Homer Odyssey Books 1-8 Study Guide Questions
For those of you who may be following our reading of Homer remotely or just via the web, here’s our schedule of reading over the next three months and below that I have put the reading questions that I distributed to each reader for the first call, which is tonight.
Discussion #1 To be done by early October
Books 1-8 Recognitions (Lombardo translation pp. 1-124)
1-4 Telemachus’ coming of age, “recognized” as heir
5-8 Odyssseus permitted to complete last leg of his return home, “recognized” publicly for the first time in many years on Phaeacia
Discussion #2 To be done by early November
Books 9- 16 Reconciliations (Lombardo translation pp. 125-255)
9-12 Odysseus’ wanderings, “reconciling” Poseidon’s curse
13-16 Odysseus’ return to his native land, “reconciling” with Telemachus
Discussion #3 To be done by early December
Books 17-24 Revenge (Lombardo translation pp. 256-381)
17-20 Odysseus and Telemachus return to the palace in imminent danger
21-24 The contest of the bow and ultimate revenge on the suitors
Thanks,
Andre
— Books 1-4 Telemachus’ coming of age, “recognized” as heir
1. Why is the fate of Agamemnon in particular, brought up so quickly at the beginning of this epic?
2. What are the gods like? Why are they introduced first (i.e. instead of Odysseus)? How is divine intervention portrayed in these opening chapters?
3. Looking at the gods in chs. 1-4, what sense of Justice is there for Telemachus? For the
suitors? For Penelope? How is hospitality defined? How is hospitality actually practiced in books 1-4?
4. Given Sheila Murnaghan’s mention of “nostos” on p. xiii, what key ingredients are showcased in books 1-4 before we are introduced to the character of Odysseus in books 5-8? What can be applied to today’s war veteran missing in action and his eventual homecoming? What is the legacy of the Trojan war ten years after it was fought?
— Books 5-8
Odyssseus permitted to complete last leg of his return home, “recognized” publicly for the first time in many years on Phaeacia
1. Compared to the emotions brewing in books 1-4, how does Homer set the tone in book 5 both with the interaction of the gods and with the introduction of Odysseus? In what ways is our hero Odysseus forced to show humility? Even though Odysseus is gifted with words and cleverness, why must Athena assist him as he approaches the palace of Alcinous (books 6 & 7)? What does this say about society and travelers in the ancient world?
2. In book 7, Odysseus is carefully counseled by two women (one a princess, the other a goddess) in how to approach Queen Arete. How is hospitality defined according to Odysseus’ experience at the palace in Phaeacia? How does it compare to Telemachus’ experience earlier at Pylos and Sparta? How does it compare to the scenes at Ithaca in Odysseus’ own palace with the suitors?
3. In Book 8, how does Odysseus’ interaction with Nausicaa compare to the first one in Book 6? Note Arete’s gift to Odysseus (a chest of clothes) and Odysseus’ palace bath. How important are women in how strangers are treated? Compare Menelaus’ and Helen’s hospitality towards Telemachus in Book 4 to Alcinous’ and Arete’s hospitality toward Odysseus here in Book 8. How are Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ identities recognized in each case? Why didn’t they show their ID at the door as in modern times?
4. Looking at pp. 403-411 in the back of Lombardo’s translation, one can see the extent of speeches found in the Odyssey. Does this surprise you in terms of reading a epic? Is Homer allowing too much dramatic dialogue to invade the epic narrative? What is the one speech that stands out for you in the section we will discuss next call?
Darwin’s Origins
One section of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” starts tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6, 2009.
The reading group will have read chapters 1 & 2 and reviewed the reading questions created and distributed by our moderator Stephanie Aktipis.
If you’d like to follow the group, you can visit this site regularly and click on the 8. Darwin link in the left navigation.
Each month Stephanie will upload the mp3 from each phone conversation and she will also put up the reading questions.
Thanks,
Phil
Homer’s Odyssey starts tonight
Two sections of Homer’s Odyssey have their first call tonight, Monday October 5, 2009.
The groups have each read books 1-8 of the Odyssey and will be talking about those books in a phone call moderated by Andre Stipanovic for group 1 and Pat Wictor for group 2.
If you’d like to follow the groups, you can visit this site regularly and click on the 1. Homer Odyssey link in the left navigation.
Each month the moderators will upload the mp3 from each phone conversation and they will also put up the reading questions.
Thanks,
Phil
Host info
Slow Art hosts.
This page contains next steps for what you need to do between now and your first Slow Art event.
Here’s the mp3 from yesterday’s conference call, in case anyone wants to hear it again or missed it.
1. Send your brief intro to slowart@readingodyssey.org
Send your e-mail intro to the whole group. Great way to get to know the other hosts.
2. Promote the event through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, your blog (if you have one)
Get your eventbrite link up around the web.
