Homer's Odyssey

Prologue, verses 1-10

What we’re up to:

Together, we will explore

- the gods' will- the hero's choices- the poet's verses.

Based on Robert Fagles' translation.

Odyssey Overview

Before we dive into Poseidon’s open sea,let's take a look at our map for the journey.

The Odyssey at a glance:One-page overview of the story.

Odyssey, Basic Structure:

• Prologue + Intro• Divine assembly• Adventures of Telemachus (books 1-4),• Adventures of Odysseus (books 5-12),• Revenge at Ithaca (books 13-24).

About Odyssey’s Prologue

The literary term is preamble,i.e., an initial (pre) walk-around (ambul-are),a little like a movie trailer.

Homer hands us some basic clues, likeWHO - WHAT - WHY, and raises anticipationfor the rest of the story.

So, how does Homer keep us interested?

Fiction: Basic Elements

He acquaints is with the Main Hero.He fixes his Topic. He states his Theme.He populates his Universe.He sets his Characters in Motion.

In short,he hands us a number of important infohe hooks us with Emotion,he promises a breath-takiing followup.

Prologue, Characters

Translation by Robert Fagles

In the original Greek text,Homer accomplishes all thiswith only 10 verses.

How on earth does he do it?!?

Odyssey, Prologue, Characters

Sets of Characters:

Gods Eternal(Zeus, Sungod / Helios, Muse)Men of Yester Day(Man, Trojans-implied, men, comrades)Now(I=poet, us=poet+audience)

An Un-named Man

Man is the first word of the whole epic poem.

In its native idiom, an ancient Greek dialectmix, it closely relates to the root Andr-, amale Homo Sapiens sapiens.

Man is the poem's Topic.The poet announces what the song will beabout.

A Man of Twists & Turns

“Poly-Trop-on” --includes many meanings.

"Poly-" means "Many".

"Trop-" may refer to several things:it mainly has to do with

Manner - Poetry - Navigation - Direction -Change

Who is the Man?

We see

What Happens to the Man

Character Traits

Sing to me, Muse

In the Odyssey we always,ALWAYS remember to honor the gods.

Painting: Dance of the Muses, by NikolasGyzis, 19th cent.

Muse: Goddess of Inspiration

The Muse mediates.

Her father is Zeus.Her mother is Mnemosyne, i.e., Memory,Rememberance.

She reconnects is with the Past throughpoetic (epic) speech.Her purpose is to instruct by entertaining.

Prologue, Characters

We learnabout the Main Character (Man)some other Characters (men + gods)

Who does What - Who suffers WhatThere’s a causal relationship between thesetwo:--> Cause & Effectis a central Theme of this epic story.

What to Do Next

Following our overview ofCharacters,

we're ready to take our next step intoTheme.

Check out more handy resources at

SimplyOdyssey.comHomer's Odyssey in simple words & images.