Key
=Important!
books
=Refer to your
Book 12: Sea Perils and Defeat
Fritz Medenilla

Characters/Important nonliving perils
Leader to his crew, Strong with all the perils, trustworthy with his men, Brave for perils
Describes the perils of the sea to Odysseus and gives him and the crew a feast
Crew member that convinces other crew members to kill Thrinacia’s cattle
Punishes Odysseus and crew for killing
Helios’ cattle
Vicious 6 headed beast living in a cliff next to Charybdis to eventually kill 6 crew members
A huge spinning whirlpool next to the beast,
Skylla’s, cave
Monsters that lure male sailors to their lair to, if not immediately, their deaths

The island where Lady Kirke and her mansion is, where the perils are described
Where most of this book takes place and where the perils are located
Where the Sirens sing their song to try to lure men into the rocky cliffs covered with bones and bodies
On the side of a cliff where the 6 headed, 12
Legged beast lives next to Charybdis
A giant whirlpool located next to Skylla’s cave which sucks in and destroys ships
The sun god, Helios’, island where the crew members rest and kill cattle
Where Odysseus ends up after his second encounter with Charybdis at the end of the book

 Odysseus went through all 3 perils of the sea and through these perils his identity/personality was revealed through them.
 Through the perils it shows Odysseus’ leadership skills and bravery with his crew.
 What do you think the main idea of The
Odyssey is so far?

 Page 211, Lines 82-84 –Personification
 Page 211-212, Lines 90-118 –Epithet and Personification

 This book is here to describe Odysseus’ attempt to journey back home.
 Personally, I believe this book is here to describe Odysseus in more depth (bravery, leadership, etc.) and describe the
God’s interaction in his journey.
 This book shows Odysseus in very high tension situations, which he is cursed always to be in, with his crew describing how he decides how to go about facing these challenges.
 My opinion on his cursed adventures showing his personality can be seen in this article. “This immense difficulty can be surmounted only by a quester of endless resource: cunning, courageous, stubborn above all. The very name “Odysseus” means either a curse’s victim…”
(Bloom on The Odyssey 1).

 It is also subtly described in this book how the God’s play a role in the decisions of man.
 For example the Gods warn the men about killing the sun’s cattle through a person named Tiresias but they still kill the cattle.
 “Gods often put good or clever ideas into the minds of men”(The Odyssey as a Moral Fable 1).
 By the end of this ppt. what will your take on book 12 be?

 At the beginning of book 12 we find Odysseus sailing to the island of Aiaia from his encounter in the underworld.
 When he arrives in Aiaia he is greeted by Lady Kirke and her hand maidens who treat Odysseus and his men to a feast.
 As the men feast Odysseus talks with Kirke about the perils of the sea he will face on his way back home.

please refer to (PAGE 210)
 Kirke gives tips to Odysseus on how to get through the passages.
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Go towards the Skylla when faced between the Charybdis or Skylla to lose only 6 men besides losing all men if trying to survive Charybdis.
Fill Odysseus’ and his crews ears with beeswax to get passed the siren’s song so they wouldn’t be killed by those creatures.
Odysseus passes this information on to his men.

Book 12 (cont.)
Please refer to (PAGE 214-216)
 When Odysseus and his men arrive near the sirens lair the crew did what Kirke had told them and filled their ears with beeswax.
 Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens song though. So the crew tied him to the mast of the ship and sail past the lair.
 As Odysseus heard what he loved most by the sirens his begs and pleas were not heard by the crew because of the beeswax and survived the encounter with the sirens.

Please Refer to (PAGE 217-218)
 After the encounter with the sirens Odysseus and his crew find their selves looking at two different dangerous paths.
 To get to where they were going they were either to try and survive the giant whirlpool, Charybdis, or try and face the 6 headed and 12 legged beast, Skylla.
 They followed what Kirke said and headed for Skylla who took and killed 6 of Odysseus best men out of the
45 crew members.

 After facing the 3 perils of the sea Odysseus and the crew take a rest on the island of Thrinacia, island of the sun god Helios.
 As Odysseus slept, Eurylochus, a crew member convinced the crew to kill the cattle. They were so hungry they headed the warning given to them in
Book 11 by Tiresias in the underworld.

 Helios was furious that Odysseus’ crew members killed his cattle and told Zeus to punish the crew.
 Zeus punished the crew as the set sail once again destroying their ship as well as killing all the crew members in a storm.
 Odysseus was left alone in the Mediterranean Sea on drift wood of the remaining scraps of his ship.

 Drifting on parts of his destroyed ship Odysseus with his cursed luck returns back to Skylla and Charybdis.
 To see how Odysseus survives refer to page 224 in your books. (PAGE 224 middle paragraph)
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 As Odysseus drifts on parts of his ship he finds his feet on an island greeted by the dangerous nymph
………KALYPSO!!!
Odysseus grabs onto a branch then drops down on drift wood…..