The Odyssey

1. The Odyssey by Homer Adventure with Circe Mary O. F Block

2. Plot • Odysseus’s ship arrives at Aiaia and spot smoke rising. • They decide to go to the origin of the smoke, Circe’s house. • Outside the house, there are strangely calm wolves and lions. • They are invited to feast with Circe and all but the suspicious Eurylochos goes. Track Odysseus’s journey before and after his encounter with Circe!

3. Plot • After the meal, the men are turned into pigs and captured. • Eurylochos then returns and explains the events to Odysseus and the other men. • Odysseus sets out to rescue his men and on the way encounters Hermes who gives help and advice to Odysseus to use against Circe. • When he arrives at Circe’s, he overcomes her tricks and makes her swear an oath not to harm him.

4. Plot • Odysseus refuses Circe’s pampering until his companions are released. • So, Circe turns them back into men and invites the others to join her as well. • After one year, the men remind Odysseus of his home and he decides he must leave. • Circe then tells him he must go to Hades for directions to Ithaca.

5. Greek Society • Odysseus shows his selflessness and care for his men in this adventure when he goes to rescue them alone, adding to his characteristics of a good leader. • Also, the gods once again aid Odysseus in his journey, revealing that the gods favor him and that he is fated to return home

6. Greek Society • Circe turns men into animals that are neither wild nor fierce. • This occurs after the men react so rudely to her hospitality.

7. Greek Society • Since the men act like animals, they are now stuck in an animal state forever. • This incident reflects the roles of men and women in Ancient Greek society.

8. Greek Society • In the Ancient Greek society, men were the dominant gender. • Women’s jobs related mostly to duties of the household and the men expected them to fulfill them. • Circe kindly gives the men food and welcomes them into her house, but the men are hostile and impolite, demonstrating how they probably treat other women as well.

9. Modern Society • Circe starts out as an enemy to Odysseus but later ends up helping him in his journey. • In ongoing election in Nicaragua, one candidate, Daniel Ortega, has a member of the Contras, who were once his enemy in a past revolution, as his running mate in the election. • So, like Odysseus and Circe, Ortega and his running mate have gone from enemies to friends.

10. Modern Society • The sexism expressed in this incident still exists today to some extent. • In the past century, women have made huge progresses in society, but are still not yet as fully recognized as men. • As in ancient Greece, women are inferior to men, the extent varying from culture to culture.