What’s Inside?
Article: Reading The Odyssey Has the Feeling of a Socratic Seminar
Developing Better Thinkers Through Writing
Teacher Stories
Poetry
Reading The Odyssey Has the Feeling of a Socratic Seminar
I am not a gods and superpowers kind of gal, so when I began reading The Odyssey recently, I had no idea that I was in for such a treat! Not being trained as a literature teacher, I have done my due diligence in preparing to teach The Odyssey. Literature teachers have offered advice and materials, and I have watched hours of lectures by terrific professors in order to gain as much insight and direction before teaching The Odyssey for the first time. Armed with good insights and old-fashioned pluck, I plunged into the unknown head first and pulled my ninth grade guinea pigs in with me.
As we read The Odyssey, it appears that Homer is holding a Socratic seminar with us. That might sound anachronistic, but the poem puts words together in distinct ways that causes readers to pause and say “huh?” As a class, we have learned that when we find those “huh?” phrases, Homer is asking us a question. “Why did I put those words together like that there?” Homer invites us to ask questions that he does not specifically place in the text, but which he elicits from us. How fascinating!
Recognizing that we have not stumbled onto something remarkable for those familiar with The Odyssey, I will say that we are having a really good time discussing the story. One student will say, “I found that to be a curious statement,” and another will say, “I saw that, too, and it made me wonder why he put that there.” We find ourselves wanting to talk out loud with each other so we can voice our thoughts and gain insights we had not previously considered. As we wonder and talk together, our time together takes on the feeling of a dinner table conversation. Underneath it all, there is a penetrating human element that brings us into the story as though we were living it fully, and the story is teaching us to consider what kind of people we want to be.
For example, in Book 3, Telemachus travels to Pylos to visit Nestor, an old friend of Odysseus. His goal is to find out whether or not Odysseus is alive. Nestor’s conversation with Telemachus and the hospitality Nestor offers Telemachus takes up most of the book. On the surface, the book appears to advance the story while offering a good example of the importance in Greek culture of hospitality, or xenia, as I have learned to call it. But in Book 3, several nuanced phrases cause the reader to wonder why they were written into the story? For example, if Nestor heard about the suitors eating Telemachus and Penelope out of house and home while Odysseus was presumed lost or dead, then why did he not come to help? If Nestor does not know what happened to Odysseus, then why did Athena direct and accompany Telemachus to Pylos in the first place. Athena knows Odysseus is alive and soon to be released from his island prison, so why waste time visiting his father’s good friend who has no helpful knowledge? Why does a chunk of the book focus on Nestor’s xenia towards Telemachus? When you get to the end of the book with some “huh?” phrases and no real conclusions, you begin to think that there must be something more – that gaining knowledge of Odysseus’s fate was not the point even though it seemed that was the purpose of Book 3 at the outset.
We read in Book 4 that Telemachus visits Menelaus in Sparta and we notice that he is carrying himself differently. Instead of walking behind Athena and worrying about actually speaking to Menelaus as he behaved when visiting Nestor in Book 3, Telemachus walks side by side with Nestor’s son as they approach Menelaus’ house and he expresses no concern about meeting him. Telemachus experiences true xenia again at Menelaus’ house and his experience there encourages him to get home so he can clean out his house of suitors who do not respect xenia and behave as incredibly poor guests. Telemachus appears to be growing into manhood as he learns important principles of leadership from his father’s good friends. One curious thing that Telemachus said a few times in Book 3 was that he wanted Nestor to tell him the entire truth, which came across as a sign of maturity, but also as a plea that he not be treated as an immature adult who cannot handle the truth. In Book 4, Telemachus asks Menelaus to tell him the entire truth as he asked Nestor, but not as many times. We wonder why? Could it be that his experience being treated like the son of a king has emboldened him to become the man he is supposed to be and he can now handle unpleasant truths? What will he do with the knowledge that Odysseus is alive? Will he continue to grow personally or will he rest on his laurels? We will find out:)
In class, we concluded that the purpose of the visit to Pylos and Sparta was that Telemachus needed to experience Nestor and Menelaus treating him as the son of a king that he was. Telemachus needed to get outside his world of Ithaca where he was the impotent heir to the throne to see himself as others saw him and to be treated as an heir to the throne of Ithaca, to gain some self-respect, and recognize his place in the world as the son of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. Nestor and Menelaus treat Telemachus as they see him, the son of a king, not as Telemachus sees himself, as a weak man who is confounded about what to do with the suitors eating him out of house and home and threatening his mother’s determination to remain faithful to her husband. Nestor and Menelaus act as kind fathers to Telemachus, like the one he has never known and only heard about. Both offer fatherly encouragement and advice and send Telemachus on his way. Their treatment of Telemachus helps to bring about a heart change in him, we hope. (We haven’t finished the book yet:)
Telemachus is on a journey of self-development where he is learning to assert himself as a man and as a leader. Was this a part of Athena’s plan all along? Could she have known that Nestor had no knowledge of Odysseus’s whereabouts? We decided that she could not necessarily have known what Nestor knew, but she did know what Nestor would do for Telemachus. Then we wondered, was it important that Telemachus meet with Nestor first, where he gained no useful knowledge of Odysseus, and then visit Menelaus second where he found out that Odysseus was alive? If he had visited Menelaus first, would things have turned out differently or was the decision to visit Pylos first just a geographic decision that had a fortunate outcome? After pondering these questions, something becomes familiar. Does not our own Heavenly Father send us on similar journeys so that we can mature and grow as people and in our faith in Him? Yes, He does.
