Title of the resource
Title of the resource in english
Publisher
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
According to the publisher, “The webpage for the Curricular Resources of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute allows users to search for thousands of curriculum units in STEM and the humanities. These units were written by Institute Fellows in local seminars in New Haven led by Yale University faculty members between 1978, the year the Institute was founded, and 2019. These units are readily adaptable for use throughout pre-college grades.
Users can browse and search for these units using keywords, our topical index, and our listings of units by year and by volume. The topical index might be especially useful to audiences of your project interested in curriculum units about mythology, Ancient Greece, and other subjects related to Antiquity.”
URL: https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/
For similar content, see also the Yale National Initiative
URL: https://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/search/start
Links accessed on 10 September, 2020
Original language
Target and Age Group
High school (intermediate-advanced level English class)
Link to resource
Accessed on 10 September, 2020
Author of the Entry:
Ayelet Peer, Bar- Ilan University, ayelet.peer@biu.ac.il
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Second Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
Anna K. Baker
Anna K. Baker is part of a group of seventy-nine teachers from New Haven, who organised seminars on topics related to curriculum developments between March and August 1983, including one on The seminar entitled “Greek and Roman Mythology”, led by William G. Thalmann, Associate Professor of Classics from USC”.
Contents & Purpose
The purpose of this resource is for the teachers to use the epic poem as a tool to help the students in their own self-discovery and path to adulthood. The complexity of the Odyssey is meant to mirror challenges within the students’ own lives, as well as making them more familiar with a literary masterpiece. As the creator writes: “Students can be asked to see in the experience of Odysseus, the archetypal traveler, and his son Telemachus, a vision of their own search for identity.” The characters of Penelope and Nausicaa will be examined as female counterparts (although they are not travelers).
The unit offers several themes for discussion, pertaining to the main objective of self-discovery: themes of maturation, initiation, and identity in the Odyssey. The students are encourages to examine the maturation of the young characters of Telemachus and Nausicaa, who grow up in the course of the poem.
The main activities are a close reading of the Odyssey and in class discussion of the various themes. Additional activities include writing assignments (as part of the students’ self-reflection and writing their own lives as an Odyssey), drawings of scenes form the poem, a field trip to Yale Art Gallery
The unit also offers bibliography for teachers and students.
Further comments
This resource focuses on the similarities between the ideas expressed in the poem and the students’ own world. While the students also learn about the mythological persons and context, the heart of these lessons is to help the students learn how to choose wisely in their own lives, using the myth as a guide. The ultimate purpose of the unit is not just the understanding of an ancient canonical myth, but guiding the students to be better people and learn how to approach challenges wisely in a conflict-ridden environment. Furthermore, via the epic the students are encouraged to search and examine for their own identity and wishes, while moving from childhood to adulthood.
Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ different quests in the poem are compared to the students own growing up “odyssey”, hence the poem is perceived as a timeless literary piece which is not bound by its ancient setting but can and should guide students in their everyday struggles.
