"Homeric Odyssey and the Cultivation of Justice" is an online lecture and discussion series organized and led by Professor Gregory Nagy, Chair of the Department of Classics at Harvard University. It places a special emphasis on the heroic search for the goal of social justice. The series is now over, but you can access the readings, lecture notes, discussion questions, oral poetry notes, links, and video. You might want to view the RealVideo of Greg Nagy's introductory lecture: The King in the Garden -- Symbol of the Cult Hero. Here are the other video lectures at the site: Lecture II: Odysseus As an Alternative Type of Hero Lecture III: The Homeric Concepts of Heroic noos ('mind') and nostos ('return') in the Odyssey Lecture IV: The Ship of State: The Odyssey as a Metaphor for Governing the Polis Lecture V: The ainos as Key to Heroic Identity. Lecture VI: Champions of dikê (justice) They will run on Real player.

Classroom technology tutorials & projects that foster student creativity & empowerment.

Homer's Odyssey There are several helpful teaching materials available from this UPenn Mythology course site: The Help Pages contains a chart of Greek and Roman Divinities, a 40 Day Chronology chart, and Odyssey FAQs (with a genealogy chart). Unit 3 contains a pronunciation guide for the main characters, suitors, gods, races, kings, queens, nymphs, places, and monsters. (The Pronunciation Guide requires either WindowsMedia Player or RealPlayer; you have both on your machine. Unit 4.) There also summaries and essays.

General Research:

Classical Greece, 300-323BCE Provides a brief but informative introduction to Classical Greece as well as an overview of Age of Pericles.

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization Has a great annotated list of Ancient Greece sites organized by category.

Ancient Greece This site provides links and information on ancient Greek history, mythology, architecture, art, and more. The link leads to information on Classical Greece.

"trial of Creon" resources:

An introduction to the Athenian Legal System Sections include Summons, Arrest, & Investigation, Preliminary Procedure, Courtroom Procedure, and Judgement & Punishment.

The Athenian Court and the American Court System Helpful comparison of the two systems

Pericles Funeral Oration It is considered a classic statement of ancient Athenian ideology and values.

Crime and Punishment at Olympia and Delphi. A student paper looks at the development of Greek law, sacrilege, political crimes, theft, corruption, and punishment.

Aristotle: On a Good Wife, from Oikonomikos, c. 330 BCE

The Persian Wars Like the Trojan War, the Persian Wars were a defining moment in Greek history.

vocab list for Odyssey vocabulary game

More of The Odyssey vocabulary winnow - vb. to sort laurels - n. honors, accolades, symbols of distinction inept - adj. lacking grace, unskilled staunch - adj. faithful, devoted, adhering to deft - adj. dexterous, adroit, skilled

scourge - n. plague ambiguous - adj. equivocal, unclear, questionable obdurate - adj. rigid, obstinate, inflexible recoil - vb. to draw back, usually in fear, wince, reel back consummate - adj. perfected, accomplished

fetid - adj. having an unpleasant smell, malodorous pliant - adj. malleable, supple sardonic - adj. bitter, derisive solace - n. comfort dearth - n. lack, insufficiency

 

dauntless - adj. brave, fearless, not intimidated brusque - adj. rude, blunt, abrupt amok - adj. in an undisciplined manner malign - vb. to speak evil of dour - adj. forbidding in action or appearance, grim, cold

You can find dozens of essays and articles on The Odyssey in InfoTrac. (See a few citations below.) I used Infotrac's PowerSearch and opted to search all their databases, but Expanded Academic ASAP and Student Edition databases were the most helpful. Note that materials from the Expanded Academic database are typically scholarly works while materials in the Student Edition database are more accessible to High School students. Some examples:

FRANK, BERNHARD. "Homer's ODYSSEY.(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)." The Explicator 58.4 (Summer 2000): 179. Student Edition. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Beck, Deborah. "Odysseus: narrator, storyteller, poet?." Classical Philology 100.3 (July 2005): 213(15). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

COMAN, B.J. "READING THE ODYSSEY." Quadrant (July 2001): 70. Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Rutherford, Richard B. "The Odyssey.(New Surveys in the Classics No. 26: Homer)." Greece & Rome 43.n1 (April 1996): S58(24). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Rutherford, Richard B. "Some memorable scenes.(New Surveys in the Classics No. 26: Homer)." Greece & Rome 43.n1 (April 1996): S82(23). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Moore, John Rees. "Voyaging with Odysseus: The Wile and Resilience of Virtue.(Critical Essay)." Humanitas 13.1 (Spring 2000): 103. Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Lothrop, Patricia D. "Johnson, Claudia Durst & Vernon Johnson. Understanding The Odyssey: a Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents.(A Companion to Homer's Odyssey)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)(Brief Article)." School Library Journal 49.12 (Dec 2003): 96(1). Student Edition. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Dalby, Andrew. "The 'Iliad,' the 'Odyssey' and their audiences." The Classical Quarterly 45.n2 (July-Dec 1995): 269(11). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Newton, Rick M. "Cloak and shield in 'Odyssey' 14." The Classical Journal 93.n2 (Dec 1997): 143(14). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

Scodel, Ruth. "The removal of the arms, the recognition with Laertes, and narrative tension in the 'Odyssey.'." Classical Philology 93.n1 (Jan 1998): 1(17). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Noble and Greenough School. 08 January 2006

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