The Lord leads us through processes of self-development where the end result is not the purpose — the journey is. In addition, He places people that we need to teach us truth in our lives at the moment we need them the most. Thinking about the purpose of Athena leading Telemachus to visit Nestor and Menelaus, I think many of us can attest to times in our lives when we were in humbling or extremely uncomfortable circumstances, and someone emerges from outside those circumstances, who knows us or seems to understand our situation and they treat us with respect and offer us encouraging words that inspire us deep in our soul. They provide us with comfort so that we can forget about our situation for a while and rest. We find renewed strength being with them and we change in our hearts as we decide that we do not want to allow our circumstances to define who we are. These people, by treating us kindly, empower us to be the people we are deep down inside. The Lord uses them to teach us to think correctly about who we are and what our purpose is.
In addition, the Lord tells us regularly in His Word how we ought to think of ourselves. He tells us that we are sons and daughters of the Most High God. He calls us co-heirs with Christ and says that we are sitting with Him in the heavenly realms. In His Word, he tells us that we are his children and that we are in Christ — that we are no lowly sinners, but saints. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom 8:1 He calls us to see ourselves as He sees us, He treats us with fatherly kindness, and He sends us on journeys that help us mature and develop so that we can be who we are and do the work He has set out for us to do.
And how did we come to correlate Telemachus’ experience in The Odyssey to our own lives as Christians, strangers and sojourners on earth? Because Homer questioned us. We are continuing our journey through The Odyssey, and I hope it turns out better than expected, but if this was all we learn from it, then we have been richly blessed. Thank you, Homer.
Developing Better Thinkers Through Writing
“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” Abraham Lincoln
Define the key terms using Webster’s 1828 online dictionary :
a. grow — To advance; to improve; to make progress; a passing from one state to another, and from greater to less.
Rewrite the quote using the definition.
Answer the following questions:
What does the quote mean in terms of personal development?
What warning is Lincoln offering to young people?
Teacher Stories
Recently, a 7th grade student came up to me and apologized for rolling his eyes at me during class. Considering that sunlight shines through a window behind this student in class, I could not have seen his eye rolling even if I were looking for it, but I did not tell him that. I accepted the student’s apology and then he said something very encouraging for both of us. He told me that he understood that I was holding him and his classmates to a higher standard of behavior and habits and that he thought it was good for them. Thank you, Lord:)
One year, I had to accompany my 10th graders to take their class picture. We met the other half of the 10th grade in the lobby of the school. The photographer had been taking pictures all day and she seemed a bit frazzled. Once the students were put into their places, she told them to say, “Cheese” and they made the most ridiculous looking faces. It was unexpected and hysterical! The other 10th grade teacher and I busted out laughing. To our surprise, the photographer got quite angry and she threatened to take us, not the students, but me and my colleague, to the principal’s office right then and there to tell him that we were being uncooperative and encouraging the students to misbehave. Her words shocked us and we stood there staring at each other for a few moments. We assured her that we had no idea they had planned to make goofy faces. After a minute of walking around hemming and hawing, she told the kids to sit up straight and she took a picture of them and they cooperated. I found it interesting that despite her anger, she sent the goofy picture to the school along with the sensible one. We all had a good laugh once again and I think, I hope, the photographer did as well:)
Thimbleberry
One taste
and the rest
is what came after.
Little berry,
you’re the flavor
of my best,
most necessary
kiss. Fit
for a tongue tip,
exactly.
You were nothing
until I picked
you once.
How long
do we willingly
live without?
How hungry
would I be if
I’d kept walking?