Homer’s The Odyssey

English I

Unit 9.4 ELA

I. Written by Homer

II. Written about 750-600 BC

III. Set in about 1200 BC (The Bronze Age)

IV. From Greece

V. Homer was blind

VI. Stories passed down orally. It changed according to the storyteller.

The Odyssey

What is it?

• Two long stories influenced ancient Greek civilization as profoundly as the Bible has influenced English-speaking culture. These stories have come to be called The Iliad and The Odyssey, respectively, and their authorship is ascribed to Homer.

• In fact, they did not originate as written works at all but as oral stories. They were told, or more precisely sung, by an especially gifted storyteller, called by the Greeks an aoidos (singer). Such a person is pictured briefly in both The Iliad and The Odyssey.

What is it?

• The Iliad and The Odyssey are both stories about the distant and heroic past. At the time they were first written down (in about the seventh century BCE), the events they recount were already long concluded.

• With no means of writing at the time the events occurred, the Greeks remembered them only through the stories of aoidoi, and they were of enormous importance as the sole record of the cultural past.

• The Iliad deals with a ten-year war the Greeks fought at Troy in about the twelfth century BCE, while The Odyssey deals with the ten-year homecoming of a single Greek warrior at Troy, the hero Odysseus.

Homer’s timeless history

Hollywood’s version:

• Troy

The Iliad• The Iliad • Epic poem• Written by Homer• It details the story of the

Trojan War which was fought over Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. covers everything from love and passion to betrayal and trickery.

Before the story…• Before we can understand the story,

we need to have a little background on the place, as well as the mythology of the gods.

The gods

Greek Mythology

Lets Meet the Gods…

• Zeus-Name: Zeus

God of: Heaven, Earth, Men

Notes: Although powerful in battle, Zeus was unfaithful to his wife, Hera, and often spent time with nymphs and mortal women, thus producing many great heroes.

Origin of Zeus:Cronus the Titan was told that one day, his son would overthrow him. In fear, he swallowed his children right after his wife Rhea gave birth. After swallowing five children, Rhea became angry. She hid Zeus at birth and switched his body with a rock to fool Cronus into thinking he had swallowed his newborn son. Rhea had a nymph care for Zeus until he came of age. He married the Titaness, Metis, and rescued his brothers and sisters from Cronus, then killing his father.

Lets Meet the Gods…• Athena Name: Athena

Parents: Zeus, MetisGoddess of: Wisdom, War, Weaving, SkillSymbol: Owl

Patroness of: Athens

Notes: Although wise, Athena was also fiercely jealous and could hold a grudge for as long as it took to repay those who had offended her. Athena was also a warlike goddess whose cunning allowed her to win any battle, even one against Ares.

Origin of Athena:When Zeus's first wife, Metis, became pregnant, an oracle prophesied that the son of Metis would overthrow Zeus just as Zeus had overthrown his father. In fear, Zeus challenged his wife to a contest of magic. Whoever could turn into a smaller animal won. Metis turned herself into a fly, and Zeus swallowed her. Soon after, he had a terrible headache. It felt like someone was in his head stabbing at all the soft spots in his brain. He called for Hephaestus to help him. The god of the forge lay Zeus's head down on his anvil and broke the skull with a hammer. Out of Zeus's head sprung Athena, dressed for battle and armed with a spear.

Lets Meet the Gods…• Hera Name: Hera

Goddess of: Women, Childbirth

Notes: A very powerful goddess, Hera did not take nicely to her husband, Zeus, and his many love affairs. Unable to kill Zeus, she often persecuted his lovers instead.

Origin of Hera:Cronus the Titan was told that one day, his son would overthrow him. In fear, he swallowed his children right after his wife Rhea gave birth. The five children were Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera and Hestia. Their younger brother, Zeus then rescued them from their father and they proceeded to take over the Titans and imprison them in the Underworld.

Lets Meet the Gods…• Aphrodite Name: Aphrodite

Goddess of: Love, Beauty, Laughter, Pleasures

Notes: Aphrodite was not on the friendliest terms with Apollo and Artemis. She believed that every human needed a companion to love and be with. Aphrodite herself was greatly worshipped by many hopefuls.

Origin of Aphrodite:The origins of Aphrodite are unclear. Most references point to Aphrodite being born from the foam of the sea and the blood of Zeus's father. Others say that Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. Whatever the origin, all the gods wanted Aphrodite as their wife, but Zeus gave her to Hephaestus because he would make a good, loving, solid husband.

Lets Meet the Gods…• Ares Name: Ares

Parents: Zeus, Hera

God of: War

Notes: Unlike Athena, Ares loved war and reveled in violence. His constant companion was Eris, goddess of discord. Ares also romanced Aphrodite from a distance, enthralling her with tales of his victory and might. Unfortunately, he was actually a big coward, and often ran to his mother, Hera, when he was hurt.

Origin of Ares:Ares was one of the few children of Zeus and Hera. The only other is Hephaestus.

