The Odyssey
During seven of Odysseus’ ten years at sea, he is held captive by the sorceress Calypso. Odysseus finally
persuades her to let him go, and she helps him build a raft to leave her island. After Odysseus sails away,
the raft is destroyed by a storm.
Alone and exhausted, Odysseus is washed up on the shores of Phaeacia, where King Alcinous gives a
banquet in honor of the stranger who has arrived in their land (Odysseus) and asks Odysseus to reveal
who he is and where he came from. Odysseus begins his tale in the following section by introducing
himself.
Odyssey Book Nine
What does Odysseus mean in line 3
New Coasts when he says, “The Gods have tried
Where do I begin my story? me in a thousand ways.”?
What shall I
The Gods and Goddesses have given
say first? What shall I keep until the end? Gods Tested him tests that have challenged him
The gods have tried me in a thousand ways. Odysseus and kept him from home.
But first my name: let that be known to you,
and if I pull away from pitiless death, unnecessary death
friendship will bind us, though my land lies far.
What does the word guile mean in
line 10?
I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus.
The word guile means craftiness
Men hold me Craftiness/Cunning or cunning.
strong formidable for guile in peace and war: 10
Everyone knows
this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim. him, What does Odysseus mean when he
he's famous. says “this fame has gone abroad to
Arrogant My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca the sky’s rim.”?
Prideful under Mount Neion’s wind-blown robe of leaves,
Odysseus means that he is so
Conceited
in sight of other islands—Dulíchium, famous that everyone knows him.
This shows that Odysseus is
Same, wooded Zacynthos—Ithaca
arrogant/conceited.
being most lofty in that coastal sea,
and northwest, while the rest lie east and south.
Based on lines 12-19, how does
A rocky isle, but good for a boy’s training; Odysseus feel about his homeland,
He loves his home. Ithaca?
I shall not see on earth a place more dear,
Odysseus loves his home on
though I have been detained long by Calypso, She held him
20
Ithaca, even though he has been
loveliest among goddesses, who held me Captive 7 years gone for 10 years.
in her smooth caves, to be her heart’s delight,
Held him captive for
entertainment.
What information about Odysseus
as Circe of Aeaea, the enchantress,
can be learned through this
desired me, and detained me in her hall. introduction?
In his heart he never gave Odysseus is arrogant/prideful.
But in my heart I never gave consent.
permission. He loves his home of Ithaca.
Where shall a man find sweetness to surpass All of his happiness was found
his own home and his parents? In far lands at home.
He has had a rough/terrible
he shall not, though he find a house of gold. journey and is questioning the
What of my sailing, then, from Troy? journey's purpose.
What of those years
of rough adventure, weathered under Zeus? 30
Odysseus is questioning the journeys purpose.
Soon after leaving Troy, Odysseus and his crew land at Ismarus, the land of the Cicones. The Cicones are
allies of the Trojans, and therefore, enemies of Odysseus. Odysseus and his crew raid the Cicones,
robbing and killing people, until the CIconian army kills seventy-two of Odysseus’ men and drives the rest
out to sea. Delayed by the storm for two days, Odysseus and his remaining twelve ships continue their
journey. 72 of Odysseus' men died
Flower
The Lotus Eaters
I might have made it safely home, that time, Underline in the text where it
describes why Odysseus was
but as I came round Malea the current The current took him out to sea,
unable to reach home.
off course, and they drifted for
took me out to sea, and from the north
nine days. In the margin, summarize the
wind
a fresh gale drove me on, past Cythera. portion you underlined.
Nine days I drifted on the teeming sea
before dangerous high winds. Upon the tenth
we came to the coastline of the Lotus Eaters,
who live upon that flower. We landed there To get fresh water.
Why do Odysseus and his men
to take on water. All ships’ companies stop on the coastline of the
Lotus Eaters?
mustered alongside for the mid-day meal. Lunch 40
His 2 best men and Odysseus and his men had to
Then I sent out two picked men and a runner
a runner. stop on the coastline to get fresh
to learn what race of men that land sustained. water so they wouldn't die.
Who lives
They fell in, soon enough, with Lotus Eaters, here?
who showed no will to do us harm, only
offering the sweet Lotus to our friends— What effect does the Lotus
but those who ate this honeyed plant, the Lotus, plant have on Odysseus’ men?
The lotus flower is like The Lotus flower makes them
never cared to report, nor to return:
a drug that makes them forget their home and their purpose.
they longed to stay forever, browsing on forget.
the native bloom, forgetful of their homeland. What could you relate the
Lotus flower to today?
I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, 50 The lotus flower is like
a drug that makes them
tied them down under their rowing benches,
forget.
Odysseus dragged them to
and called the rest: ‘All hands aboard;
the ship and tied them up
come, clear the beach and no one taste while they were screaming.
the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home.’ Describe how Odysseus gets
the men to leave.
Filing in to their places by the rowlocks 60
Odysseus dragged them to
my oarsmen dipped their long oars in the surf, the ship and tied them up
and we moved out again on our sea faring. while they were screaming.
Based on this section of the Odyssey, what is one characteristic of Odysseus?
Write a CER that answers the question above, uses a quote from the text to show the characteristic you
named, and then explains how that trait is demonstrated through the quote.
Personality:Sense of humor, prideful, arrogant, fair,
Physical: appearance, hygiene, clothing, looks
Based on "New Coasts" in the Odyssey, Odysseus shows that he is prideful. According to the text, Odysseus states,
"Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war; this fame has gone abroad to the sky's rim" (Homer 1).
