Introduction to the Odyssey

Key Ideas: The Odyssey The Odyssey is an epic. An epic is a long narrative poem about

the deeds of a hero. The epic hero often portrays the goals

and values of the society Epics are based in part on historical

fact, blending legend with truth.

Epics at a Glance

The Epic and Epic Hero In literature, the epic is a long narrative

poem about the deeds of a hero. The epic hero is a larger-than-life

figure who undertakes great journeys and performs deed requiring remarkable strength and cunning.

Epic Hero: Characteristics Possesses superhuman strength,

craftiness, and confidence. Is helped and harmed by interfering

gods. Embodies ideals and values that a

culture considers admirable. Emerges victorious from perilous

situations.

Epic Plot Involves a long journey, full of

complications, such as: Strange creatures Divine intervention Large-scale events Treacherous weather

Epic Themes Courage The fate of a nation A homecoming Beauty Loyalty Life and Death

Homer

Homer There are many theories about the blind

poet Homer, who is credited with writing the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Homer is said to have lived between 900 and 700 B.C.

Oral History Homer’s epics are all that remains of a

series of poems that told the whole story of the Trojan War.

In later centuries, the Iliad and the Odyssey were memorized by professional reciters, who performed them at religious festivals throughout Greece.

The setting for the Iliad is

the city of Troy.

Why does the TrojanWar begin?

A beauty contest.The participantswereAthena,Aphrodite, andHera.

Paris, a Prince from the city ofTroy, was the judge.The prize -a golden appleinscribed “to the fairest.”The goddessesbribed Paris to choose them over the others.

Aphrodite’s offer was the best.

Paris chose her.

What prize did Paris receive?

The world’s most beautiful woman -- Helen

She just happens to bethe wife of King Menelausof Greece.

King Agamemnon, the brother of King Menelaus, gathers allthe Greeks. They sail to Troy.

Helen of Troy became the “face thatlaunched athousandships.”

And the Trojan War begins. It will last for ten years.

The Iliad The Iliad takes place during the tenth year

of this war. It tells the story of the Greek warrior,

Achilles and his quarrel with Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon, ending with the death and funeral of Paris’ brother Hector.

After Hector’s death, the Greeks brought the war to an end thanks to the cleverness of Odysseus ruler of the island of Ithaca.

To break up the ten-year war, Odysseus thought of a scheme to make the Trojans think that the Greeks had finally given up.

He ordered a giant wooden horse to be left at the gates of Troy.

The Trojans, not seeing any Greeks, assumed that the Greeks had fled and left the horse as a peace offering.

They took the horse inside the city, only to find that the horse was filled with Greek soldiers and that Troy was doomed.

The Odyssey is aboutthe hero Odysseus’long trip home to Ithaca.

His trip hometakes10 years.

Odysseus’ trip home

Epic Conventions

1. Invocation of the Muse

A formal plea for help tothe Muse Calliope.

2. In medias res

The epic plunges rightinto the action -- itbegins “in the middleof things.”

Flashbacks provide background information.

3. Epic similes

Use of extended similes.

4. Metrical Structure

Dactylic Hexametersix stressed syllables per line

Closely resembles speech.

5. Stock epithets

A descriptive phrase usedin place of a noun orproper noun.

“Grey-eyed Athena”