The Odyssey - A One Man Show

Shipwrecks, sirens, and mythical creatures meet adventure, magic, and revenge! Acclaimed solo artist Charlie Bethel (Beowulf) re-imagines Homer's famous epic story in a faithful yet accessible format for those who slept through Greek Literature. Voyage across land and sea, through the underworld, to the top of Mt. Olympus with the brave and courageous hero, Odysseus, as he valiantly seeks his homeland and the arms of his wife and child. Don’t miss this thrilling epic adventure.

            The Return is the very last adventure in the book. Now that Ulysses has arrived he needs some help killing the hundred suitors, so he asks his son and the swineherd to help.  They trick the suitors into trying Ulysses bow that nobody else can use. Everybody fails; Ulysses shows his actual identity because he has been acting like a beggar. He fights all of the suitors until nobody is alive. The word I learned in this chapter is “exultant”; the definition is joyful. I am glad Ulysses never gives up hope because after more than seventeen adventures he is back to Ithaca and his wife Penelope. (The last of 17 paragraphs written by Samantha summarizing The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin.)

The tone is the author’s attitude towards the topic. We are reading the Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, which is based on Homer’s story, The Odyssey. The tone of Bernard Evslin’s novel is vindictive and revengeful. Poseidon is extremely vindictive in this tale. Ulysses is arrogant to Poseidon, so Poseidon wants to destroy Ulysses and his crew and make a ten day journey home, a ten year journey home with violent and malicious events. Ulysses also makes Poseidon angry because he stabs Poseidon’s son’s eye with a gargantuan wooden stick. In this story, the Greek gods and goddesses risk their property or friendship with Poseidon, and help Ulysses with either a trick or advice to aid his arrival at another destination. Poseidon would punish the gods and goddesses who would help Ulysses, but most of the gods and goddesses did not like Poseidon because of his vindictive and revengeful personality. Finally Ulysses arrives at Nausicaa’s island where her parents are the king and queen of Phaeacia. When Ulysses tells the family his name, the king gives Ulysses a ship to sail home just before Poseidon wakes up, but the punishment that the king and queen receive is that their ship is made into stone, and nobody can come into the port. Ulysses is also vengeful because he slays the hundred suitors surrounding his house. The tone of this story is vindictive and vengeful but appropriate for the warrior Ulysses returning home from the Trojan War. (Tone essay by Lauren)

Vocabulary from The Adventure of Ulysses

Lore	“Prologue”	Noun	Stories that give knowledge
Oxhide	“Ships and Men”	Noun	Ox skin
Hail	“The Ciconians”	Verb	Call attention
Gale	“The Lotus Eaters”	Noun	Strong wind or storm at sea
Fleet	“The Cyclops Cave”	Noun	The crew
Helm	“Keeper of the Winds”	Noun	Steering apparatus of the ship
Basin	“Cannibal Beach”	Noun	A bay or inlet of water
Haughty	“Circe”	Adjective	Too proud
Girdling	“The Land of the Dead”	Adverb	Encircling
Skirt	“The Wandering Rocks”	Verb	Travel on the edges
Provisions	“The Sirens”	Noun	Food and drink
Thrice	“Scylla and Charybdis”	Adverb	Three times
Dappled	“Cattle of the Sun”	Adjective	Spotted
Elysian Fields	“Calypso”	Noun	A place where Greek heroes go after they die
Meddlesome	“Ino’s Veil”	Adjective	Nosy
Flask	“Nausicaa”	Noun	Container for liquid
Exultant	“The Return”	Adjective	Joyful