3. Go to your city’s online event calendar and add the event (like Payal did with Boston.com)
4. Contact your museum (optional)
If you like, contact the PR, communications or outreach person at your museum. If you have questions about this or want any help, ask Jeff Gates – gatesj@si.edu
5. Login to your eventbrite admin account.
You should have your login. If you are having trouble loggin in to your eventbrite account, contact Phil.
6. Visit your museum, select your art, prepare your template
Visit your museum, select your 10+ pieces that you recommend your participants view and then prepare your template.
Here’s the template for you to fill out:
If you have any questions about the template or selection process, ask Gillian Rose: gillian@gillianrosedesign.com
7. E-mail template to your attendees 10 – 14 days before the event
You’ll want to export the list of attendees, so you can e-mail them your template. To do that, you do the following:
– Login to eventbrite
– Click on your event
– Click on “edit”
– Click on “manage”
– Click on “attendee report”
– Click on “export to Excel”
– Click on “open file with Excel”
Once you have opened the attendee report, then you can copy all the e-mail addresses into your e-mail program and send the attendees your template.
8. Make a reservation at the restaurant or cafe
Call the restaurant or cafe and make a reservation 10-14 days before your event. Let them know you’ll call back to confirm.
9. Send a reminder note Monday before your event
Go back to eventbrite and export your attendee list and send a reminder note with all the information about your event. Include the template again.
10. Send another reminder note Friday before your event.
Say something like “Look forward to seeing you tomorrow…” and again include all the info about your event.
11. During your lunchtime conversation, if you use Twitter or any of your participants do…
then ask them to use #slowart for any tweets they put about the event, conversation.
12. Send out a note after your event to slowart@readingodyssey.org with..
With your quick thoughts on what worked, what didn’t work, what you would do again, what you’d change for the next event (just assume you are doing another one – even if that’s not the case – it will help us build a library of best practices).
13. And send a note to your participants thanking them for coming.
14. Attend the conference call in November (date to be set).
Thanks so much, everyone!
Phil
Slow Art Inspiration – Reflections on quick judgments
Here’s a little slow art inspiration. My 16-year-old daughter, wrote this essay—couple of days ago—pure coincidence, she knew nothing about slow art.
– Amelia Bellows, Slow Art Stanford host
“Reflections on quick judgments”
Oona Gleeson, 16 years old
10/1/2009
Whether we like it or not, we all judge things. It may be an event, a person, an object, a quality. Every single day, in our minds, we make up judgments based on little knowledge. Sometimes, we need to just pause- and look around us. Who are we to judge anyone but ourselves?
Just recently, my mother took me on a trip to New York, to see all the modern art collections, and some colleges in the area I was interested in. One rainy day, we saw exhibits in both the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan, which is in my point of view, even for an adult, boring after the first ten collections of art. Of course I was interested in the art, but looking back, I realize that I wasn’t really examining the artwork, just looking at it, and passing, already on to the next piece of work. So I was not happy to find out from my mother that we would be visiting yet another art studio in SoHo, where my mom used to make her artwork.
After around 5 minutes of strolling around the old creaky wood floor, gazing at each piece, I became annoyed at how long my mother would look at each piece, wondering what she was doing. At the back, there was a collection of framed pieces of paper, with one single splatter of different kinds of oil and ink on each one. I whispered to my mom so that the studio owner wouldn’t hear, “Anyone could make this! How do they call these pieces art?” My mother pointed to the script on the side of the wall next to the collection. The more I read it, the more I began to understand what the artist was trying to get across. The artist was trying to show the audience how life is not perfect, and everything has its little stains and blemishes. He wanted the splatters to look like stains, and each stain represented a different thing in his life.
Reading this one little paragraph literally changed the way I saw artwork, and the rest of my life. If you don’t take time in your life to stop and think about each piece of art, how can you expect to understand it? Each person is trying to get a point across in their art, and you can appreciate and recognize their talent. Every since that rainy afternoon, I have been applying what I have learned to not only my artwork and others artwork, but to the quick judgments I unconsciously make about others in everyday life.
Xenophon in a New Voice MP3 – listen to the conference
If you missed the NYU Center for Ancient Studies Xenophon conference last night, you can download the MP3 and hear several scholars talking about this important Greek historian.
You can also hear Bob Strassler, editor of “Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika” talking about his masterful new edition of Xenophon.
Thanks!
Phil
P.S. The conference featured these speakers:
– Professor Paul Cartledge, Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the History and Theory of Democracy, NYU
– Matthew S. Santirocco, Seryl Kushner Dean, College of Arts and Science and Angelo J. Ranieri Director of Ancient Studies, NYU
– David Thomas, Independent Scholar, contributor to “The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika”
– Robert Strassler, editor “The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika”
Hosted by NYU College of Arts and Science Center for Ancient Studies and supported by the Reading Odyssey
Reading Odyssey’s odyssey
I’m preparing for the first meeting of the Reading Odyssey board this Wednesday, September 30, 2009. I’d like to tell you about some of the interesting conversations we are having and get your input.
