Are you a narcissist?
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Odysseus's Story
He was very prideful in his younger years, when the fought in the Trojan War.
When he was coming home from the ten year long war, his ship and crew were thrown off course because of the wrath of Zeus and Poseidon, Greek gods.
Journey home
They fought for ten years, they might at well.
Because of this, the town asked for help from the neighboring villages. The god, Zeus, thought it was absurd that they were destroying a village for no good reason.
The god then proceeded to help the town defeat Odysseus and his crew and Zeus took them off of their course.
Don't eat the Lotus flowers! You'll get hooked!
Little did they know, these flowers were kind of like a drug. Once you eat one, you never want to leave the island.
Odysseus took his crew, kicking and screaming, back onto the boat and left.
Cyclops - Praying to his father
"Grant that Odysseus may never reach his home alive; or if he must get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men let him reach his home in another man's ship and find trouble in his house." - Homer, Page 66
Odysseus - Using the sheep to his advantage
“As he spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly, and then freed my comrades" - Homer, Page 65
Odysseus - Dragging them back to the boat
"Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches." - Homer, Page 61
Cyclops!
Odysseus and the Cyclops
When they had gotten onto this island, they had all the supplies they needed. This island was full of animals, for food, and grapes, for wine. They hit the jackpot!
Because Odysseus was a very intelligent person, he and some of his finest men went to the island of the cyclops. He was very curious and wanted to learn about them.
When they had gotten onto the other island, he found an enormous cavern, filled with wine and cheese.
They fed themselves, to their delight, until the owner of this cavern came home.
The cyclops then proceeded to eat two of Odysseus' men and had moved a boulder in front of the opening. The cyclops got up the next morning, ate two more of Odysseus' men and trapped them again, when he left.
Cunning but just a bit too prideful.
When the cyclops had passed out, Odysseus stabbed the cyclops in the eye.
The cyclops then proceeded to call out, "Help! Nobody is hurting me! Help!"
Because of this, the other cyclops had thought he either had the plague, or was insane, causing no one to help him.
Odysseus and his men grabbed onto the underside of the sheep, because the cyclops was feeling to top of the sheep just in case Odysseus and his men were riding the sheep out.
They escaped and when they had gotten back onto the boat, Odysseus called out to the cyclops and told him, his real name.
"I'm telling daddy!"
The cyclops asked his father to let Odysseus get home, but make it take very long and that he would have lots of trouble when he got home.
Don't be like Odysseus
He's had many trials and put his men through a lot.
Just because he was cunning, he thought he could get away with it. He was, "Odysseus the Great" in his mind.
Pride is a good thing, just don't let it get away from you.
Sources
"Time Trips KS2 History Workshops." Time Trips KS2 History Workshops. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
"Hellenica, Information about Greece and Cyprus, Michael Lahanas." Hellenica, Information about Greece and Cyprus, Michael Lahanas. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
"Poseidon(God of Sea)." Poseidon(God of Sea). N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.
"Making Homer's Odyssey & Greek Mythology More Accessible to More People."TellmeOmuse â Making Homer's Odyssey and Greek Mythology More Accessible. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.