The Odyssey Books 6-9

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Students will review cause and effect.
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ALCOS RL.7.1
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1. Why is Antinous angry at Telemachus?
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2. What does Antinous plan to do to Telemachus?
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3. Why does Zeus say the gods will not help Odysseus
once he leaves Calypso’s Island?
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4. Why was Calypso keeping Odysseus captive?
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5. Why is Poseidon angry at Odysseus?
 Write
down a summary of what
happened in Books 3-5 that
you read yesterday.
Cause
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1. It rained.
2. It was funny.
3. I slept in class.
4. I studied for the test.
5. I fell in the pool.
6. I skipped lunch.
7. It’s your birthday.
8. I need new clothes.
9. I planted an apple seed.
10. The car was dirty.
Effect
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1. So I brought an umbrella.
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I brought an umbrella because it rained.
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I laughed because it was funny.
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I got wet because I fell in the pool.


Odysseus got off the island because Athena
helped him.
Telemachus sailed for Sparta because Athena
advised him to go find his father.


Today you will identify cause and effect in the
epic poem.
Your answers must be based on what the text
says explicitly (exactly) or based on what you
infer (educated guess) that the text says.
CAUSE
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1. Athena appeared in Nausicaa’s
dream.
2. Athena made Odysseus appear very
handsome.
3. A man sings about Achilles.
4. The Lotus-eaters shared their fruit.
5. The Cyclops blocked his cave door
with a giant rock.
6. Odysseus told the Cyclops his name
was “Nobody”.
7. Odysseus and his men covered
themselves in sheep skin.
8. Odysseus bragged to the Cyclops his
name.
EFFECT
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
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While Odysseus slept there, overcome with weariness and
sleep, Athena went to the land of the Phaeacians, to their
city, to arrange a journey home for brave Odysseus.
That night, Athena appeared in a dream to the Phaecian
princess Nausicaa. She encouraged the young princess to
go wash clothes in the river the next day. The next day,
while Nausicaa and her servants are at the river, she meets
Odysseus and gives him fresh clothes to wear, since his
were torn up by the sea.
Athena made Odysseus appear very handsome so that
Nausicaa would fall in love with him and help him.
Nausicaa tells Odysseus how to get to her palace and
hopes to see him again soon.

I will stop yelling and screaming at
school.x155


When he reached the palace, Odysseus saw that
the king, queen, and their subjects were holding
a celebration in honour of Poseidon. Right away
Odysseus approached Queen Arete and said:
“Arete, daughter of kings! I’ve come to you and
to your husband here, as a man in deep trouble
and pain. Please help me return home, to get
back quickly to my wife and son. I’ve been
suffering on a island for a long time and so far
away from friends.”
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The clever queen realized that Odysseus was wearing
some of the clothes that she had sent with Nausicaa to
be washed in the river. This made the queen very
suspicious of the strange man, and she tries to learn
his name.
Without telling his name, Odysseus told the story of
Calypso’s Island, and how the nymph had trapped him
there and the sea had nearly swallowed him. He then
told them how their lovely daughter, Princess Nausicaa,
had helped him at the river and given him fresh clothes
to wear.
The king thought Odysseus was very brave and honest,
and told him that if he desired, he could marry
Nausicaa and someday be king.


The next day king addressed them all
and said to the Phaeacians:
“Listen to me, my people. I’ll tell you what the
heart in my chest says. This stranger here, this
wanderer, has travelled to my house. He’s asking
for help to reach his family, and I believe this is
the right thing to do.”


