The Odyssey
NAME: _______________________________________________________________BLOCK__________
SETTING UP YOUR PAPER
Using your own sheet of paper, title the top of your paper with the section title from the book, which is
The Sirens, include the page number (1005), and write the date that you are doing the reading. You
must repeat these steps each time we complete a reading log.
THE SIRENS– Read the description below
Before Odysseus and his men leave Circe’s island, she tells he and his men what dangers lie ahead for
them in the seas they must travel to get home. The first encounter Odysseus and his men must deal
with is safely bypassing the Sirens. Sirens are a race of supernatural creatures that have the appearance
of beautiful women. Their song will hypnotize and draw in any man. The Sirens rest on rocks and cliffs
in the sea, and as the men sail towards the song, their ship crashes into rocks. The Sirens rocks are
covered with human remains because the Sirens actually use their song to lure in men and devour them.
Read lines 660 to 701 and then respond to Reading Check question: What has Odysseus asked his
shipmates to do in order to deal with the Sirens?
Read lines 702 – 755 and respond to this question: Does Odysseus plan work in dealing the Sirens?
How? List the steps Odysseus took in order for he and his men to make it past.
SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS –Read lines 757 – 774 on page 1007 and then read the description below.
Scylla and Charybdis are both horrible monsters that
Odysseus must deal with in order to sail home.
Scylla and Charybdis are said to be arrow’s distance
apart. Meaning they are close enough that a person
could shoot an arrow from one to the other.
Odysseus must deal with a difficult decision. He
must sail close enough to at least one of the
creatures that it will or could affect his ship or kill his
men. Odysseus is trying to encourage his men to
keep them from growing afraid as they hear the
chomping and gnashing of Scylla. TURN OVER-SCYLLA – A huge six headed monster with 12 tentacles that lives at the top of a cliff and whips men off their ship and
devours them whole. Scylla is a cursed mortal that Poseidon loved but his wife turned into the monster she is today.
CHARYBDIS – A huge monster that lives at the bottom of the ocean. Three times daily, Charybdis inhales huge amounts of
water and spits it out creating a devastating whirlpool and then a huge geyser.
The Odyssey
Read lines 773 – 781 and then read the description below.
If Odysseus sails his ship close to Scylla she will almost undoubtedly kill 6 of his men, but no more, for
she will only eat one man for each of her heads and stomachs. If Odysseus sails closer to Charybdis, all
of him men may live, but all of his men may die, for he will have to sail out of the giant whirlpool that is
created by Charybdis. SO, Odysseus has a decision to gamble and risk losing everything or keeping
everything, or decide to take guaranteed loses but undoubtedly have a ship and enough men to carry
on. Respond to the question below.
What should Odysseus do? Why?
What would you do? Why?
Read lines 783 – 827 and then answer the question below.
What did Odysseus choose? What does this show you about him as a leader?
CATTLE OF LORD HELIOS – Read lines 828 – 862 on pages 1010-1011 and then read the description
below.
Odysseus tried to convince the men to pass this island because he knows the island of Thrinakia was a
danger to his crew based on Tiresias’s prophecy. The sacred cattle of Lord Helios live here, and Lord
Helios sees all. Odysseus makes his men swear not to eat the cattle. Respond to the question below:
Identify two other examples of when Odysseus’s men do not listen to his orders and they suffer
consequences because of it.
Read lines 863 – 905 Odysseus’s men are starving and are stuck on this island because of violent storms.
Eurylochus, one of Odysseus’s men, tries to convince the men that it is better to take their chances
against Lord Helios’s punishment for eating the cattle compared to starving to death on the island. This
argument convinces the men to slaughter and eat the cattle. Respond to the question below:
What would you have done in this situation? Eaten the cattle or no? Explain.
Read from line 906 at the bottom of page 1012 to line 914 – Lord
Helios is enraged that his cattle have been eaten. Respond to the
question below:
What does Lord Helios threaten to do if Zeus does not punish
Odysseus and his men?
Read from line 915 to the end of this section on page 1017.
Answer this question after
reading to page 1017. Summarize
what Zues does and what happens
to Odysseus and his men.
At the conclusion of page 1017, Odysseus’s flashback is ended,
and we have been shown how Odysseus ended up at Calypso’s
island and all of the events that happened before that. The story
will now continue in present time to see what will happen to
Odysseus after he leaves King Alcinous’s palace.