Just can't get my head around revising the Odyssey

My Classical Civ AS exam is growing ever closer, and I'm doing reasonably well on most of the texts except for the epic we're doing, the Odyssey. Apparently our set books are 5, 6, 7 and 17 but we seem to be expected to know the whole text, plus quotes and what happens in which book number.

I'm finding this really hard. I'm just not sure how to deal with a text of this size, and the majority of the class read it in the post-GCSE summer (I was transferred to Classics, my second choice, after the summer - I couldn't be accommodated in my original subject choice, so I've had to read through it on top of the other set texts this year) so I'm not being given much help. I just don't know what's important and what's not within the epic. How much do they expect you to quote? Do I need to know the exact order of events, and am I expected to know the narrative of entire books or just episodes within them (for example, the Cyclops episode rather than the whole of the book it's contained in)?

Any help on this would be much appreciated, plus views on how you dealt with the text yourself. Sorry if this is all a bit vague...I'm just finding this text very tough.

Thanks.

-Emma

Reply 1

nuttymimi

when I was revising the odyssey last year, I went through the set books quite thoroughly and in great a lot of detail - I highlighted important bits/descriptions and wrote out the series of events in order on just a scrap of paper. I then just sort of skimmed through the rest of the books in the epic and backed up knowledge by reading summaries. I also found it useful to make a few character summaries - particularly for the main characters and those that come up in the set books.
Make sure you have a few descriptions about odysseus you could through, eg. 'stalwart Odysseus' or similies, eg. 'like the suckers of a squid' (bk. 5 where Od's hand is ripped away from rock in ocean during huge wave). If you can get some things like that in it should impress the examiners and make them think you know it! I would say details are the most important in the exam, but knowing the order of events is also pretty useful, particularly when it comes to the conext question as it will mean you can explain the situation in a lot of detail and probably be able to say how the situation came to occur - the events that led up to it.
Goodluck!

Reply 2

Feefifofum

With a work as long as the Odyssey, knowing it inside out is never going to be easy. The most important thing is not to be daunted by the scale of the work - just take it slowly but surely.

Why not start by writing a summary of what happens in each of the books you've been set, and read those books thoroughly until you know them well. Make notes on order or events, as well as the content. Look for any quotes that might help you with essays, and learn those off by heart. Then why not read more widely - I haven't done Class Civ, just Latin and Greek, so I don't know how much detail you need to know about the rest of the work. However, it would seem common sense to read through the whole of the rest of the poem, then go back through and note down important events and where they happen.
Hope this helps.

Reply 3

Satine

Thank you both so much! This makes it seem almost do-able...just as soon as I've finished my English coursework I'll be going on to this.

Reply 4

Twiglet

at least you dont have to be able to translate it :frown:

I'm doing A2 greek and I dont think I'll every be able to learn it all !

Reply 5

kawaii

which exam board are you on? i'm doing aqa classics and there are 13 books we need to know: 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 19 21 22 and 23
x

Reply 6

lottie123

I actually don't think it's necessary to know quotations and you're just making yourself a lot of extra work. I got almost full marks on my AS epic and tragedy papers last year without including a single quotation (apart from when referencing to the passages in the context questions)
I find the easiest and most efficient way to revise is read, read, read whether it be the actual text, summaries of the books, critical analysis etc. Make notes on different themes such as The Suitors, Women, Odysseus as a good hero/leader, Journies, Xenia, Piety etc etc. Good luck :smile: