseus’s appearance.
Who does Telemachos think Odysseus is when Athena removes his disguise?
What do Odysseus and Telemachos plan to do?
Book XVII:
How does Odysseus test the suitors?
Who recognizes Odysseus right away? How does he recognize him?
Why does Odysseus want to test his servants and his wife before revealing his identity?
Book XIX:
What does Odysseus the beggar tell Penelopeia about Odysseus?
How does Eurycleia recognize Odysseus?
How did Odysseus get the scar on his leg?
Describe Penelopeia’s challenge for the suitors.
Book XXI:
Whom does Odysseus trust to help him defeat the suitors?
Why don’t the men want Odysseus to try to string the bow?
How does Odysseus prove his true identity?
Book XXII:
What did Odysseus prove about his abilities when he shot the arrow through the twelve axes?
Whom does Odysseus kill first and why?
Whom does Telemachos catch raiding the storeroom of weapons and what do they do with him?
Book XXIII:
How does Penelopeia test Odysseus?
Why does she test him?
Describe the one last task that Tieresias told Odysseus to complete. What will be his reward for this task?
After Odysseus tells Penelopeia about all his adventures, he sets off again. What does he go to do? What does he tell Penelopeia to do?
Greek Mythology Vocab
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ingenious (adj) cleverly inventive or resourceful
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idly (adv) in an inactive or ill working manner; lazily
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cleave (v) to split or divide as if by a cutting blow,especially along a natural line of division
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fancies (n) imaginations, illusions, or opinions with little foundation
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pang (n) a sudden feeling of mental or emotional distress or longing
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nymph (n) a less important deity of mythology, conceived as beautiful maidens inhabiting the sea, rivers, woods, trees,mountains, meadows, etc.
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inconsolable (adj) incapable of being comforted
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unkempt (adj) uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy
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inadvertently (adv) unintentionally; not deliberately; accidentally
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balefully (adv) menacingly; perniciously; in a harmful manner
Chinese Mythology Vocab
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relent-v. to soften in feeling, temper, or determination; become more mild, compassionate, or forgiving
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testament-n. something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact
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torrent-n. a sudden, violent, and copious outpouring of (something, typically words or feelings)
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banish-v. send (someone) away from a country or place as an official punishment
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extravagant-adj. exceeding what is reasonable or appropriate;
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fodder-n. food, especially dried hay or feed, for cattle and other livestock.
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frivolous-adj. carefree and not serious
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prodigal-adj. spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant
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magpie-n. a long-tailed crow with boldly marked (or green) feathers and a harsh voice.
10. idling-v. spending time doing nothing; being inactive
Native American Mythology Vocab
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Polytheistic-adj. the doctrine that there is more than one god or many gods:
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Comprise-v. consist of; be made up of
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Ideology-n. a system of beliefs and thoughts characteristic of an individual, group, or culture
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Cosmological-adj. relating to the origin and development of the universe
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Deity-n. a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion)
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Mundane-adj. lacking interest or excitement; dull
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Virtue-n. behavior showing high moral standards
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Pelt-v. attack (someone) by repeatedly hurling things at them
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Suspicious-adj. having or showing a cautious distrust of someone or something
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Cavern-n. a cave, or a chamber in a cave, typically a large one that is underground
Chinese/Native American Mythology Vocab
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Sacred-adj. connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.
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churches, nature, prayer, the afterlife, spirits
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Seldom-adv. not often; rarely.
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the solar eclipse, winning the lottery, spotting a bald eagle in the wild, shark attacks
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mourn- v. to express deep sorrow for someone who has died, typically involving following certain conventions such as wearing black clothes.
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An empty ice cream carton, the end of titanic, the loss of your pet goldfish
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Comprise-v. consist of; be made up of
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Legos, bricks, ingredients, molecules
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Cosmological-adj. relating to the origin and development of the universe
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the big bang theory, stars, planets, creationism, moons, the sun, the earth
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Fodder-n. food, especially dried hay or feed, for cattle and other livestock.
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Old macdonald, chick fil a for horses
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Suspicious-adj. having or showing a cautious distrust of someone or something.