We began as a commitment between two friends to read the great books together (from Homer to Shakespeare, Darwin and Einstein, etc) over the rest of our lifetime. Our first discovery was that other people wanted to join us and that using the phone as our monthly meeting was not just convenient, but made it possible for people from around the world to join us. Surprisingly, the phone also encouraged better, more serious conversations (i.e. we didn’t get more into drinking and food then into talking).
Next, we discovered that scholars were eager to help and accepted our invitations to join us by phone to talk about the books we were reading and the ideas we were discussing. That was thrilling. Then to increase awareness of what we are doing and to reach people who would not immediately say yes to reading Darwin or Aristotle, we started experimenting with campaigns on Facebook and large-scale lectures via webcast and teleconferencing. We attracted hundreds of thousands to participate and now have touched millions.
Four and a half years after we started the odyssey, we now host many activities like Slow Art in 16 cities around the world, the global Darwin150 campaign and tomorrow’s Xenophon conference in New York.
Yet, there’s still nothing more important to us than encouraging adults to read at least one great book of history, philosophy, math, poetry, literature, art or science – from Homer to Joyce, from Herodotus to Darwin – written over the last 2,500 years. We are running four reading groups this fall – more than we’ve ever done at once.
Some of the questions the board will be addressing include typical questions any organization faces: how do we clearly define our purpose and our strategy? How do we know if we are on track? What’s the unmet need that we are meeting for our target audience: mainstream (i.e. non-academic) adults? What’s our model for sustaining and growing? Are there people out there who would like to be members of the Reading Odyssey? We think there are and are planning a membership campaign. We debate between micro-membership fees of $3 or $12 a year or more standard membership programs like $25 or $50.
Can we get foundation or corporate support? We do have corporate and media sponsors today who help promote us and donate service – i.e. Citrix Online donates all of our teleconferencing services. National Geographic is the media sponsor of Darwin150. We are great at getting important in-kind support but can we raise serious money? We have just finished a proposal to raise the money needed for our two-year Marathon2500 lecture series, suite of reading groups, live conference and social media campaigns – it’s the biggest thing to date that we have contemplated. What will the response be?
We care that most adults have not read a serious book since college and have not discussed science or math since high school. We think a democracy and a good economy needs citizens who can think, reflect, consider and be more creative. We think there’s a direct link between good leadership and ongoing education and reading. We also think that innovation in business, government, the arts is dependent on people having access to and understanding a wide range of the big ideas across all the disciplines.
But, even as we think these things we recognize that what we are doing is really quite simple and we should not over blow the purpose. We are reading books. We are discussing those books. We are looking at art. We are learning.
And we are having fun. I’d like to think that we are playful and serious but I’m constantly challenged to manage that balance and to communicate it to the wider public. Barry Strassler in his lecture to us in early September emphasized that he saw us as playing with ideas and that that playfulness was important.
I agree. My friend Carrie Lobman, a Rutgers Education Professor and a leading expert on play, and the work of her colleagues at the East Side Institute has certainly influenced me.
Still, even as we embrace play – and we are certainly playful in our social media campaigns – we have the problem that when many people hear we are reading Aristotle, they run the other way. Yet, they are missing the wonder and amazement of reading Aristotle 2,500 years later. How do we change that?
In an age dominated by blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook and the 15-second sound bite, we are on a lifelong odyssey to explore humanity’s greatest writing, thinking, works of art, science, math, literature, history and philosophy and hoping to make it accessible – and maybe even fun – for everyone.
What do you think about what we are doing? Give us some feedback here on the blog. The board meeting is tomorrow. I look forward to your comments.
Kickoff lecture – “World Before Darwin” video now available
Professor Mendelsohn’s wonderful kickoff lecture – “The World Before Darwin” – is now available in video archive.
To watch the lecture and hear the interaction from faculty and students at Harvard and with students, faculty and the general public around the world, click here to download the “.mov” file:
[wpvideo OicSK11i]
Thanks,
Phil
Audio recording of Professor Everett Mendelsohn’s kickoff lecture
We just finished the kickoff lecture of the Darwin150 campaign, “The World Before Darwin”, by the wonderful Professor Emeritus Everett Mendelsohn. Credited with being a cofounder of the social history of science, Professor Mendelsohn has taught and wowed students at Harvard for 50 years.
You can download the mp3 file and listen to his great lecture here:
You can sign-up for the remaining lectures in the series here:
National Geographic covers Reading Odyssey Darwin150 campaign
National Geographic just wrote a positive article about the Reading Odyssey’s Darwin150 campaign.
13. September 2009 by Arrian
Categories: Commentary, Darwin | Tags: Darwin | Comments Off on National Geographic covers Reading Odyssey Darwin150 campaign