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1200 BCE
Cyclops
They arrive in the land of the Cyclopes. They find a cave belonging to Polyphemus, Son Of Poisidon. At first he is nice, but then he turns violent and eats two of the men. Odysseus gives Polyphemus alcohol which puts him asleep and stabs him in the eye so he can’t catch them. When he opens the door to let the sheep out, they escape and his final attempt to catch them doesn’t work. He gained more of a rep for his wits and trickery. We learn that they always don’t see eye to eye with Odysseus. -
1200 BCE
Aeolus
After leaving the Cyclopes, they find the land of Aeolus, God of wind. He gives them a bag of wind, sending them home. They are in sight of Ithaca, but his men thought there was gold in the bag so they opened it and it sent them back to Aeolus. He refuses to help them because he thinks the Gods want him to fail. We learn the lack of trust his crew has for him. This shows the pain he had to go through. He was in view of home, but his crew caused him more despair. -
1200 BCE
Sirens Pt. 1
After leaving Circe, Odysseus and his crew soon meet the Sirens. Odysseus listened to Circe and told his men about the Sirens so they were prepared. The crew had beeswax in their ears while Odysseus was tied to the mass of the boat. When they came, the Sirens sang and the crew just rowed on. Odysseus, on the other hand, was screaming and pleading to be let out. But his men listened and the more he struggled the tighter the ropes got. The men rowed on, untouched by the Sirens. -
1200 BCE
Trojan War
The Trojan War was between the Greeks and the people of Troy. After 10 years of fighting, the Greeks gave Trojans a big wooden horse in “surrender”. The soldiers hopped out, opened the gates, and destroyed Troy. Odysseus was a key leader for the Greeks during this war. Odysseus gained his rep as a mischievous intellectual warrior. They’ve been fighting or 10, so that just adds on to the time he’s spent away from his family. As soon as the war was finished, he and his crew left for home. -
1200 BCE
The Lotus Eaters
Zeus sent a 9-day storm to Odysseus which sent him to the land of the Lotus Eaters. He and his crew found the land so mesmerizing when they ate the Lotus Flowers that they lost all interest in going home for so long that Odysseus had to tie them up and take them to the ship. Odysseus lost valuable time in his journey home and we learn how easily his crew can be swooned and how hard it was to bring them back. This was another attempt from Zeus to try to get Odysseus tempted to stay from home. -
1200 BCE
Circe
They arrived at the land of the witch Circe. She uses her witchery to turn most of his men into pigs. When going to rescue them, Hermes comes to him and gives him a plant to protect himself from her magic. When she tried to overpower Odysseus, he overpowered her, forcing her to set his men free. They end up falling in love and living in lavish for a year. His men convince him to go home and Circe tells him he must go to Hades. We learn Odysseus wasn’t motivated anymore, he almost stayed forever. -
1200 BCE
Sirens Pt. 2
In this section Odysseus learns the trials that come ahead of them. Now that he has passed the Sirens he must face Scylla. As the audience we learn the amount of trust Odysseus has for his crew and that his crew isn’t the smartest. He doesn’t trust them enough to just not listen to the song so he plugs their ears with beeswax. This location is a prime example of temptation. His crew tied him to the mass because he knew if he didn’t he’d fall to the temptation of drowning to the Siren’s songs. -
1200 BCE
Scylla And Charybdis Pt. 1
After sailing passed the island of the Sirens, Odysseus encounters Scylla, a six headed monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool. While trying to row pass Scylla they look over and see Charybdis. As they turn around, Scylla gobbled down 6 of Odysseus’ crew, one for each head. Once that happens, they pick up the pace and get out of there, completely avoiding Charybdis and only losing 6 men like Circe predicted. -
1200 BCE
Scylla and Charybdis Pt. 2
Odysseus lost 6 of his men from this experience like Circe told him. We learned the superiority of Odysseus’ leadership skills. He had to make a decision ‘between a rock and a hard place” as we say. That phrase is about this story, choosing the lesser of two evils. He knew the either crew would all die if he went to Charybdis and if he went to Scylla then many member of the crew would die painfully. This location is important because if he went to Charybdis then the entire story could be over. -
1200 BCE
Helios Cattle Pt. 2
The location of Helios’ Cattle led to the demise of all of Odysseus crew. From this he learned to practice self-restraint. This was the main reason his men died. They had no self-restraint and ate the food they were given orders not to. If they would’ve had self-restraint then they would’ve made it back home. Odysseus has to use this quality when he goes against the suitors back home. -
1200 BCE
Suitors/ Home Pt. 1
Odysseus is finally home. Athena dresses him up like a beggar so no one knows he’s back. He finds out that Suitors have been trying to take his wife ever since he left. He enters a competition to shoot through axe heads. On his second shot, he shoots the ringleader, Antoine, in the throat. Then he kills all of the suitors and traitors. Penelope was asleep and when she woke up she tested Odysseus because she didn’t know if it was him. She can’t love him immediately because he’s been gone so long. -
1200 BCE
Suitors/ Home Pt. 2
Odysseus has to use all of the lessons he’s learned from his journey to take back his wife and throne. Main lessons include patience, temptation, and emotional stability. He needed patience to try to get home after ten years of bad experiences. He couldn’t fall to temptation many times, like with Circe. He needed to go home and to do that he had to cut her off. If he lost his temper with the suitors, they might’ve killed him. Now he just has to find a way to get Penelope to love him again. -
1200 BCE
Helios’ Cattle Pt. 1
The men stopped for rest on the the island of the Helios. Odysseus told his men not to eat the cattle. They were stuck for a month because of the wind and when they ran out of food Eurylochus convinced the men to eat the Cattle. Helios told Zeus to punish them. When they left a storm was sent by Zeus that killed everyone but Odysseus. Odysseus floated back to Charybdis on a piece of wood. He survived by hanging on a fig tree. Once the whirlpool was done, Odysseus drifted to Calypso’ island.
