Swamps and Billy Goats

Our first Literature project for the 9th-grade year the focus topic was Empathy. The word Empathy means " the ability to understand and share feelings of another." To incorporate the STEAM curriculum we decided to make a collage, making a comparison to modern-day characters and the characters in the "Odyssey". Polyphemus is a cyclops who lives in Sicily. He lives in a cave with his billy goats and cheese, with Poseidon watching over him. We decided to make our collage based on Polyphemus’ side of the story. Instead of assuming he was a crazed monster who eats people, we thought about why he trapped Odysseus’ men and what made him into the person he has become. The Modern-Day character we compared Polyphemus to is Shrek. These two are similar because they both were outcast. In the time when Odysseus was alive, killing a cyclops was an accomplishment. No one ever considered how the cyclops felt and the same went for Shrek. Although they weren't the best looking or welcoming these two characters also had struggles of their own, such as abandonment and not being able to fit in. I believe if someone were to be placed in their shoes they understand why they act the way they act and why they don't open up to people.