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Reading and Teaching The Odyssey

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  1. Lessons

    Lesson 1: How to Read Homer by Eva Brann (Preview Content)
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  2. Lesson 2: Interview with Eva Brann (Preview Content)
    3 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  3. Lesson 3: Interview with Tutor Hannah Hintze (Preview Content)
    2 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  4. Lesson 4: Lecture on Homer: "The Leaf Bed"
    3 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  5. Lesson 5: Seminar #1 on The Odyssey
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  6. Lesson 6: Lecture on Homer: "To Hades and Back Again"
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  7. Lesson 7: Post-Lecture Interview with Hannah Hintze
    2 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  8. Lesson 8: Seminar #2 on The Odyssey
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  9. Lesson 9: Lecture on Homer: "The Cattle of the Sun"
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  10. Lesson 10: Post-Lecture Interview with Hannah Hintze
    3 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  11. Lesson 11: Seminar #3 on The Odyssey
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  12. Lesson 12: Seminar #4 on The Odyssey
    4 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  13. Lesson 13: Post-Seminar Interview with Hannah Hintze
    3 Topics
    |
    1 Quiz
  14. End of Course Test
    End of Course Test: Reading and Teaching The Odyssey
    1 Quiz
Lesson Progress
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  • What insight from this lecture do you find most interesting or helpful and why?
  • Briefly compare and contrast the character arcs of Odysseus and Eurylochus in key incidents throughout the epic, focusing most on the story of the slaughter of the cattle of the sun. What becomes very clear about their individual philosophies in this particular episode?
  • The tone of the narration around the incident of the killing of Helios’s cattle is “derisive disbelief” that Odysseus’s crew would be so arrogant and impious. Helios threatens to turn the world “upside down” over this sin. Yet a sense of impiety seems lacking in our modern Western culture. How can you as a teacher help your students understand the enormity of what the crew has done in the context of the epic?
  • What connections can you draw between the sun god, the “episodic dailiness” of The Odyssey, and the metaphor of Odysseus’s bed of leaves? Why do you think this incident of killing Helios’s cattle is mentioned at the beginning of the epic?
  • Why does Odysseus voluntarily tell only the story of refusing Calypso’s gift? Why that one? Would he have chosen to do this earlier in his journey?