The Odyssey is a spectacular piece by Homer that recounts the
trials and tribulations of Odysseus as he makes his way home to his
wife, Penelope, after the Trojan War. It takes him twenty years to get
home, and he encounters many monsters and vixens on his way, making it a
delightful read for students of all ages. Whether they are reading it
as a translation or in the original Greek as students of classical
languages, or whether they have a toned-down version that is friendly
for younger students, they will love the stories from the Cyclops, to
Scylla and Charybdis, to Circe, to the suitors begging for Penelope’s
hand in marriage. While the story is captivating in and of itself,
having the right teaching tools makes all the difference.
Other Books Based on The Odyssey
Epic journeys have always been a popular theme in literature, and many of them have been based on The Odyssey
without the audience even knowing about it. Using these as teaching
tools can help spark interest in students. Perhaps the most popular
adaptation of the famous Greek poem is Ulyssesby James Joyce.
This novel follows Leopold Bloom on an epic, one day long journey
through Dublin, Ireland on June 16, 1904. The chapter names are
characters in The Odyssey, and each chapter contains a
monster-like encounter similar to that of the epic poem. Another popular
adaptation of Odysseus’ journey is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This is a Civil War novel, but the epic journey and hero’s quest is very similar to that of The Odyssey.
In this novel, W.P. Inman is the Odysseus character, and he is a
deserter from the Confederate Army. He is wounded and trying to return
to his love, Ada Monroe. This novel has also been made into a film.
Among many other adaptations of The Odyssey, there is The Penelopiad
by Margaret Atwood. In true, feminist, Atwood fashion, this novel is
told from the perspective of Penelope and her maids. It gives a very
interesting perspective we do not get from the poem itself.
Possible Projects
With higher-level students, a great project would be to pair The Odyssey
with one of these other novels and have the students compare the two in
some way. They could create a presentation for the class. Each student
could take on a different novel, which would give all the students in
the class an idea of what these other novels were about. With
lower-level classes, the teacher can have the students analyze the
hero’s quest and compare it with quests of other heroes in literature.
With very young students, an idea for a project would be to create a
theme park based on The Odyssey. Divide the students into groups
and have each group tackle a specific monster from the epic poem. Each
group should come up with a ride that represents the monster, characters
that will walk around the park, and menu items for the food court. Once
all the groups put their ideas together, you will have a class theme
park that represents the entire story.
Illustrations
There are many famous illustrations of The Odyssey out there, and
a quick internet search will yield many results to study. However,
teachers can also have students create their own graphic representations
of the poem. This works especially well with students who are
artistically talented. They can create these representations and then
share them with the class to see if they have similar ideas about what
the poem looks like when visualized
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