The freshmen in Cathrine Caudle’s English Honors class have been reading and discussing The Odyssey by Homer. The Greek poem is about the brave soul Odysseus and his journey home after the Trojan war. Students in Caudle’s class have been analyzing the true meaning of the adventurous tale as they delve into its context. 

In order to understand the context of the story, students worked on several projects, such as an in-depth look into Greek myths and gods and what lessons they teach along the way. They learned of the failures of Odysseus and what it really means to be human. Caudle’s class began a PowerPoint project to understand complex Greek stories and myths.   In class, the students annotated and converted old terms into modern English. 

“Something that has helped me understand the story and its context is highlighting the name of places so I can remember where they are better,” freshman Trinity Buttice said. “There are definitely lessons in The Odyssey that relate to modern day. “Many students have found that it is surprising to see how it can relate to modern times. Although the fantasies are unrealistic, the morals of deception, choices and responsibility all come into account in modern day society. In class, they covered the differences between today’s social values compared to back in ancient Greece.

“It has been interesting learning about ancient beliefs because they are so different yet the same from today’s beliefs and morals,” Buttice said.  “Some of these lessons are self control and peace.”