Chapter 10 Outline

By Sydney Carlson, Hannah I and Rachel YD

Odysseus

Key EventsOdysseus stays on Aeolus’s island

•After staying on his island for a month, Odysseus tells him he must be on his way

•Aeolus gives him a bag of wind

•Once O. and his crew can see Ithaca, he falls asleep and his mutinous crew opens the bag of wind, blowing them back to Aeolus’s island

•Aeolus bans O. from his island, saying this proves that the immortals hate him

Odysseus and his crew arrive in Laestrygonian land•Odysseus sends some of his crew to scout around

•The royal family eats the crew because it turns out they’re cannibals

•All but Odysseus ship sinks

Key EventsOdysseus and his crew reach the Aeaean island, home of Circe

•Odysseus sends some of his crew to look around, and they get turned into pigs

•Hermes tells Odysseus how to get his crew turned human again

•O. succeeds and gets Circe to promise to help him return home

•She invites his crew to stay at her house for a while

•One year later, they’re still there

•They finally realize they need to go home, and Circe promises to help them only after they go to the underworld

•After receiving instructions, they set sail

Significant Character in Chapter 10

Circe•nymph with lovely braids•helped Odysseus after tricking his shipmates, and told them to go to hell•magical nymph

Odysseus Character

1. “so I pleaded-gentle, humble, appeals-” p. 232 line 76 this shows that he is capable of being humble

2. “ but I, I drew my sharp sword sheathed at my hip and rushed her fast as if to run her through-” this shows that he is very brave even in the face of something powerful and something he doesn’t understand like magic

3. “ so I said, and it broke my shipmates’ hearts.” This shows that he has power and can make his decide things over many people. He can even make decisions that will make grown men cry

The Monomyth

Odysseus is going through many trials and tests while trying to return home. his encounter with Circe is a big trial: he has to stay a man and also get aid in order to return home. this chapter also points to the next test where he has to go to Hell.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is there so much incest in this book? Keeping the family name is important, but why the inbreeding between brothers and sisters?

2. Is there a pattern with the epithets and the goddesses?

3. Why does Odysseus send his crew ahead when he is the leader? Is he a coward? Why is he acting like Telemachus?

Extra Credit

Epithets or SimilesHotheaded Odysseus page 244 line 481“ As calves in stalls when cows come home, droves of them herded back from field to farmyard once they’ve grazed their fill-as all their young claves come frisking out to meet them, bucking out of their pens, lowing nonstop, jostling, rushing round their mothers-” page 243 line 453The book compares Odysseus and his shipmates to young cows, which while fitting is somewhat insultingComparison/Contrast and Greek CultureAnd Extra Credit QuestionIn Arabian Nights and in this chapter the lovers spend a lot of time draping the chairs, and washing their hands. This seems that it may have been a tradition a long time ago, and was definitely very important to spend so much time describing. Why do you think that was“…once she’d draped the chairs with fine crimson covers…” page 241 line 391

The End