Group - The Odyssey: Books 7–12

the odyssey

Books 7-12

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lesson objectives

By the end of the lesson, the student will be able to:

• Summarize key events from Books 7–12 of The Odyssey.

• Analyze how the graphic novel format (panels, color, character expressions) helps communicate character and conflict.

• Identify examples of temptation, leadership, and consequences in Odysseus’s journey.

Warm Up

Temptation often causes problems in stories.

• What is a temptation that might distract someone from their responsibilities?

• Why do people sometimes give in to temptation even when they know it’s a bad idea?

what happened in books 7-12

• Book 7 – King Alcinous: Odysseus arrives at the palace of the Phaeacians, where Athena (disguised as a young girl) guides him. He appeals to Queen Arete and King Alcinous for help, and they welcome him as their guest.

• Book 8 – Games: The Phaeacians hold athletic contests in Odysseus's honor. When they challenge him and one athlete mocks him, Odysseus proves his strength by out-throwing them all. The bard Demodocus performs songs of the Trojan War, moving Odysseus to tears and revealing his true identity.
• Book 9 – The Cyclops: Odysseus begins recounting his long journey. He describes the raid on the Cicones, the land of the Lotus-Eaters, and most memorably, the encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus — son of Poseidon — whom Odysseus blinds after getting him drunk and escaping by hiding under sheep. By taunting the Cyclops with his real name as they flee, Odysseus triggers Poseidon's lasting wrath.

what happened in books 7-12

• Book 10 – Circe: Odysseus tells of landing on the island of the wind god Aeolus, then suffering further setbacks at sea. He then reaches the island of the witch Circe, who turns his men into pigs. With Hermes's help and a protective herb, Odysseus resists her magic, frees his crew, and spends a year on her island before she directs him to visit the Underworld.
• Book 11 – The Land of the Dead: Odysseus travels to the realm of the dead, where he speaks with the ghosts of the prophet Tiresias (who warns him of dangers ahead), his deceased mother Anticlea, and fallen heroes including Achilles and Agamemnon.
• Book 12 – Scylla and Charybdis: Warned by Circe, Odysseus navigates past the Sirens (lashed to the mast so he alone can hear their deadly song), then through the narrow strait between the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Despite his warnings, his crew slaughters the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios. Zeus punishes them with a storm that destroys the ship and kills all of Odysseus's men, leaving him alone, clinging to wreckage, until he washes ashore on Calypso's island.

• These six books form the heart of Odysseus's adventures, told largely as a flashback while he is a guest of the Phaeacians.

how to read a graphic novel: a Refresher

Nausicaa Helps Odysseus (Book 7)

Key Panel: Odysseus approaching Nausicaa after washing up on shore. Discussion:

• How does the artwork show Odysseus’s vulnerability?
• Why does Nausicaa decide to help him?

The Lotus-Eaters (Book 9)

Key Panel: Sailors eating the lotus and appearing dreamy or detached. Discussion:

• How does the artwork show the crew forgetting their mission?
• Why does Odysseus force them back onto the ship?

The Cyclops (Book 9)

Key Panel: Polyphemus blocking the cave with the giant rock. Discussion:

• How does the panel emphasize danger and scale?
• What mistake did Odysseus make by entering the cave?

The Cyclops (Book 9)

Key Panel: Odysseus revealing his name. Discussion:

• Why is this a moment of pride (hubris)?

The Bag of Winds (Book 10)

Key Panel: Sailors opening the bag while Odysseus sleeps. Discussion:

• Why do the sailors open the bag?
• What does this reveal about trust and leadership?

Scylla and Charybdis (Book 12)

Key Panel: The ship passing between the monster and whirlpool. Discussion:

• How does the artwork create chaos and tension?
• Why does Odysseus choose the less dangerous option?

breakout rooms (20 minutes)

Room #1: Epic Challenges Timeline – 5–6 minutes Create a quick timeline of 3 major events from Books 7–12. Choose from:

• Arrival in Phaeacia (King Alcinous & Queen Arete)
• The Cicones
• The Lotus-Eaters
• The Cyclops (Polyphemus)
• Aeolus and the bag of winds
• The Laestrygonians
• Circe

👉 For each event, write:

• What happened (1 sentence)
• Whether it helped or hurt Odysseus’s journey

breakout rooms (20 minutes)

Room #2: Leadership Under Pressure – 5–6 minutes Discuss Odysseus as a leader:

• What is one good decision he makes?
• What is one poor decision he makes?
• How do these choices affect his crew?

👉 Use specific evidence from the graphic novel (dialogue, images, actions)

breakout rooms (20 minutes)

Room #3: Theme in Action – 4–5 minutes Choose ONE theme:

• Temptation
• Consequences of pride
• Survival
• Loyalty vs. selfishness

Discuss:

• How is this theme shown in at least one episode?
• What message is the story sending?

👉 Write:

• A theme statement (1 sentence)
• 1–2 examples from the text/visuals

Quick Reflection Discussion Choose one to answer!

Which happened because of the crew’s mistake?

