3 RL SP Odyssey: Homer's Invocation
Aim: How does Homer’s invocation establish tone for the beginning of the Odyssey?
Do Now: How do you become inspired? Where does it originate?
During the Do Now, many of the students shared their thoughts on this powerful question. Tuba explained that inspiration comes from the reflection of yourself and your morals. Fiona explained how she gets inspired from anything around her, it doesn’t have to be anything complicated, it is anything she sees, as simple as nature. Asdaq also shared his opinion, he explained how inspiration comes from a series of events that were made, and your view on those events. All in all, I believe that inspiration can come from all of what my peers said, it can come from anything.
The Nine Muses:
After discussing the Do Now, we learned about the nine muses. Tying into what we had discussed for the Do Now, muses are inspiration for poets and other artists. In Greek mythology, muses served as 9 goddesses of arts, literature and science. Each goddess was able to inspire a different aspect of poetry and writing. The nine goddesses are as stated:
Calliope was the muse of: Epic Poetry
Melpomene was the muse of: Tragedy
Thalia was the muse of: Comedy
Terpsichore was the muse of: Dance
Clio was the muse of: History
Euterpe was the muse of: Song
Polyhymnia was the muse of: Hymns
Urania was the muse of: Astronomy
Erato was the muse of: Love Poetry
As you can see, each goddess was associated with a different aspect that poets and other artists were able to be inspired by.
If you would like to learn more about the nine muses, here is an informational video to watch: Nine Muses
Homer’s Invocation:
After learning the nine muses, we all had an insight on the lines we were going to read, Homer’s Invocation. We learned that the definition of ‘invoke’ is ‘to cite or appeal to an authority’. We also learned that the lines paid much respect to the goddesses and Greek culture overall. We then read Homer’s Invocation, lines 1-17. Homer was asking the muse of epic poetry for help on telling the story of Odysseus. This relates back to the definition of invoke, Homer was citing Odysseus’ story to the muse of epic poetry. After we finished reading, we answered a few questions to further understand what we had just read. The questions and responses were:
What is your opinion of Odysseus so far after hearing Homer's invocation to the muses and learning about the Trojan War?
For this question, Jerry gave an excellent response. He explained that his opinion of Odysseus, so far, after hearing Homer’s invocation to the muses and learning about the Trojan war was that Odysseus was very reckless. He went on to explain how Odysseus got his friends into trouble, and because he did, they would probably die.
How does Homer maintain the audience’s interest in the story, knowing that the audience is aware of the outcome from the very beginning?
This question was answered by Vanessa. She explained that Homer maintained the audience’s interest in the story, knowing that the audience is aware of the outcome from the beginning, by giving really detailed flashbacks. She went on to explain how those flashbacks will be able to put all the pieces together for the reader, while also portraying events that the reader is not aware of.
What does the invocation of the Muse in the opening lines clarify about Odysseus’ culpability (responsibility for a fault or wrong; blame) during his voyage home?
Natalie answered this last question. She explained that the invocation of the Muse in the opening lines clarify that Odysseus’ culpability during his voyage home was partially his fault. She went on to say that, not only is he responsible for himself, he is also responsible for his crew and their behavior as well, since he is the leader. He does not take all the blame, but he is partially responsible.
Anticipation Guide:
We finished off this lesson by completing a google form with many ‘sayings’ on them. We had to give our opinions and determine if the ‘sayings’ were right or wrong. We then had to write a paragraph defendings one of our opinions. I feel that the majority of those ‘sayings’ will be brought up later in the Odyssey, or they will have a recurring theme in the epic poems.
4 RL SP: Odyssey: Sailing from Troy & Lotus Eaters
Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book lX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?
Do Now: Consider the fact that Odysseus has been trying to return to his home in Ithaca for 10 years. Imagine being away from your home for that long.
What would you miss the most and why?
Why do we have sayings like these?
We started our second lesson with the Do Now. Vanessa explained that she would miss her family and friends the most. Marooha also participated, and explained how she would miss the familiarity of being home the most. Chloe also shared her thoughts, and explained how after her family and friends, she would miss her plants because she takes great care of them, and she would be worried.
Characterization:
After discussing the Do Now, we learned about characterization. It is the method that an author uses to create the personality and appearance of a character. There are two types of characterization, direct and indirect. Direct characterization is when the author directly states a quality about the character. Indirect characterization is when the author shows a quality about the character, using the character’s actions, dialogue, thoughts, choices they make, etc. The STEAL method is a very helpful technique to use when figuring out indirect characterization. This is the method:
Speech: The character’s dialogue & how they speak
Thoughts: The character’s thoughts & what is revealed by it
Effects on others: The character’s effect on others & how people react
Actions: The character’s actions & how they behave
Looks: The character’s appearance & how they dress
If you need more help understanding characterization, here is a helpful link: Characterization
Sailing From Troy:
After learning about characterization, we read Sailing From Troy, lines 18-69. In those lines, we discover that Odysseus had been on the island of goddess Calypso for many years, since Calypso was holding him back because she loved him and wanted him to stay. He also had landed on Cicones when sailing from Troy, where he killed and enslaved the people there with his men. We also discover that Odysseus has very fond thoughts on his home in Ithaca, and he even states, “ I shall not see on earth a place more dear” (Homer, Line 28). This portrays that he really misses and loves his home.
Lotus Eaters:
Once we were done reading Sailing From Troy, we read Lotus Eaters, lines 70-105. Odysseus lands on an island with Lotus Eaters. They do not want to harm anyone, all they do is eat Lotus, and because they ate it, they want to stay forever, and they forgot about home and their hopes. This land seems like an ideal land that is almost like paradise since you have no worries, but it is not seen that way by Odysseus. It is not seen that way to him because even though you don’t have any worries in this lifestyle, you have no hopes or desires either. Odysseus wants to go home, and that would make him happier than spending the rest of his life eating Lotus’. It might seem like an idol land, but there are better things to live for than for a plant. These lines also gave another view towards Odysseus. From what we had previously read, we saw Odysseus as a careless and reckless leader, but we were able to see another side of him, where he led his men right. He exclaimed, “All hands aboard; come, clear the beach and no one taste the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home” (Homer, Lines 103-105). This was able to portray that he is able to take command and lead his men at times, even though at others he will be very reckless at leading.
Reflection:
This lesson has not only taught me about Greek mythology and the Odyssey, but it has also taught me many aspects of everyday life, and reading, that will overall impact me for years to come. For one, it was very interesting and surprising to hear about the nine muses. I associated Greek gods and goddesses with the idea of doing their own work and always being extremely busy, but seeing this new side to goddesses, and seeing how they’ve inspired so many people and poets is so inspiring, in itself, to see. Also, seeing the different sides and stories of Odysseus has also come to my surprise. In the beginning, I expected Odysseus to have all the modern society ‘hero’ qualities, but he was not like that at all. Instead, he was rather reckless and selfish. However, as time went on, we could see qualities that made him seem more humane and responsible, because he was able to lead at times. The dynamics of the Odyssey are extremely interesting and eye grabbing. Something else I have also learned lots about is characterization, which will overall help me become better at characterizing characters, and I will be sure to use what I have learned, when reading the Odyssey, so that I can better understand Odysseus. These are already so many aspects that I have been able to learn, but it does not stop there. I also learned valuable lessons about home and inspiration. The lesson I learned about home was that I should never take it for granted, and I should always be so appreciative that I am able to not feel homesick, and that I don’t have to be away from it. The lesson I learned about inspiration was that I can be inspired by anything, and I should be keeping a closer eye, or I might just miss something that seems unimportant, but ends up inspiring me to the point where my life changes.
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