And the Award for "Worst Host Ever" Goes To...

Polyphemus. The Cyclops.

The. Worst. Host.

First, students took a short quiz on the details of the story, The Cyclops. In short, he was not good to his guests.

This is a link to an explanation, and several examples, of Greek hospitality.

How can I tell? I can tell because he ate six of them. Don't even get me started on Polyphemus.

Students also engaged in an active listening activity. Specifically, they listened to the radio drama that the BBC's Radio 4 created in honor of the last Olympics to be held in Greece. We don't have time to listen to the entire production (even though it is WONDERFUL), so we listened to the part where Odysseus visits the Land of the Dead to ask a ghost for advice.

This is the sheet on which the students made notes while they listened along.

We HAD to listen to this part, because the lit. book version cuts the most heart-breakingly beautiful moment of the story*: Odysseus discovering that his mother has died.

*I recognize that this is an opinion, and not a fact.

Think you're tough? Listening didn't make you sad?

Here's the unedited/unabridged exchange between Odysseus and his mother.

He... he tries to hug her. He can't. 

This story is 3,000 years old, y'all.