The Odyssey

Odysseus returns Chryseis to Her Father by Claude Lorrain in 1644

Odysseus returns Chryseis to Her Father by Claude Lorrain in 1644

Written by Homer, The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus' return from Troy. Odysseus' journey takes ten years, during which time his wife, Penelope, waits faithfully and resists numerous suitors. In 2005, Margaret Atwood questioned how Penelope felt/thought and responded to events while Odysseus and wrote a companion piece to The Odyssey called The Penelopiad. 

One of the reasons we know about Homer and Greek literature is due to The Battle of Marathon, which was a critical battle between the Persians and the Greeks in 490 B.C.E. Historian and former Marine, Jim Lacey discusses The Battle at Marathon and its impact on Western Culture here: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135710868/the-clash-at-marathon-shaped-greece-and-the-west.

You can also listen to a short interview with him on NPR's Talk of the Nation:

The Odyssey: 

Audio Excerpts

Missed a class? Confused about what happened in the last reading? Here's an easy way to catch up! Our textbook publisher, Holt McDougal, provided these audio versions of The Odyssey. They're exactly what's in our textbook. 

 

Part One: Wandering

Part Two: The Homecoming

 

The Odyssey: 

Videos

John Green from Crash Course gives a brief introduction to Homer's The Odyssey. 

John Green from Crash Course compares and contrasts the Greeks with the Persians. 

This is an edited series of clips from The Odyssey. It's edited to display Odysseus' adventures chronologically.

Each section of the clip is titled and it includes the following moments from the movie: The Trojan War, The Cyclops, Aeolus - Ruler of the Wind, Circe's Island, Journey to the Underworld, Scylla & Charybdis, Calypso, and King Alcinous.

This is an edited series of clips from The Odyssey. It's edited to only display Penelope's and Telemachus' story during the 20 years that Odysseus is away. It's stops just before Odysseus returns home.

This is an edited series of clips from The Odyssey for my 9th grade English class. It's edited to only display the events that happen after Odysseus returns home. It begins directly after his visit with KIng Alcinous.