The if Odyssey

A Philosophical Journey Through Greek Myth and Storytelling for 8 - 16-Year-Olds 

The If Odyssey draws out the philosophy that lies behind each story in Homer's epic tale to introduce children not only to the exciting fables of Odysseus, but also to that other great Ancient Greek tradition, philosophy.

Explore with Odysseus the value of happiness, non-existent entities, moral dilemmas, the philosophy of prophecy, and the nature of love among many other philosophical issues.

From the author of The If Machine, this book offers stories and session plans suitable for use across the curriculum with children aged 8-16. Online you'll find maps of Odysseus' journey, The Words of Tiresias that provides clues for the children as to Odysseus' progress and an Ancient Greek language workshop with accompanying worksheets. You can use the 'Storykit' section, which provides hints and tips on storytelling skills, to bring the tales of The Odyssey to life and stimulate independent, critical thinking with your class. 

Section One: Classroom Techniques for The If Odyssey

• Ariadne: The Art of Facilitation
• Aoidos: The Lost Art of Storytelling
• Logos: Teaching Strategies for Developing Reasoning

Section Two: The Odyssey 

1. The War (The Wooden Horse)  2. The Battle (The Ciconians) 3. Happiness and Forgetting (The Lotus Eaters)  4. Nobody's Home (The Cyclops) 5. Captain or Crew? (Aeolus and the Bag of Winds)  6. Dinner Guests (The Laestrygonians)  7. Choices (Circe and the Pig Men) 8. Under the World (Tiresias and the Underworld) Chapter 9. The Singing Women (The Sirens)  10. The Horror of The Rocks (Scylla and Charybdis)  11. Clouded (The Cattle of Helios) 12. The Concealer (The Island of Kalypso) 13. The Storyteller (The Phaeacians) 14. The Stranger (The Return Home) 

Section Three: After The Odyssey

• Appendix 1: The Hero
• Appendix 2: Introduction to Ancient Greek
• Appendix 3: Ancient Greek Workshop
• Appendix 4: Winged Words (Oidipus and The Riddle of The Sphinx) 

 The Philosophy Foundation

Peter Worley

Peter Worley is founder and CEO of The Philosophy Foundation (www.philosophy-foundation.org), a charity that specialises in philosophy in primary and secondary schools, based in the UK. Peter has over 15 years' experience in teaching and regularly gives talks and presentations about philosophy in schools. He is a Fellow of the RSA and is currently studying for a PhD at King's College London, UK.