The Odyssey Teaching Resources
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Of the many books I’ve taught, my favorite has to be the Odyssey. I love watching kids grimace when they read about Odysseus driving a charred stake into the cyclops’s eye. I look forward to discussing what the sirens’ song sounds like. (Is it like the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter?) I can’t get enough of the terrifying dilemma posed by the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. And, of course, I love reading the scene where a disguised Odysseus strings the bow in front of a room of astonished suitors before raining down vengeance.

In addition to being a great story, the Odyssey has some of the best activities. The following is a list of resources I’ve accumulated over the years, each of which was gifted to me by a talented teacher. Now I’m happy to pay it forward by sharing them here.

Odyssey Timeline

In this activity, students create a timeline of Odysseus’s ten-year journey home. To me it’s essential because it helps students keep track of the episodes. Plus, it’s equal parts graphic organizer, summary tool, and art project!

Handout

The-Odyssey-Timeline-Part-1-Super-ELA

Order

  1. Trojan War
  2. Cicones
  3. Lotus Eaters
  4. Cyclops
  5. Aeolus
  6. Laestrygones
  7. Circe
  8. Land of the Dead
  9. Sirens
  10. Scylla and Charybdis
  11. Helios
  12. Calypso
  13. Alcinous

Student Example

Odyssey Travel Brochures

As Odysseus travels to so many places in his journey home, it’s only appropriate that each location gets its own travel brochure!

This is a great activity after students have finished the book because it requires them to revisit the text for information while also using higher order thinking and creativity to create a new product.

Directions

BrochureInstructions

Student Examples

Odyssey Life Lessons

In this activity, students chart the life lessons taught by each significant episode in the Odyssey. They also make connections to when they’ve learned similar lessons in their own lives! Students can complete this as they read, or they can complete it after they’ve finished the story.

A word of caution for this activity: For the question that asks students when they’ve been a “Lotus Eater,” be sure to specify to them that being a Lotus Eater means being lazy and shirking responsibility. Otherwise, some students will be tempted to write answers that’ll land them in the discipline office.

Handout

TheOdysseyLessons-Super-ELA

More Odyssey Resources

Looking for culturally responsive resources for teaching the Odyssey? Check out this list of ideas from The New York Times.

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