THE ODYSSEY XIA GATHERING OF SHADES

By: Rachel Boland and Kim Tran

Key - Reading Activity

- Important note

SETTING

As Odysseus tells his story, the flashback shows him and his crew in the underworld.

During the time he is telling the story, he is with King Alkínoös and Queen Arêtê.

Where the

flashback/story takes place

Home of

King Alkíno

ös

Odysseusmain hero; in this

book, he’s telling a story about his trip to the underworld

Kirkêthe enchantress

who trapped Odysseus and his

crew on her island

Teirêsiasa shade, also a

prophet who tells Odysseus how to

get home and how he will die

Antikleía Odysseus’ mother, a shade that died

because she longed for her son and was

lonely

King Alkínoösthe king of

Phaecians, who is housing and

Odysseus and his crew

Queen Arêtêwife of King

Alkínoös, Queen of Phaecians

CrewmatesElpênor,

Perimêdês, Eurýlokhos

There are many women Odysseus will see who had affairs with gods,

and he will also see famous heroes

who’ve died

Characters

MAIN IDEA

Basically, in this book, Odysseus is telling King Alkínoös and Queen Arêtê about his trip to the underworld.

In his trip, he meets his old crewmate who died falling off a roof, his own mother, the prophet Teirêsias, Agamémnon, and many mythical heroes.

The main reason he went was Odysseus to talk to Teirêsias. He wanted to know how to get home and was told what to do when he got there and how he could come back onto the good side of the gods.

STORY LINE

In the beginning, we have Odysseus and his crew coming off their ship and going into the Underworld.

They make the sacrifice of a black lamb mixed with milk, honey, wine, and water.

Various shades, the souls of the Underworld, including Teirêsias, his mother Antikleía, and his crewmates, drank the blood of the sacrifice in order to talk to him.

STORY LINE(CONT.)He talked to Elpênor, one of his fallen warriors, first. Elpênor was left on Kirke’s island since he got drunk and fell asleep. When he woke and tried to get down, he fell and snapped his neck.

Then he spoke to Teirêsias about his future. He came to the Underworld to talk to Teirêsias in the first place.

He was shocked to see his mother, who told him that she died of loneliness and about the rest of his family in Ithaka. When they had to part, he tried to hug her three times, but it never worked.

He also saw many women who had failed relationships with Zeus and occasionally Poseidon.

READING ACTIVITY

Please open your books to page 188

While reading this section, you should understand

• Teirêsias will outline what Odysseus has to do in order to get home

• What Odysseus has to do when he gets home

• How can Odysseus get on the good side of the gods

• When Odysseus will die

STORY LINE (CONT.)After he tells King Alkínoös and Queen Arêtê about the Teirêsias and the women, Odysseus takes a break and asks if they could go to sleep. The king wants to stay awake to listen to more stories, so Odysseus keeps going.

After talking with the shades, he allowed the others to come and drink too.

While he was watching the shades drink, he looked around and saw many people he’d heard of. Some of the people he saw were Aías, Orion, Minos, Títyos, Tántalos, and Sísyphos, but he didn’t’ talk to them.

Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, kept sending more shades to Odysseus so that they could have a drink. They eventually became too much for him to handle and chased Odysseus out.

INTERMISSION

We interrupt the slideshow on the story line to bring you a puppet show.

In this puppet show, we will reenact

Odysseus’ trip to the Underworld..

Sea background

Background page (underworld mwahahaha)

SUMMARY OF THE PUPPET SHOW

In the beginning, we have the crew coming off of the ship

Then there’s the sacrifice of the lamb and the shades drink the blood

He talks to Teirêsias, his mother, and other shades

Sees many other shades of famous heroes and people who’ve been punished

Odysseus gets chased out by other shades

LITERARY ANALYSIS

Figuring Fidelity in Homer’s Odyssey

• This critique analyzes the fidelity of Penelope to Odysseus throughout the book.  She had many chances to betray Odysseus over the twenty years that he was absent, but she stayed true to him.  Zeitlin says in her analysis "The poem presents her in such a way to assure us of her fidelity."  In this chapter Teirêsias discusses with Odysseus the state of Odysseus's family back in Ithaka and assures him that Penelope has stayed faithful to their marriage.

• Another way fidelity is shown in this chapter of the Odyssey is in the many women that Odysseus talks to in the Underworld.  Most of them speak of affairs they had with the gods, mainly Zeus and Poseidon.  When he talks to Antiope, he says "she, too, could boast a god for a lover, having lain with Zeus and borne two sons to him".  He describes Alkmene as "mother... of lionish Herakles, conceived when she lay close in Zeus's arms".  Unlike Penelope, many of the gods have not stayed true to their marriages.

Bloom on The Odyssey • In the criticism, the author writes

that Odysseus means a curse’s victim and also someone who curses others. Bloom’s Guide critiques him as, “a survivor: prudent, wise, perhaps a little cold,” and also “however admirable you judge him to be: you may well drown, but he will reach land.” The journey starts out with him and his crew trying to get home, but throughout the whole story, he’s lost many members thanks to Poseidon’s interference with their journey. Which in our story, Teirêsias tells Odysseus will return home alone and his crew will die.

• Another point made is that his journey can be compared to the American dream of “ a hope of returning home, wiser and richer than when we were deported from there in order to experience warfare, marvelous enchantments, and the forging of a self-reliant identity strong enough to bring us back to where we began.” In our book, Odysseus show us that he’s willing to do anything to get home again, including going to the world of the dead in order to come home alive. After being gone for twenty years, he’s longing for news of his home and family that he can only gain from finishing his journey.

THANKS FOR WATCHING

The End