Then a musician was inspired by the Muses to
sing a song about warriors. He thought of the
warrior Odysseus and the famous argument
he once had with Achilles and began to sing
of it.
The song grieved Odysseus because the
argument was one of the last words he had
with Achilles before his brave friend was
killed in the war. The king noticed how the
song affected his guest.
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
Next the singer sung of that great war horse,
the Trojan Horse that Odysseus’s own army
used to sneak into Troy’s walls and slaughter
her people in their sleep. The king watched
his guest and noticed again that Odysseus
seemed saddened by the great tale, as if it
brought unwanted memories.
The king could finally not stand it and asked
his guest to tell him who he was and where
he was really from.
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Reluctantly, Odysseus replied to the king: “My
lord, I would rather not tell you the places I
have been and the horrible troubles I have
caused. What shall I tell you first? Where do I
stop? For the gods have cursed me I think.
Well, I will start by telling you my name. I am
Odysseus, son of Laertes, well known to all
for my deceptive skills—my fame extends all
the way to heaven. I live in Ithaca, a land of
sunshine.


Come, I’ll tell you of the miserable journey
which Zeus and the gods arranged for me
when I returned from Troy. They cursed me
for telling them I did not need their help to
win the war.
Zesus’s winds forced my army and me to the
land of the Cicones. There I destroyed the
city, killed everyone, and captured lots of
treasure which we divided up.
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
Then I gave orders we should leave on foot—
and with all speed. But the men were fools.
They didn’t listen. They drank too much wine
and fell asleep on the shoreline.
The Cicone survivors gathered together and
killed many of my men before we could
escape in our ships, avoiding Death and Fate.
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Odysseus said: “We sailed away from there,
hearts full of grief that our friends were dead.
Cloud-gatherer Zeus then stirred a violent
storm concealing land and sea,
Nine days fierce winds drove us across the
fish-filled seas, and on the tenth we landed
where the Lotus-eaters live, people who feed
upon its flowering fruit. They eat and eat, and
can never stop eating the drug-like fruit.
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The Lotus-eaters shared their fruit with three
of my men and instantly the men lost their
desire to ever go home. They wished only to
sit and eat the evil fruit. I had to drag them to
the ship and sail away fast.
Next we reached the country of the Cyclopes,
a crude and lawless people. They live in giant
caves. We landed on their island without ever
having seen them before, and so didn’t know
what to expect from these creatures.
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When we arrived, clouds hid the moon, so
there was no light coming from the sky. We
explored the island to see who lived there.
Soon we found beside the sea, a high cave.
Inside it were many sheep penned in and
crates of cheese and other foods. We noticed
that a Cyclops lived there alone, away from
the others of his kind.
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I told the rest of my crew to stay by the ship and guard
it, while I selected twelve of my best men
and went to the monster’s cave to see what food we
could take for our journey.
The Cyclops was away when we snuck into his cave. At
first, my comrades urged me to grab some food and
hurry back to the ship. But I did not agree, though if I
had, things would have been much better.
I stayed too long because I wanted to see the Cyclops
up close.
We hid behind the crates and waited for the giant to
return. When he did, he blocked the door with a rock.
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The Cyclops saw us and said: ‘Strangers,
who are you? What sea route brought you
here?
Are you trading men, or wandering the sea
at random, like pirates sailing anywhere,
risking their lives to injure other men.?”
“As he spoke, our hearts collapsed, terrified
by his deep voice and monstrous size. But
still,
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I answered him by saying: We are Greek
warriors coming back from Troy and lost at
sea.
He answered me at once—his heart was
pitiless: ‘What fools you are, you strangers. I
could squash you all right now. But now, tell
me this—when you landed here, are there
more than just you twenty men on this
island? I’d like to know that.’
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He said this to throw me off, but his deceit
could never fool me. I was too clever. And so I
gave him a cunning answer:
Odysseus said: ‘Earthshaker Poseidon broke
my ship apart—driving it against your island
on the rocks. But we escaped—me and these
men here. We weren’t destroyed.’
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“That’s what I said. But his ruthless heart
gave me no reply. Instead, he jumped up,
seized two of my companions in his fist,
and smashed them on the ground like puppy
dogs. Their brains oozed out and soaked the
ground below
He tore their limbs apart to make a meal,
and chewed them up just like a mountain
lion—innards, flesh, and marrow—leaving
nothing.
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We raised our hands to Zeus and cried aloud,
to witness the horrific things he did, our hearts
unable to do anything.
Once Cyclops had stuffed his massive stomach
with human flesh and washed it down with milk,
he lay down in the cave and went to sleep,
unafraid of the tiny humans.
Then, in my courageous heart I thought to stab
him in the liver and kill him, but I realized that
we needed Cyclops to move the giant rock
blocking the exit.
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
In the morning, he once again snatched two
of my men and gorged himself on their
bodies. After his meal, he easily rolled away
the rock but kept us from escaping. He
planned to eat us all.
My heart came up with what appeared to me
the best thing I could do. An enormous club
belonging to Cyclops was lying there. I
chopped off a piece, six feet in length, gave it
to my companions, telling them to smooth
the wood.
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They straightened it, while I tapered it to a
sharp point. Then I picked up the stake and
told my men that we would stab out the
creature’s eye as it slept.
When Cyclops returned, he ate two more of
my men and wolfed them down. I moved up
to him and offered him to wine.
Odysseus said: “Accept this sweet gift and
allow me to leave. Keep my men and eat as
many as you wish, but let me live.”
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The Cyclops promised to give me a gift if I
gave him more wine. He wanted to know my
name.
Odysseus said: “‘Cyclops, you asked about
my famous name. I’ll tell you. Then you can
offer me a gift as you promised. My name is
Nobody. My father and mother, all my other
friends—they call me Nobody.’
Cyclops said: “Well, Nobody, I’ll eat your
friends before I eat you! That’s my gift to you.
I hope you like it.”

