the odyssey. how to approach homer’s odyssey learning / achievement objective to examine the ideas...
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The Odyssey
HOW TO APPROACH HOMER’S ODYSSEY
LEARNING / ACHIEVEMENT
OBJECTIVE
To examine the ideas and values of the classical world
through the study of Homer’s Odyssey
• Leadership • Social and cultural
behaviour • Relationships• Beliefs
ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATIONS
NAUSICAA
Leadership
ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES:
Students need to understand:
• Odysseus’ leadership qualities
• What causes Odysseus to act as he does (students
must be able to connect his leadership qualities to
specific actions and motivations)
• How Odysseus’ leadership is challenged by the
suitors and his slaves in Books 21-23 AND why
Odysseus responds as he does (they must be able to
connect the behaviour of the suitors / slaves to
Odysseus’ reaction)
• That Telemachus is a developing leader; his
leadership qualities; how and why Athena supports
his leadership; who challenges his leadership and
how? Books 1 and later 21, 22
• DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
[Draw developed conclusions about why these leadership and / or heroic qualities were valued by the classical society for which this text was produced – 2012 external examination]
• What did ancient people believe about leadership?
• High birth, wealth, skill at arms, prowess in battle are all qualities expected of a leader.
• But what they admired the most was wisdom and good practice; eg the suitors have wealth and high status but their actions and behaviour are strongly disliked. Why?
• Odysseus has the right to be king in his household and those who disrespect or challenge his leadership deserve to be punished. Why?
• What did ancient people value about the typical hero?
• They valued his courage and resourcefulness, they admired his cunning and his charm etc, etc
• “He has been alone and nameless so when he enters his palace in disguise he must depend on his own resourcefulness (metis)”
R. Fowler: Cambridge companion to Homer page 87
• Why did ancient people value these heroic / leadership qualities?
• These qualities provided ancient people with a model (a yardstick) of how to live their life and how to organise their communities.
• They provided didactic messages for their young men, for their leaders etc
WHAT MOTIVATES THE HOMERIC HERO?
GLORY
HONOUR
JUSTICEREVENGE
THIRST FOR kleos / GLORY
The driving force behind the hero was the need to achieve fame and glory.
The hero wants his name to
survive him for years to come; and so, his only chance for immortality was to win glory through famous deeds.
The more dangerous the task, the greater the glory.
HUNGER FOR HONOURThe need to preserve
your honour was as great as the need to achieve glory.
Any insult on you, or your good reputation or your family, was dealt with quickly and in a most violent way. Honour had to be reclaimed.
JUSTICEBad people deserve to suffer / deserve
punishment:
Those who: go against what was considered acceptable
behaviour disrespect the gods disregard customs and traditions behave unjustly
Even Zeus in Book I says: “The blessed gods don’t like wicked acts”
REVENGEFul
In order to restore his and his family’s lost honour, the hero becomes ruthlessly revengeful.
The greater the dishonour the greater the punishment.
Vengeance is the hero’s right
So the revengeful Odysseus is ruthless and unforgiving but we must not think of him
as evil or bloodthirsty.
Do you know of OTHER CULTURES THAT SHARE SIMILAR VALUES?
MAORI VALUES
Mana signifies status, authority, prestige and honour (ancient heroic / leadership qualities)
Māori vigorously defended their mana in everyday matters and tried to enhance it whenever they could.
MAORI VALUES
Utu:Often defined as ‘revenge’, utu has a broader meaning: the maintenance of balance and harmony within society.
A wrong had to be put right (justice), but how this was done could vary greatly.
Social and cultural BEhaviours
• THE CUSTOMS OF GUEST FRIENDSHIP• CUSTOMS RELATING TO SYMPOSIA• GREEK VIEWS ON JUSTICE AND REVENGE• THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY
Social and cultural traditions 1. THE CUSTOMS OF GUEST FRIENDSHIP – Books 1, 9, 20-22• What is guest friendship - How did this custom come about?• Ritual aspects of guest friendship.• How were the suitors / Cyclops expected to behave?• Examples of situations where guest friendship is violated.
XENIA COMPARED TO MANAAKITANGA
What is manaakitanga?
Showing respect for hosts or kindness to guests.
Entertaining guests or looking after them.
Manaakitanga is often practised on a Marae
Like the Greek custom of xenia there are
certain rituals that one has to follow when visiting a Marae.
For example: hosts welcome their
guests with a powhiri or a hongi
xenia and KOHAIn return the Marae guests
(manuhiri) respect the local customs and patterns of
behaviour and give a koha (gift) to the tangata whenua.
The koha is usually money to help cover costs, but can
also include gifts or donations of food and other
precious items.
Identify similarities between xenia and:• Manaakitanga• koha
Social and cultural BEHAVIOURS2. CUSTOMS RELATING TO SYMPOSIA Books 1, 20-22• Ritual aspects of the symposium• Suitors’ bad behaviour and reasons why they deserved to be punished
3. GREEK VIEWS ON JUSTICE AND REVENGE Books 9, 20-22• How were the slaves / suitors expected to behave?• Which behaviours brought about their downfall.• Why Odysseus / Telemachus had the right to take revenge
4. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY Books 6 and 23• Social customs relating to a young girl• Marriage customs for young girls (Nausicaa)• Penelope as the ideal wife and qualities that make her the ideal wife. How was she expected to behave in Odysseus’ absence?
Social and cultural BEHAVIOURS
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS: • How were people expected to behave in certain situations?• What the ancient people considered to be appropriate or
inappropriate behaviour according to their social and cultural traditions.
• Reasons why these social and cultural traditions were upheld by ancient people. Eg The idea that Odysseus has the right to take revenge so as to
regain his honour. Customs and traditions enable societies to function / provide
them with standards according to which they could live their lives etc
relationships• The relationship of Odysseus and: his son his wife other women in his life eg Calypso and Nausicaa gods especially Athena slaves suitors
• The relationship of Telemachus and: his mother the gods especially Athena the suitors the slaves
• The relationship of Penelope and: her suitors
relationshipsAND:• What ancient people value about these
relationships?
Eg they value the respect that Telemachus
shows to his father. Evidence?
• The beliefs and expectations of ancient people about these relationships eg they expect Penelope (the ideal wife) to remain faithful and loyal to her husband while he can travel for long periods of time and have relationships with other women while away from home. Evidence?
• The significance of these relationships to the people of the classical world:
Ancient people model their lives on the lives of the Homeric heroes
They use these relationships to teach about the values of loyalty and faithfulness
These relationships teach about hierarchy in
society Evidence?
beliefs • Homeric gods are anthropomorphic, they have human emotions • The role they play in the Odyssey eg Athena the protector of
Odysseus and his family• Their relationship to humans is a give and take relationship, they
interfere in people’s lives in both positive and negative ways
AND:• What are the attitudes of ancient people towards their gods ie how
do they relate to them / what do they expect from them• Why are these religious beliefs and attitudes about their gods
important to ancient people? Eg Religious beliefs and attitudes provided them with a standard
by which to live their lives These religious beliefs and attitudes were handed down from
generation to generation. These religious beliefs and attitudes united them as people of
the same society and marked them as different / superior from other (barbaric) societies
PARAGRAPHS
Understand the question and respond to it
write several excellent paragraphs using clear structure
start with a with a key idea,
develop and explain ideas giving detailed responses
provide relevant examples and link to key idea
Finish paragraph with an insightful / analytical statement that links back to the key idea)
use terminology correctly
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