I understood the first book of The Odyssey better than I thought I would. For the first page, getting my brain to switch Greek gods to Roman gods was confusing. I kept finding myself wondering, 'Who's Ulysses?' but then I realized that it was really Odysseus. That made the story a little bit more confusing than it could have been. I thought it was interesting that Telemachus brought the stranger in to a private room in his house and served him a good meal. When I thought about it, I realized that nowadays, we wouldn't do that.
I also thought it was interesting that Athena dressed up in a disguise to tell Telemachus where his father was instead of just telling him in person. I wonder why Telemachus didn't recognize her? I wonder if Athena has some special powers that can make her shape-shift, in a way.
Active reading really did help me better understand the story while I was reading it. I think that by stopping and reflecting more often, I discovered what I didn't understand and was able to go back and read it again. I really liked writing my thoughts in the margins, because it felt like I was able to process them better. I was able to write down my questions, and then come back and answer them later. That helped me put events together better.
I also got confused about Odysseus and Ulysses at the beginning of the story!
ReplyDeleteI got pretty confused with the name changes, especially since I didn't have that sheet with their names on it with me when I was reading it! ^_^;
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I'm pretty sure all of the gods can shapeshift to bring messages to humans.
I like how you wrote about how you thought it was weird that Telemachus invited a stranger into his house and offered them a meal. I also found it odd and a little bit creepy. I also liked how you used active reading to help you understand it better and i might use some of those ways to help me understand.
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