What Was the Historical and Cultural Backdrop of the Odyssey?
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The Odyssey WebQuest/Mini-Research Question
Directions: Using the links below, answer the questions that follow. Then, use all the research you have gathered to answer the following research question:
What was the historical and cultural backdrop of The Odyssey?
LINK 1:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/270219/Homer/11601/The- Odyssey
What is The Odyssey? LINK 2 Task 1--Who was Homer? - Use this link to complete Task 1. Read the information carefully, and write down specifics for the answers. This is your background info on Homer for our readings as well as the unit test! LINK 3 Task 2--Identifying Gods, Humans, Supernatural Beings and Locations - Use this next link to the Encyclopedia Mythica to look up and study the individuals listed on your sheet. Upon your findings, you will be a 'whopper' of a Greek Mythology scholar!! For good times, click this way... LINK 4: Explore the following link to answer the questions below: http://www.carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/home.html
1. Describe the traditions that surrounded death and burial in Ancient Greece. 2. Describe the athletes of Ancient Greece. What were athletes conditioned for? 3. Where does the term “athlete” originate? Why were the Ancient Greeks so obsessed with athletes? 4. Who often battled in Ancient Greece? What did a professor say about warfare and Ancient Greek history? 5. What types of questions did myths hope to answer? What did myths often contain? What did myths sometimes explain? Who wrote the myths? 6. What roles did the gods and goddesses serve? Why did people bring offerings to the gods and goddesses? 7. What is the root of the word “theater?” Before staged tragedies and comedies, what existed? 8. Who recorded the earliest and greatest works of ancient Greek literature? What were they called? 9. What is the name of the festival that occurred to celebrate theatre? Explain what happened during the festival.
Guidelines: Day One--- On-line research using websites provided above. Worth 100 Points. All answers should be in your own words and on a separate, lined sheet of paper. You may type if you wish. If you directly quote a source, CITE IT. Otherwise, you are plagiarizing, and will receive a zero.
Day Two--- Three paragraphs-Intro, body, conclusion answering the research question: What was the historical and cultural backdrop of The Odyssey? This should adhere to all standard conventions of language and will be graded using the standard rubric.