Nostos: the shape of a homecoming
The Odyssey is not a travel diary — it is a poem about a man trying to get home, and it begins, cleverly, almost at the end. The structure is the first thing to understand.
Part of your national curriculum
- Reading: Study setting, plot and characterisation, and the effects of these on the reader
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Study setting, plot and characterisation, and the effects of these on the reader
Key learning points
- • In medias res
- • Tests and the meaning of home
- • Penelope and the household
- • Recognition scenes
This lesson at a glance
- 26 minutes
- 15 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 15
Watch first
Nostos: the shape of a homecoming
An English teaching video on this topic from TED-Ed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Study setting, plot and characterisation, and the effects of these on the reader
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 15
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · In medias res
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 15
Learn
In medias res
The poem opens 'in the middle of things': Odysseus is already stranded, and the gods are deciding his fate. We do not meet the hero for several books. Starting near the end lets the poem build suspense — we hear his legend before we see the man, so he has to live up to his own reputation.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 15
Learn
Tests and the meaning of home
Each island Odysseus reaches is a test: the Lotus-eaters offer forgetfulness, Circe offers comfort, the Cyclops offers death. The tests are not random — each asks whether he would rather stop than go home. A hero in this poem is someone who keeps choosing return over every tempting alternative.
Quick check
Part 5 of 15
Quick check
What does 'in medias res' mean, and why does Homer use it?
Quick check
Part 6 of 15
Quick check
What do the island tests mainly measure?
Reset break
Part 7 of 15
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 15
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Penelope and the household
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 15
Learn
Penelope and the household
Half the poem stays in Ithaca with Penelope fending off suitors. Her storyline is not a subplot — it is the other half of homecoming. The poem argues that 'home' is a relationship kept alive by loyalty, not just a place; Penelope's weaving and unweaving is her version of Odysseus's endurance.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 15
Learn
Recognition scenes
The climax is not a battle but a series of recognitions — the nurse, the dog, the wife, the father. Each recognition is a test of identity and trust. The poem values being known over being powerful: the real homecoming is when someone sees who you truly are.
Quick check
Part 11 of 15
Quick check
Why is Penelope's storyline not a subplot?
Quick check
Part 12 of 15
Quick check
What does the poem value most in its recognition scenes?
Challenge round
Part 13 of 15
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Mastery quiz
Part 14 of 15
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Nostos: the shape of a homecoming
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What does 'in medias res' mean, and why does Homer use it?
2. What do the island tests mainly measure?
3. Why is Penelope's storyline not a subplot?
4. What does the poem value most in its recognition scenes?
Lesson round-up
Part 15 of 15
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The last bus
The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.
She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.
Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.
Original extract written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
- How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
- Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
Reading response
ReadingRead the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingNote the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover
How this is going
- Not looked at yet
Study setting, plot and characterisation, and the effects of these on the reader