Lesson Details

Circe and the Underworld

2014-2015

Freshman Literature, Fall 2014

Date

Aug. 29, 2014

Additional Info
Lit. Term #8: Flat Character

A flat character is a minor character in a work of fiction who does not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Also referred to as "two-dimensional characters" or "static characters," flat characters play a supporting role to the main character.

Examples: Polyphemus, the Stingray teacher in Finding Nemo, Cinderella's evil step-mother, Lord Voldemort, Gaston, Jafar...


Allusion #8: Noah

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Noah, one of the few faithful left on earth, was told by God that all civilization would be destroyed by a flood that would last forty days and nights. Noah built an ark and populated it with two of each kind of animal. His family rode out the flood with the creatures. Most religions and cultures throughout history and around the globe have a flood story of their own, including Hindu, Babylonian, Greek, and Hittite mythologies, and Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, Incan, and Native American cultures.


Cyclops recap: What area(s) of our hero chart can we add details to?

For the beginning of our lesson today, we will watch a portion of the film that covers the Cyclops story, which we read yesterday, and the part about Aeolus, god of the winds, that is left out of our text and helps to explain how Odysseus and his men end up in the next part of the story we will read. 

Class Discussion Questions:
Like the poem about Calypso, what is different in the film version? Do you think these changes were necessary? What aspects of either Odysseus or Polyphemus does the film bring out that the text does not?

If we have time, we will start reading the section about Circe and Odysseus' journey to the land of the dead.