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Finding something missing from your room, people exchanging money in a parking lot, one cookie missing from the container of oreos
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Prodigal-adj. spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant
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Lamborghini, rolex, private jet plane
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Magpie-n. a long-tailed crow with boldly marked (or green) feathers and a harsh voice.
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Feathers, nests, eggs
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Pelt-v. attack (someone) by repeatedly hurling things at them
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pebbles, hail, dodgeball
Project/Essay
- Project Options - See Google Classroom for more information
- Travel brochure
- Poster
- Monster Map - Map out your route from JHS to home, placing various monsters/obstacles along the way. Tell a story about your encounters with these obstacles in a narrative paragraph.
Read books : 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23
Link to Digital Book
Fitzgerald Translation version
Why study The Odyssey? https://my.haikulearning.com/amassi/9english/cms_page/view/21861167
Complete the study packet and discuss it in class
Why Mythology is still important today
Pre-Reading
Odysseus-The Original and Still the Greatest
WebQuest on Ancient Greek Culture
Blooket Greek Mythology
Links to Summaries of Each Book
- Books 10 and 11 Spark Notes
- Summary of Book 12
- Summary of Book 16
- Cliff Notes Summary of Book 17
- Summary of Books 19-20
- Summary of Books 23-24
Movie/Video Clips
Troy: The Odyssey Movie - Fighting the Cyclops
Troy: The Odyssey Movie - The Island of the Sirens
Troy: The Odyssey Movie - Odysseus returns home I am the King of Ithaca
Troy: The Odyssey Movie - The slaying of suitors
- Cyclops animated video
- Odysseus and the land of the dead video links
- Land of the Dead
Other Reading/Links
“Circe’s Grief” by Louise Glick https://readalittlepoetry.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/circes-grief-by-louise-gluck/
“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/32778/siren-song
“An Ancient Gesture” by Edna St. Vincent Millay https://www.troup.org/userfiles/929/My%20Files/ELA/HS%20ELA/9th%20ELA/Unit%204/AN%20ANCIENT%20GESTURE%20poem.pdf?id=13117
The song “Calypso” by Susanne Vega
**examine the portrayal of women in these and compare to Homer’s depiction
“Circe’s Power” by Louise Gluck https://www.poeticous.com/louise-gluck/circe-s-power
“Circe’s Torment” by Louise Gluck https://lanv.instructure.com/courses/320/pages/circes-torment-by-louise-gluck
Penelopeoid by Margeret Atwood (intro to novella and excerpt) https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-penelopiad/
“We Were All Odysseus in those Days” by Amorak Huey https://poets.org/poem/we-were-all-odysseus-those-days
“How Will This Pandemic Affect Poetry” by Julia Alvarez
https://medium.com/poem-of-the-day/julia-alvarez-how-will-this-pandemic-affect-poetry-db89e11ced5f
Translation Analysis: select from Fagles, Lombardo, and Emily Wilson (compare word choice …)
Modern Art Translations
The Wine Dark Sea article
Hercules - myth
Perseus - myth
Achilles - myth
Back from the war but not really home - nonfiction
China asks if their young men are manly enough - nonfiction
Itacha - poem
Siren's Song - poem
Cruising the Mediterranean - A modern day Odyssey
Odysseus Lies Here? - opinion piece
No Man's Lands: One Man’s Odyssey through the Odyssey
The Odyssey https://www.msjkeeler.com/uploads/1/4/0/6/1406968/odyssey-packet-great.pdf
The Odyssey - packet https://www.manhassetschools.org/cms/lib8/NY01913789/Centricity/Domain/201/The%20Odyssey%20by%20Home%20Packet%20-%20Blank.pdf
The Odyssey Worksheets https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS912US912&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=the+odyssey+worksheets&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiIna2crYrwAhUmRjABHYWpBXUQjJkEegQIBhAB&cshid=1618836944262249&biw=1920&bih=912#imgrc=tGayA-lHtZNbsM
Terms to Know https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FwRbTMp_laYCWTbywL2pF2KmG3IXtzIqkHMTPOKvbRs/edit#slide=id.p1