The Odysseyby Homer

An Introduction

Brainstorm

• Using the organizer provided, you will brainstorm what you already know about • Heroes• Epics• Mythology• Homer• The Odyssey

Brainstorming Notes

• As we review this presentation, you will fill out the right column of the organizational chart

• This will include “what you will need to know about heroes, epics, mythology, Homer and the Odyssey”

Epic Genre• Epic genre today

includes:• Films• Music• Television• Video games• Novels• And more…

• Stories have a theme of heroism The Lion King

The Epic PoemAn Epic Poem:

- A long narrative poem- Usually discusses heroic deeds and events significant

to a culture or nation

- The Rhapsodist:- Classical Greek

professional performer

- Traveled to towns singing about epics, myths and tales

Homer• Wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey

• Lived around 8th century B.C.E.• Blind storyteller who traveled• Wrote the earliest literature of

Europe

Why do we read such old literature?

• Gives history of over 2,000 years ago

• Gives us an understanding of heroes through time

• Has many themes still relevant today

The Iliad- Set in the last year of the ten-year Trojan War

-The war was fought over Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus, who fell in love with Paris and took her to Troy

-The famous Trojan Horse led to the fall of Troy

Helen and Paris

The Epic HeroDefinition: a brave and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements

Strong

Attractive

Authoritative

IntelligentBraveOdysseus: An Epic Hero

The Odyssey

Iliad

Odyssey Begins Here

-Begins in medias res, or “in the middle of things”

Calypso

Calypso

Setting – Book 1

Telemachus

Penelope

Athena

Odysseus’ home has been taken over by suitors

Odysseus’ wife

Odysseus’ sonOdysseus’ helper

Athena visits Telemachus in Ithaca (Odysseus’ home) to advise him to search for his father

Point of View

Third Person Omniscient : He frequently offers insight into the thoughts and feelings of even minor characters, gods and mortals alike

Point of view allows the narrator to tell the story through different vantage points

The majority of the epic is narrated in:

Analyzing for Point of View

The narrator tells us that Telemachus is “unhappy” as he is “daydreaming” of his father. By the narrator allowing the audience to know about Telemachus, it helps to understand his love for his father. This makes the reader feel sympathy for Telemachus.

From Book 1, the Odyssey

Assignment – Point of View

Using Book 1 of The Odyssey, you will find specific quotes from the text which illustrate the omniscient narrative voice.

You will focus on the characters Odysseus, Telemachus, Athena, Penelope and the Suitors.

You will find one quote for each character(s), and you will explain what you can infer about the character through third- person omniscient narration.

(see example)

Sources

• The Odyssey Pre-Reading - Exploring Epic• www.dictionary.com• www.wikipedia.com• A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a P

oem an Epic? | EDSITEment

• The Odyssey, by Homer