1. A Quick Set Up

2. How Long Has It Been? Trojan War lasted 10 years The Odyssey begins 10 years after the END of the Trojan War Total years? It’s been 20 years since Odysseus has been home.

3. Odysseus’s Family Home is in Ithaca Wife is Penelope Son was a baby when he left Son is now a man. How old? Son’s name is Telemachus

4. What’s Been Happening At home? Ithaca men believe Odysseus is dead They all want to marry Penelope Over the years, these “suitors” move in They trash the house and resources Penelope and Telemachus are saddened

5. What About Odysseus? Lost at sea Can’t stay on course Waters toss him from island to island Each island is an adventure In the story, each adventure is a chapter, called “books” (24 of them) The Odyssey is about Odysseus’s many adventures home.

6. The Gods Intervene The Gods look down from Mount Olympus Athena draws their attention to Odysseus and his crumbling home of Ithaca Zeus permits her to go down and assist both men: 1. Telemachus find his father 2. Odysseus find his way home

7. What You Won’t Read… Textbook watered down (only 14 “books”) …Telemachus going to Greek war lords who DID make it home “Can you tell me what happened to my father?” …War lords’ adventures in Trojan War