Which monster or challenge was the most dangerous?

Which problem happened because of Odysseus’s decision?

Do you think Odysseus is a perfect hero or a flawed hero?

homework

Odyssey Scene Reflection (1 paragraph)Choose one event from Books 7–12 and write a paragraph explaining:

• What happens in the scene

• How the artwork helps tell the story

• One theme shown in the scene (temptation, pride, leadership, consequences)

Reading Questions Books 7-12

exit ticket

• Name one mistake Odysseus makes in Books 7–12.
• Name one smart decision he makes.

• Which scene was the most powerful visually, and why?

Read books13-18

The Lotus-EatersAfter barely escaping the brutal raid on the Cicones, Odysseus and his crew land on the strange shore of the Lotus-Eaters, hoping for rest and relief. But when a few men venture inland and taste the island's sweet lotus flower, something far more dangerous than any enemy awaits them — they simply forget. Forget the war, forget the ship, forget home. Hinds captures the eerie stillness of this moment, the sailors' glazed expressions and heavy-lidded eyes telling the story without a single word. There is no monster to fight here, no storm to survive — just the terrifying seduction of giving up. Odysseus must drag his own men back to the ship by force, a grim reminder that the greatest threat to their journey home may be the loss of the will to make it.

The Cyclops What begins as curiosity quickly turns to catastrophe when Odysseus leads his men into the massive cave of Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon. With a single heave of an enormous boulder, the Cyclops seals the cave entrance shut, trapping the crew inside like livestock — because to him, that is exactly what they are. Hinds renders the sheer scale of Polyphemus with brutal effectiveness, the towering rock slamming into place with a finality that makes escape seem utterly impossible. One by one, the giant begins devouring Odysseus's men, and for the first time in the epic, Odysseus cannot think or fight his way out — at least not yet. This chilling panel is a masterclass in helplessness, setting the stage for one of the most cunning and desperate escapes in all of literature.

The Bag of Winds After the nightmare of the Cyclops, a rare stroke of luck finds Odysseus on the floating island of Aeolus, god of the winds, who gifts him an extraordinary treasure — all the destructive winds of the world tied up tight in a single bag, with only a gentle westerly left free to carry them straight home to Ithaca. For nine days and nine nights Odysseus steers without rest, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the bag and his eyes fixed on the horizon. Home is so close he can almost see it. But exhaustion finally wins, and the moment he closes his eyes, his suspicious crew makes their fatal move. Convinced the bag holds gold and treasure Odysseus has been hiding from them, they untie it. Hinds captures the terrible irony of this moment — the quiet, almost casual curiosity on the sailors' faces as they pull at the knot, completely unaware that they are about to undo everything. The winds explode outward in a violent rush, hurling the ships back across the sea all the way to where they started. Ithaca disappears from view. The price of mistrust and greed is paid in full, and the long journey must begin all over again.

Having outwitted Polyphemus with a false name and blinded him with a sharpened stake, Odysseus and his surviving crew make their desperate escape — clinging to the bellies of sheep as they slip past the blinded giant and back to their ship. They are free. They are safe. And then Odysseus cannot help himself. As the ships pull away from shore, consumed by pride and fury, he calls back across the water and reveals his true name — Odysseus, son of Laertes, of Ithaca. It is a moment of pure, self-destructive triumph. Hinds frames it as both thrilling and devastating, the hero standing tall at the bow while his terrified crew begs him to stop. But the damage is done. Polyphemus, now knowing the name of his tormentor, calls out to his father Poseidon to curse Odysseus's journey home. In one breathless, boastful moment, the victory is poisoned — and the long road to Ithaca grows immeasurably longer.

Nausicaa Helps Odysseus Battered by the sea and stripped of everything, Odysseus crawls ashore on the island of Scheria — exhausted, alone, and barely recognizable as the great hero he once was. When the young Phaeacian princess Nausicaa encounters him on the beach, she could have fled in fear. Instead, she shows remarkable courage and compassion, offering him clothing, food, and guidance to her father's palace. In this quiet but powerful moment, Hinds captures the contrast between Odysseus at his most vulnerable and the kindness of a stranger who sets his journey home back in motion.

Tip:

Interactivity is the key piece to capturing the interest and attention of your audience.A genially is interactive because your audience explores and engages with it.

There is no good choice here — only the lesser of two horrors. Forewarned by Circe, Odysseus steers his ship into the narrow strait where the six-headed monster Scylla clings to her rocky cliff on one side, and the churning, ship-swallowing whirlpool Charybdis roars on the other. To veer too far in either direction means total destruction. Hinds makes the suffocating dread of this passage visceral, the ship dwarfed between two impossible forces of nature closing in from both sides. Odysseus says nothing to his crew about Scylla, knowing the truth would paralyze them. And just as Circe predicted, six of his men are snatched screaming from the deck — one for each of Scylla's snapping heads — as the rest row desperately forward. It is perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the entire journey, a captain forced to sacrifice his own men to save the rest, staring straight ahead as their cries fade behind him. Survival here is not a victory. It is simply the bitter cost of moving forward.