Come and discover one of the world’s oldest and most exciting stories: The Odyssey.

Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ tells of how Odysseus, a survivor of the Trojan War, makes his perilous journey home. Along the way he and his soldiers encounter Cyclopes, a sorceress, fearsome sea monsters and many other challenges. At the same time, we learn of what is happening back at home on Ithaka, as Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, struggle to maintain hope and control as they are preyed upon by invaders.

While we will use extracts from Emily Wilson’s beautiful translation of ‘The Odyssey’, and I will share from some children’s books, this project is one in which we bring the story to life through oral storytelling, discussion and drama. I am not just reading to them - I tell the story in a way that shares my interpretation, and I encourage the children to create their own interpretations. 

The class can work brilliantly well on its own, but it works best if your child has already taken part in ‘The Iliad Project’ which I run. Odysseus is a character we first meet in the Iliad, and his story continues in this project.

The way in which we share and tell this tale together focuses on the excitement and drama of the events, and is a project which is designed to entertain and fascinate you. We take a unique look at the story, which brings a lot of humour out of it. We imagine Odysseus as a beleaguered comic hero, for whom one bad thing happens after another.

Like all my classes, I am to balance humour, curiosity, a brilliant social dynamic and some real intellectual rigour. 

Lesson 1 - The Journey Home Begins - Raids, Lotus-Eaters and the Cyclopes
Lesson 2 - Poor choices  - The Witch, The Pigmen and the Fury of Zeus 
Lesson 3 - Getting closer - Imprisonment, Athena and the Bravery of Telemachus
Lesson 4 - The Revenge of Wisdom -  Arrival in Ithaka, the slaying of the suitors
Lesson 5 - Slow Reflection - What can we learn from the story of Odysseus?