Ancient History
Ancient Greece Unit*
Date to begin unit ____________ Date to complete unit _____________
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History Resource Choices and Pertinent
Chapters |
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World History and Cultures, A BekaChapter
7: Greece: Home of Beauty |
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Glencoe World History, SpielvogelChapter
4: Ancient Greece |
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Western Civilization, Spielvogel Chapter
3: The Civilization of the Greeks Chapter
4: The Hellenistic World |
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Recommended Classical
Literature and Annotated Bibliography |
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The Odyssey, Homer (Stanley Lombardo, translator), 672 pages In
one of the greatest adventure stories of all time, this epic work chronicles Odysseus’s
return from the Trojan War and the adventures and challenges he endures on
his journey home. The translation is
true to the original Greek and done in verse, unlike other translations. It includes extensive notes and
introduction. Your student will feel a sense of accomplishment in reading the
complete narrative of this great work. By
its sheer narrative power, the Odyssey has won and preserved its place among
the greatest tales in the world. It
tells of Odysseus’ adventurous wanderings as he returns from the long war at
Troy to his home in the Greek island of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope and
his son Telemachus have been waiting for him for twenty years. He meets a one-eyed giant, Polyphemus the
Gyclops: he visits the underworld; he faces the terrible monsters Scylla and
Charybdis; and he extricates himself from the charms of Circe and
Calypso. After these and numerous
other legendary encounters, he finally reaches home, where, disguised as a
beggar, he begins to plan revenge on the suitors who have for years been
besieging Penelope and feasting on his own meat and wine. Parental
note: Although the overriding value
which motivated Odysseus was faithfulness to his home and family, and
although he does return home to Penelope, allusion is made to Odysseus’s
unfaithfulness with Circe.
Description of violent episodes is relatively graphic but appropriate
to the story. |
*The Ancient Greece unit is covered in weeks 17-23 of BiblioPlan for Families: Ancient History.