The Adventures of Ulysses

by Bernard Evslin
Journal entries: You will choose four of the following questions and write an extended response to each. Choose questions you feel will make you think and allow you to write interesting answers! 1. Great leaders make good decisions, solve difficult problems, and protect those that count on them. Pretend that you are Ulysses, hero of Ithaca, Sparta, and Helen. Your crew depends on your leadership and guidance. In one paragraph, solve the problem of food versus loot. 2. Bad luck does make good stories. However, sometimes bad luck isnt really bad luck at all, but the natural consequence or reaction to some previous deed or action. Based on what you know about Ulysses, discuss whether the bad things that happen to Ulysses over the next ten years can be attributed to solely bad luck or if he is somehow responsible. 3. Ulysses had many qualities of a great leader, including motivation. What are your ideas of a good leader? 4. In taunting Polyphemus as he made his escape, it is suggested that Ulysses may have made a bad mistake. Does the fact that Ulysses possesses negative character traits make him unfit to be a leader? 5. Ulysses is clearly a bold leader, but is he too bold? How do his pride, his daring sense of adventure, and his strong will help him to be a strong leader? 6. One can only imagine how Ulysses must feel at this point. When you are a leader, you are responsible for those you lead. Pretend that you are Ulysses and in a paragraph, explain how you feel at having lost so many men. 7. Love, comfort, and safety one hand and adventure, victory, and danger on the other. Describe which you would choose and why? 8. Do you think that Ulyssess fate is connected to his previous actions. For example, Ajax claims that he was wronged by Ulysses. Do you think Ulysses could change his fate and the fate of his men if he offered to make it up to Ajax on the Island of the Dead?

9. Ulysses had to make difficult leadership decisions. Describe a difficult decision you have had to make. 10. Eurylochus made a decision that went against Ulyssess orders. Have you ever gone against someones orders. Explain. 11. Ulysses saw some things in Calyspsos log that made him proud. Pretend it is twenty years from now and you are looking back. What will you see that will make you proud? 12. Ulysses said that a limited lifetime meant that he would have no use for courage. Since you do have a limited lifetime, what are you doing now that is courageous? 13. It seems that Ulysses values chance and adventure more than he does security. What in your life, do you value? 14. What do you think it is about Poseidon that others find so unlikable? 15. One circumstance of Ulyssess escape had to do with a law of hospitality. Think about the definition of the word hospitality. Are you hospitable? Explain. 16. Explain why you think Ulysses disguised himself as a beggar instead of some other persona.