The Odysseyby Homer

The Iliad by Homer

The Iliad is a Greek epic.

The Iliad is the prequel to the Odyssey.

The Iliad is set in Troy during the end of the Trojan War. (*The Trojan War lasted ten years.)

In the Iliad, we are introduced to the cause of the war (Helen), many famous Greek and Trojan warriors, and the famous story of the Trojan horse.

The Iliad is a model/renowned war narrative.

The Odyssey

The Odyssey is a Greek epic.

The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus journeying home after the Trojan War. His home is the island of Ithaca. The journey takes ten years.

The Odyssey is not just about Odysseus’ journey but also what has happened and is happening at home in his absence.

The Odyssey is a model/renowned journey narrative.

Some unique aspects of the structure: The Odyssey recounts Odysseus’ journey, but the events of his sea

journey are not relayed in chronological order.

The first four books of the Odyssey focus on Telemachus, and these first four books are nicknamed “The Telemachy.”

The Path of Odysseus’ Journey

What is an epic?

The epic is a literary form that abides by the following conditions:

Is a long narrative poem

Is based on oral tradition

Focuses on an epic hero (also called a legendary hero)

Focuses on a culture and its values

Uses elevated language

What is an epic hero?

An epic hero (also called a legendary hero) is all of the following:

Larger-than-life (*For Greek mythology, this means the hero falls somewhere between mortal and immortal, i.e. he is god-like.)

Represents and fights for the values of his culture

Has a reputation and is talked or written about

Background on Odysseus

Before the Trojan War, Odysseus married Penelope and had one son named Telemachus.

When called to serve in the Trojan War, Odysseus pretended to be insane and dressed himself as a peasant so that he wouldn’t have to go. His disguise was revealed when other soldiers placed his infant son in front of the plow, and Odysseus did the sane thing: he rescued his son. Thus, he revealed that he wasn’t insane and had to go fight in the war (Hamilton 251).

During the Trojan War, Odysseus fought bravely and helped in many ways. He is most famous for the plan of using the Trojan horse (Hamilton 273), which has come to be known as one of the most famous tricks in history.

Yet, “what really distinguishes [Odysseus] is a quality of mind. In Greek, this quality is designated by the term metis, which denotes intelligence, cunning, versatility, and a facility with words” (Murnaghan xiii-xiv).

Formal traits of the Odyssey

Experimental/nontraditional plot (events are not told in chronological order)

Repetition. Examples include mention (and descriptions) of dawn

Epithets references to Odysseus as “shrewd,” “wily,” ill-fated,” and “godlike”

Epithets References to Athena as “gray-eyed” or “owl-eyed”

Homeric simile/epic simile- Homeric similes 1) compare two unlike things

2) are extended similes, meaning they are longer than one line

3) compare significant events to something insignificant or everyday in order to make the significant event easier to understand.

Greek Mythology In Greek Mythology, the gods and goddesses are descended from a race of giants

called the Titans (Hamilton 21).

The twelve main gods of Greek mythology, also called the Olympians, are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, and Hephaestus (Hamilton 24).

The head god is Zeus. He is married to Hera but copulates with many other women (including human women) and has many children.

*A demi-god is half-human and half god. (Example: Perseus)

Both the Iliad and the Odyssey utilize Greek mythology.

During the Trojan War, The following gods were on the side of the Greeks: Hera, Athena, and Poseidon (Hamilton

255).

The following gods were on the side of the Trojans: Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis (Hamilton 255).

*Zeus was mainly neutral, but he did act on the side of the Trojans when he sent Agamemnon a “lying dream” (Hamilton 256).

In the Odyssey, we see Athena act as Odysseus’ “divine counter-part” and Poseidon act as the antagonist/Odysseus’ nemesis (Murnaghan xv-xvi).

Biographical Information on Homer

We cannot be accurate about the poet’s life due to how long ago the poet lived.

*Some scholars posit that Homer may not have been a real person. Others, that Homer may have been female instead of male.

Homer lived around the eighth or ninth century B.C. Therefore, the Odyssey was written around that time as well.

Plato, a famous Greek philosopher and writer, called Homer “the father of the tragedies”

The Iliad and Odyssey “are, or rather contain, the oldest Greek writings we have” (Hamilton 14).

Works Cited

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New

York: Little, Brown, and Co., 1969. 1942.

Murnaghan, Sheila. Introduction. The Essential Odyssey. Trans by

Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2007.