Poetry is difficult to teach in translation. Editions that try to preserve Homer's famous dactylic hexameter often sacrifice meaning or clarity in service of the meter. Try to choose a translation, such as the one by Robert Fagles, that preserves meter, flow, and mood, but is perhaps less faithful to the text on a word-for-word basis.
The thought questions in this lesson plan provide material and ideas that students can use to write short original essays and to develop their powers of thought. For the sake of improving the power of expression, teachers should encourage students to write on topics that have been discussed in class, this time in the more formal writing style expected in...