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Once the monster passed out from too much
drink, my friends and I crept up to his face
and jammed the sharpened end of our stake
into his eye.
His horrific screams echoed through the rock.
We drew back, terrified. He yanked the stake
out of his eye—it was all smeared with
blood—and cried out for help.
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He yanked out his eye and screamed, and
other Cyclops came to see what was wrong
with him.
The other Cyclopses said from outside the
cave: Friend! Are you under attack?”
From the other side of the rock blocking the
cave, they heard the monster cry: “NOBODY IS
KILLING ME, MY FRIENDS!”
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They answered him: Well, then, if nobody is
hurting you and you’re alone, it must be
sickness given by great Zeus, one you can’t
escape. So say your prayers
to our father, lord Poseidon.’
And they went away. My heart was laughing
at the Cyclops’s great agony. Groping with
his hands, he lifted the great stone and
stretched his hands around the exit, hoping
to snatch us as we surely escaped.
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To save us, I took the monster’s sheep skin
blankets and tied them around my men like
cloaks so that they would feel as sheep to the
monster’s searching hands.
Dressed as sheep we escaped his cave and
returned to our ship, laughing at the giant
fool. We stole many of his sheep, too. As our
ship moved over the salty sea I saw the
Cyclops near the shore looking still for us.
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Full of arrogance, I yelled:
“Cyclops, it seems he was no weakling, after all,
the man whose comrades you so wished to eat!”
In anger he threw a rock and almost destroyed us, and my
friends begged me not to provoke him, but I would not
listen.
So, anger in my heart, I yelled again: ‘Cyclops, if any
mortal human being asks about the injury that blinded
you, tell them Odysseus destroyed your eye, a sacker of
cities, Laertes’ son, a man from Ithaca.’
“After I’d said this, he stretched out his hands to starry
heaven and said to his father: Hear me, Poseidon, if I truly
am your son, grant that Odysseus, never gets back home.
Let all his friends be killed and his family ruined.
He
angered
________
________
wanted to
marry him
His ship
and crew
have been
destroyed
He was
trapped
on a
______
Odysseus
cannot
get home
He
bragged
to the
_________
Zeus said
none of
the gods
should
help him
again.
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