Syllabus for Week 7, May 5

IN JOSEPH CAMPBELL’S MONOMYTH, THE HERO’S most important transformation comes during “initiation.” Having undergone departure, and at some point while encountering difficulties prior to to his major conflict (or final battle), the hero must undergo some type of transformation. Without this change, the hero will not be able to successfully defeat the monster, or accomplish his task, in the hero journey. Often, this transformation is symbolic, and takes the form of a symbolic “death and rebirth.” Odysseus must journey to the land of the dead, or the Underworld, where all dead reside. This is his his literal and figurative “low point” in the journey. While there, the ghosts he encounters will give him advice on what makes life worth living. Keep careful notes on their advice to him…he will need it!

TUESDAY, May 6

• Quiz on book 10.

• Watching a scene that depicts book 10. We will watch:

  • Odysseus getting help from Aeolis, God of Wind, and his men opening the bag. (Start at 43:10—goes until minute 55)

  • Then, we will watch this clip from Assante’s The Odyssey: meeting Circe on Ogygia

• Moving into book eleven, in which Odysseus journeys into the Underworld. The class can choose to listen to book 11 while working on annotations.

• HW: Students who need to make up the book nine quiz should do so with Mr. Easton during lunch on Wednesday in room C-222.

WEDNESDAY, May 7

• We will start by re-reading lines 20 through 83. In this passage, Odyssues prepares an offering for the ghosts, and then speaks to one of him men, Elpenor. How does the sacrifice work (best guesses)? What lesson should O. learn from his meeting with Elpenor?

• Then looking at Odysseus’s conversation with Tiresias, the blind prophet. He tells Odysseus how to get home, what additional trials he must face.

• Working on a “ghost” worksheet and completing a bit of research on the ghosts that Odysseus encounters. We will start by doing some simple research on Tiresias:

  • Who is Tiresias, the blind prophet?

  • What other stories is he involved with?

  • Why is he an important figure in Greek mythology?

  • How did he come to be “blind,” and how did he become a “seer” (someone who can prophesize/tell the future)?

• HW: Finish the “ghost” worksheet on Tiresias for class on Friday. Read the catalogue of ghosts (women and men—the rest of book 11).

FRIDAY, May 9

• New seating chart for 6th period, scholar expectations moving forward.

• Review of research on Tiresias. What did you find? Does the article in class confirm or contradict the information you found?

• After being assigned ONE dead, Greek hero to research, you will use the following resources to begin gathering information about your assigned ghost.

  • START HERE. The Encyclopedia Britannica will have solid background on all of these Greek ghosts.

  • Mythopedia also has solid background on greek gods, demigods, monsters, heroes.

  • Books. Yes, believe it or not, books still exist. And here’s a couple of resources that may help, including Arts & Humanities and The Encyclopedia of Religion. These are GREAT sources!

  • The Gale in Context’s “Literature” database is another place to check, depending on your assigned ghost/character.

  • The Theoi Project is a good resource for scholarly details (scroll down to find search feature on this one)

  • The Met has a collection of Greek and Roman art.

  • You can find more art on Artstor, and visual version of Jstor.

  • National Archeological Museum of Greece for statues and older art

  • Finally, Tufts University Perseus Digital Library is an excellent database that will include where your assigned figure appears in Greek literature.