And now for the humans…

• HelenParisHectorCassandraPriam AchillesOdysseusMenelausPatroclus

Odysseus

• Lord of Ithaca, he was a clever war leader. He devised the Trojan Horse, and helped in the defeat of Troy.

• He later became boastful and was punished by Poseidon and forced to wander through the world in search of his homeland.

A VERY brief outline of the first book: (which we will not be reading)

The Iliad• Setting:

Most of the Iliad takes place in and around the city of Troy. There are, however, scenes on Olympus as the gods watch what happens.

The Story…

• When the queen of Troy was pregnant, she had a dream that her son would bring ruin to Troy. In desperation, the king ordered a shepherd to leave the baby boy in the wilderness to die. When the child survived for three days, the shepherd took in the boy and raised it as his own, naming him Paris.

The Story…continued…• During a feast on Olympus,

the goddess, Eris, came uninvited and threw a golden apple among the gods. On it was written "To the most beautiful".

• All the goddesses immediately claimed it as their own and began to fight. It finally came down to Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. They went to Zeus to make the decision, but he was afraid of angering them with his choice. He looked on the earth and saw Paris tending the sheep. He sent the three goddesses to Paris.

And yet some more…• Paris did not know which goddess to choose, so as an incentive, each

offered him a prize if he chose them. • Hera offered riches, Athena offered power and the ability to win any

war, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world. • Paris chose Aphrodite, and Hera and Athena left in a jealous rage.

Aphrodite helped Paris win the heart of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta, but she and Paris ran away to Troy.

But wait! Still more…• Once in Troy, Aphrodite took

Paris back to the royal house where the king forgot his wife's dream and welcomed Paris and Helen into the family.To get his wife back, Menelaus gathered a huge army and sailed to Troy. There they battled for 10 years. During the battle, the champion of Menelaus' army, Achilles killed the champion of Troy, Hector.

• Achilles became proud because his body was invulnerable, and he had defeated Hector. He boasted of his ability and angered Ares in the process. Ares guided a poisoned arrow to strike Achilles in the heel, his only vulnerable spot. Achilles soon died.

And finally…• It looked like Menelaus and the rest of the Greeks would lose

the war. Then Odysseus had an idea. The Greeks built a giant horse with a hollow center from the wood of one of their ships. They put 30 men into the center of the horse and left. Once they had sailed behind an island where they could no longer be seen, they stopped.

• The Trojans were happy. They thought they had won the war. They took the great wooden horse into their city as a prize. During the night, the men crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greeks who had sailed back. Confused and dazed, the Trojan people did not stand a chance against the sudden attack of the Greeks. Troy was destroyed and Helen returned to Sparta with her husband.

A brief intro into The Odyssey…

• The epic begins in medias res (“in the middle of things”). Odysseus has been gone from Ithaca for about 20 years—the first 10 spent fighting the Trojan War, the last 10 trying to get home.

• Meanwhile, Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, tries to fend off over 100 suitors who have invaded the royal palace, seeking her hand in marriage (and a chance of ruling Ithaca), and indulging in great amounts of food and wine at the hosts’ expense.

• Telemachus, son of Odysseus and Penelope, is just coming of age (he is approximately 21) and is at a loss as to what to do about the suitors. Mother and son yearn for Odysseus’ return.

More…Books 1–4• The first four books deal with Telemachus’ struggle (in fact, Odysseus

does not appear in the epic until Book 5). A secondary plot in The Odyssey is Telemachus’ coming of age, his own quest, which scholars sometimes refer to as the “Telemacheia.”

• The goddess Athena appears to the young prince in disguise and advises him to gather an assembly of the island’s leaders to protest the invasion of the suitors. Soon after, he is to visit King Nestor of Pylos and King Menelaus of Sparta, old comrades of his father’s, to gather from them any new of Odysseus.

• At the assembly, the two leading suitors—the aggressive Antinous and the smooth-talking Eurymachus—confront the prince. They accuse Penelope of delaying too long in her choice of a new husband. Telemachus speaks well but accomplishes little at the assembly because the suitors are from some of the strongest families in the area and are impatient with Penelope’s delays.

• As Telemachus secretly sets off for Pylos and Sparta, the suitors plot to assassinate him. At Pylos, Telemachus learns little of his father but is encouraged to visit Sparta where King Menelaus reports that Odysseus is alive but held captive by the goddess nymph Calypso.

• As a narrative exposition of the good life, The Odyssey raises many thought provoking questions.

• Does Odysseus' attack on the suitors establish justice, or does it merely perpetuate violence?

• Do Odysseus and Penélopê achieve a good relationship in the end, in view of his having slept with virtually every woman he met on his way home, while she was trustworthy only if she fended off her suitors?

• Is it good for Odysseus to trust his swineherd and his son (who was an infant when he last saw him) before he trusts his wife?

• Can a man truly be called a hero when he is so accomplished at lying and deceiving, or when he is so dependent on interfering gods for his success?

• Is it good for the gods to be so inconsistent, vengeful, and promiscuous while at the same time insisting that human beings are responsible for their own actions (1.48-51)?