Activity Overview
Creating a setting map allows students to document Odysseus’s journey.
In the storyboard, each setting should be visually represented, along with a description of the scene. Details, characters, and textual evidence can be added to reinforce the setting.
In the example below, the story begins with Odysseus at his home in Ithaca.
Ithaca
- Odysseus is forced to leave his family and go to war with the other Greeks against Troy.
Island of Lotus Eaters
- Driven off course by storms, Odysseus landed on the island of the Lotus Eaters. There his men ate lotuses that made them forgetful.
Island of Cyclops
- After freeing his crew, Odysseus stopped on an island of Cyclopes. He and his men were captured by Polyphemus, the son Poseidon. To escape Odysseus and his men blinded the Cyclops. As they sail away, Polyphemus asks his father to curse Odysseus so he may never return home.
Palace of Aeolus
- Next, Odysseus went to the island of Aeolus, who gave Odysseus a bag of wind, to help them return home. As they reached Ithaca, the greedy sailors opened the bag, thinking it was gold, and blew them back to Aeolus. At this point, Aeolus believed Odysseus was cursed, and refused to help him further.