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Poems and stories
Reference
Unit 10
Title
A lucky escape
Genre
Narrative
Level
Intermediate readers
Synopsis
Odysseus had escaped the Cyclops, but there were more dangers
to come. Now his ship was being pulled by the current towards
the Rocks of Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus was worried
because he knew that many sailors had died here in the past.
Teaching notes
Pre reading
Refer back to the story Odysseus and Cyclops in Unit 10. The students should
know that Odysseus is sailing home to Greece after the war in Troy and that he
had many adventures on his journey. This is one of them.
Refer to the first illustration. Ask the students to name the rocks. Then ask
them to suggest why the rocks are dangerous. They can refer to the next two
illustrations to help formulate answers.
During reading
The reading of the story can be divided into sections as indicated. Ask oral questions
to help the students follow the story. For example:
Part 1
1
2
3
4
What did the lookout see?
What were the names of the rocks?
Why was Odysseus worried?
Why couldn't the ship go around the rocks?
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
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Part 2
1 What was the name of the rock on the left? the right?
2 What lived in the cave on the rock of Scylla?
3 Why was it dangerous to go too close to the Rock of Charybdis?
Part 3
1 What was making the barking noise?
2 Describe what the monster looked like.
3 How many men did the monster capture?
Part 4
1 What did the monster do with the men? How do you know?
2 Do you think Odysseus should have stayed close to Scylla or Charybdis?
3 Did he make the right decision? Why?
After reading
One or more of these activities can be selected for class discussion, group or individual activities.
1 Draw a picture of the part of the story you liked the best.
2 Make up a play of The Rock of Scylla and Charybdis. Present it to the class.
3 Imagine you are Odysseus. Write a letter to one of the dead sailors' wives,
explaining how he died.
4 Odysseus' next adventure took place on The Island of the Sun. On this
island there are cows which the men are not allowed to eat. But they were
very hungry.... What do you think happened?
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Can be downloaded from website
A lucky escape
Odysseus had escaped from the Island of the Cyclops. But there were many more
dangers to come. This is the story of his next adventure.
PART 1
O
dysseus had escaped from a
terrible one-eyed monster
called Cyclops. He felt happy. His
sailors were happy too. Odysseus
listened to them singing while
they rowed the ship. Then there
was a loud shout from the lookout.
The men stopped singing.
'Rocks ahead!' the lookout
called. Odysseus looked to where
the lookout was pointing. He could
see two very high rocks rising out
of the sea like huge black statues.
'Oh no!' exclaimed Odysseus. 'I
don't believe it.' He had heard
about these two rocks.
'What's wrong, sir?' asked one
of the seamen. 'You looked
shocked.'
'Those are the rocks of Scylla
and Charybdis,' answered Odysseus.
'What are Scylla and Charybdis?' asked the seaman. 'They don't look dangerous.
They are just tall rocks. Why are you afraid of two rocks?'
'Thousands of sailors have died at this place,' answered Odysseus. 'The rocks
are very dangerous.'
'Then we'll just sail around them,' replied the seaman. 'We don't need to go
near the rocks.'
'That's where you're wrong,' answered Odysseus. 'A strong current forces every
ship to pass between the two rocks. The sea current will pull us there.'
Odysseus was very worried indeed. He thought that they were all going to die.
However, he did not tell his crew this.
PART 2
O
dysseus studied his map. The rock on his left was called the Rock of Scylla.
The one on the right was called the Rock of Charybdis. The men tried to row
away from the rocks, but they couldn't control the ship. The current was too
strong. They were getting closer and closer to the rocks.
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Can be downloaded from website
‘A
ll hands on deck!' cried Odysseus. 'Row between the rocks. Don't hit the
rocks!'
The two rocks were smooth and hard and they rose straight out of the sea.
Odysseus looked up at the Rock of Scylla. He could see a cave near the top of the
rock. He had heard that a terrible monster lived in this cave. He couldn't see the
monster but he ordered his men to row to the right, closer to Charybdis. He didn't
want his men to be eaten by another monster.
Then Odysseus heard another
shout from the lookout. 'A whirlpool!
We're going to be sucked into it.'
Near the Rock of Charybdis
was a powerful whirlpool. The
whirlpool was gurgling and bubbling
as it sucked the sea into it.
The sailors stared in horror.
They looked down into the whirlpool.
The water was spinning around,
faster and faster. The whirlpool was
going to suck the ship and the
sailors into it.
'Row away,' Odysseus shouted.
'Row for your lives. To the left.'
The men rowed as hard as they
could. They had to get away from
the powerful whirlpool.
'Keep rowing' shouted Odysseus. 'Go to the left.'
At last the men moved the boat away from the whirlpool, but they were
now very close to the tall black Rock of Scylla. It looked very spooky.
PART 3
T
he sailors had escaped from the whirlpool but they kept rowing. Then they
heard a strange noise. It sounded like barking puppies.
The other sailors stopped rowing and looked up towards the cave in the rock.
Six long snake-like necks were darting in and out of the cave. On the end of each
neck was a head which was making the barking noise. The mouth on each head
had three rows of sharp pointed teeth. It was the most terrible monster they had
ever seen. And its necks were long enough to reach anyone on the ship.
'What's that?' whispered one of the sailors.
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Can be downloaded from website
'I'm not sure,' answered Odysseus quietly. 'I think it is Scylla, the six-headed
monster.'
'That monster has six heads,' gasped the sailor. 'Let's get out of here. NOW!'
But before they could begin to row, there was a terrified cry.
'Help, it's got me!' a voice cried.
Odysseus and the other sailors looked towards the front of the ship. The
first head waved around like a flag in the wind. The lookout was between its
three rows of teeth. He was bleeding and screaming.
The men panicked. They tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go. Odysseus
drew his sword but he couldn't fight this enormous six-headed monster. The men
screamed as they tried to push the six heads of the monster away with their oars.
One by one, the monster's other five heads grabbed a sailor each. The
helpless men were kicking, struggling and screaming. The monster then lifted
them high above the ship and disappeared into the cave.
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Can be downloaded from website
PART 4
‘W
e must help them,' said one of the sailors who was still on the boat.
'It's too late. There's nothing we can do,' said Odysseus.
The sailors on the ship listened to the monster's six heads crunching and
munching on the bodies of the poor men. Then it was quiet. It was over. The men
were dead.
Odysseus looked at the frightened faces of the rest of the men.
'Row on,' he ordered. The men silently picked up their oars and began to row. They
were safe for now, but there were more dangers to come....
Odysseus looked out at the sea and thought about the monster and the
whirlpool. He had lost six men, but he knew that they had been lucky - this time.
Poe ms and s tor i es
G a t e wa y t o E n g lis h 1
Copyright text C The Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam and
Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006, Copyright design and illustration C Macmillan Publishers Limited 2006
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Can be downloaded from website