The Adventures of Odysseus

Invocation

Sailing from Troy

Learning Goals:

I can explain what an invocation is.I can identify the invocation in the opening of The Odyssey. I can explain the purpose of the opening lines. I can infer the lessons Odysseus and his men learned based on evidence from the poem.

Think, Pair, Share…

When you are getting ready to do something very important and serious… do you have any rituals to help you prepare?

The Invocation

The nine muses were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the goddess of memory).The poet (Homer) is probably calling upon Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, to help him tell the story of Odysseus.

Reading the InvocationGuided Highlighting

1. Highlight the point where the poet invokes (calls upon) the muse and label it: “invocation”

2. Highlight the phrases that describe Odysseus. In the margin, note what does the poet want us to know about Odysseus from the beginning?

3. Highlight the phrases that characterize Odysseus’ journey. List the different things he encounters in the margin.

4. Highlight where the poet describes the fate of Odysseus’ men. In the margin, note who is responsible for this fate.

To Answer:

1. What is an invocation?

2. What do you know about Odysseus so far?

3. Which of the two translations (Fitzgerald or Fagles) is better and why?

In Media Res

Jumping “into the middle of things”

Besides the invocation, there is no introduction. The action immediately begins.

This is true for most epic poems.

Sailing from TroyGuided Highlighting

1. In the summary, highlight the portion that describes why Odysseus is now going to explain how he began his adventure.

2. Highlight the epithet in the first line and label it. 3. In the second stanza, highlight the positive qualities

Odysseus possesses. 4. In the third stanza, highlight Odysseus’ feelings about

Ithaca.5. In lines 40-45, highlight what Odysseus did on Ismarus.6. In lines 45-49, highlight Odysseus’ command to his men

at Ismarus and how his men behaved.7. In lines 50-69, highlight the result of this conflict - how

do we know what happened to Odysseus’ men?

Now Answer:

Using evidence from the reading, answer the following questions with complete sentences at the bottom of your paper:

1. What is your first impression of Odysseus? Which of his qualities do you admire?

2. What mistakes were made on Ismarus and who made them?

3. What lessons do you think were learned on Ismarus?

Remember this??

Carried by the wind (by ship)

Line 40-41: “The wind that carried west from Ilium brought me to Ismarus, on the far shore,”

The Cicones Line 42-43: “…on the coast of Cicones. I stormed that place and killed the men who fought.”

Attacked by the Cicones.

Line 52: “This was an army, trained to fight on horseback”Line 55: “So doom appeared to us.”-First warned

men to leave quickly

-Then fought all day

Line 46-47: “Back, and quickly! Out to sea again!”Line 57-62: “My men stood up and made a fight of it… one by one, gave way.”

Lost many of his men

Line 63-64: “Six benches were left empty on every ship that evening when we pulled away from death.”