Book XII

1. Book XII Journal and Discussion

2. Book XII: Journal • You have 10 minutes to write about the following prompt: What defines a hero?

3. Book XII: Reader’s Guide Lines 1-170 Odysseus and his men sailed onto the island of ____________. They beached themselves there and waited for dawn. When the sun rose, Odysseus sent his _____________ to bring _______________’s body from the house of ______________. Odysseus and the others cut _____________ and built a pyre for the body. There they wept as they honored their fallen friend. __________________ came to them with handmaids bearing _______________, ________________ and _____________. She offered to sketch for them to keep them from being caught by ________________ or ________________. Humored by her offer, Odysseus and his men agreed and they feasted and drank. Kirke drew Odysseus apart and in her chamber told him of his future. Odysseus must sail by the ____________ whose beauty and singing _____________ men sailing by. He must steer ________ and stay seaward. He should plug the ________ or his oarsmen with ________________ so that none can hear the song. If he wishes to listen, Odysseus must command his men to _________ him up until the singing fades. The next obstacle will be the rocks of __________________________. These rocks are as smooth as __________. Only one person has ever made it through them. The second course lies between the _________. One is a sharp ______________. Near the mouth of the cave there is the monster, ______________. She has _______________ legs and _____________ heads that have ____________ rows of fangs. She ___________ her head to eat dolphins, dogfish or other bigger game. Every time a ship passes by her, she eats _______________ of its men. The opposite side of Scylla is the monster __________________. Three times a day she sucks water and _____________ it up, creating a _______________. If they come upon Kharybdis, no god can save them. Odysseus is upset by this news and Kirke tells him that there is no __________ either of the monsters. He should lose _____________ along the rock face, and be prepared to sacrifice _______ of his men, than all of them. Following this they will land on the island where _________’s cattle graze. These cattle are ___________. She then told them to keep their minds on ________________ and not to eat the cattle. If they do, rough years lie between him and his ____________. He will also be the only one to _________________.

4. Book XII: Reader’s Guide Lines 171-338 Then Kirke left Odysseus, and he went to ___________ his men. They set sail, letting the ___________ and steersman work the ship. Odysseus told his men that they would soon be sailing by the ____________ who sing their song over the _________. He then told his men to tie him up when they approached the island. Soon Odysseus carved a massive cake of __________ into bits and rolled them into his hands. He then laid it thick in the _________ of his crew. They then tied him up and continued to ___________. Soon two ____________ began to sing. Odysseus began to scream, “_________________!” But all of Odysseus’ men rowed on until the singing sirens dwindled away. Soon Odysseus and his men saw ______ and white water. They heard a noise that frightened them so much that they threw their _________ into the air. Odysseus walked up and down the ship giving confidence to his men, reminding them of the danger they had faced in the cave of the ________________. He told them that they must obey _____________ and allow _________ to guide them. As Odysseus sent them forward, he did not tell them about ________________. He could not see the monster of the grey rock. At the same time, Kharybdis vomited the sea, and it turned into a bubbling ______________. A shot spume shot to the landside heights, and fell like ______________. Then she ________ the sea water and created a _________ to the bottom of the sea. ______________ made her strike and ate ____________ men from the ship. Their voices called ______________’s name for the last time. Odysseus felt pitiful as he sailed past this sight.

5. Book XII: Reader’s Guide Lines 339-581 Then they coasted to the ______________ of the god, where cattle ___________. This was the island of _________________, the sun god. Odysseus told his men that they must not stop at the island of the ________ because they would only find trouble. ____________________, one of Odysseus’ men, shouted at him and told him that they were tired and hungry. Odysseus saw that the power of destiny was upon them and answered, ___________. He told them that no sheep must be ______________. None should be ______________. While they were sleeping, a storm rolled in, created by _____________. Odysseus told them that they must not eat anything from the island, they should instead use the provisions that are found in the ship’s __________. The storm continued for one _________________. In the end, hunger drove them to scour the wild _______ for _____________ and ________________ and whatever else they could find. Odysseus withdrew to the interior of the island to _____________ to the gods for salvation. Odysseus prayed to all of the gods of ________________, and they answered him with __________________. Meanwhile, on the shore, ___________________ made his plea to the men that they should find the noblest of the _____________________ and then _______________ sacrifice it to the gods of the sky. He decided to round up the ____________. The offerings were laid upon a __________ while the other parts were consumed. At that moment, Odysseus awoke and then saw what the men were doing. He was sad and cried out to _________ . Lord Helios burst out angrily to the mortals and said that he was going to __________ Odysseus’ men because they killed his ________________. Zeus told Helios that he would throw down one _________________________ and make _____________ of the ship. The storm ended and Odysseus and his men launched their ______________. When no land could be seen, _____________ threw a _______________ which all the ___________were thrown to the sea. Their bodies floated to the top of the sea and ____________ like petrels on the waves. They were all dead. Odysseus grabbed onto a piece of drift wood and straddled it ________________ out the frightful _______________. A west wind blew, and took him straight for ______________________ and _____________________deep. Odysseus clung for his life and passed them by, finally landing on ____________ Isle. The dangerous nymph ________________ lived there. She received him and loved him. Odysseus then said that he was done telling them of his tale and that he was tired.

6. Lego Break: Scarecrow The Scarecrow takes his duty of keeping birds out of the farmer’s cornfield very seriously, and he tries his hardest to frighten them off whenever he sees one fly near. He thinks he’s the spookiest thing around, since no one has ever told him that with his smiling face and button eyes, he actually doesn’t look all that scary.

Although he can’t tell through his straw-stuffed noggin, the Scarecrow’s wide-brimmed old hat has become a favorite perch for a local crow. It always politely waits until he’s not looking before it swoops down to nab a snack, so as far as he can tell, he’s doing a perfect job!

7. Book XII : Gods and Goddesses Lampetia and Phaethousa Hermes Nymph daughters of Helios Pastured the herds of Helios on Thrinakia Lampetia informed Helios that Odysseus’ men had slaughtered some of his flock Names translate roughly to Shining Most importantly, he is the messenger of the gods Known for his cunning and shrewdness Also the god of shepherds, land travel, merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves

8. Book XII: Illustrating our Hero • Illustrate one of the following scenes from Book XII • The Sirens • Skylla and Kharybdis • Helios’ Cattle • Provide 2 examples of how Odysseus was a hero during that particular situation. • At least one must be proven with a quote from Book XII. • If you would rather argue that he wasn’t acting as a hero – try me. • If time allows, we will be presenting these to the class.