The Odyssey

HOW TO APPROACH HOMER’S ODYSSEY

LEARNING / ACHIEVEMENT

OBJECTIVE

To examine the ideas and values of the classical world

through the study of Homer’s Odyssey

• Leadership • Social and cultural

behaviour • Relationships• Beliefs

ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATIONS

NAUSICAA

Leadership

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES:

Students need to understand:

• Odysseus’ leadership qualities

• What causes Odysseus to act as he does (students

must be able to connect his leadership qualities to

specific actions and motivations)

• How Odysseus’ leadership is challenged by the

suitors and his slaves in Books 21-23 AND why

Odysseus responds as he does (they must be able to

connect the behaviour of the suitors / slaves to

Odysseus’ reaction)

• That Telemachus is a developing leader; his

leadership qualities; how and why Athena supports

his leadership; who challenges his leadership and

how? Books 1 and later 21, 22

• DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

[Draw developed conclusions about why these leadership and / or heroic qualities were valued by the classical society for which this text was produced – 2012 external examination]

• What did ancient people believe about leadership?

• High birth, wealth, skill at arms, prowess in battle are all qualities expected of a leader.

• But what they admired the most was wisdom and good practice; eg the suitors have wealth and high status but their actions and behaviour are strongly disliked. Why?

• Odysseus has the right to be king in his household and those who disrespect or challenge his leadership deserve to be punished. Why?

• What did ancient people value about the typical hero?

• They valued his courage and resourcefulness, they admired his cunning and his charm etc, etc

• “He has been alone and nameless so when he enters his palace in disguise he must depend on his own resourcefulness (metis)”

R. Fowler: Cambridge companion to Homer page 87

• Why did ancient people value these heroic / leadership qualities?

• These qualities provided ancient people with a model (a yardstick) of how to live their life and how to organise their communities.

• They provided didactic messages for their young men, for their leaders etc

WHAT MOTIVATES THE HOMERIC HERO?

GLORY

HONOUR

JUSTICEREVENGE

THIRST FOR kleos / GLORY

The driving force behind the hero was the need to achieve fame and glory.

The hero wants his name to

survive him for years to come; and so, his only chance for immortality was to win glory through famous deeds.

The more dangerous the task, the greater the glory.

HUNGER FOR HONOURThe need to preserve

your honour was as great as the need to achieve glory.

Any insult on you, or your good reputation or your family, was dealt with quickly and in a most violent way. Honour had to be reclaimed.

JUSTICEBad people deserve to suffer / deserve

punishment:

Those who: go against what was considered acceptable

behaviour disrespect the gods disregard customs and traditions behave unjustly

Even Zeus in Book I says: “The blessed gods don’t like wicked acts”

REVENGEFul

In order to restore his and his family’s lost honour, the hero becomes ruthlessly revengeful.

The greater the dishonour the greater the punishment.

Vengeance is the hero’s right

So the revengeful Odysseus is ruthless and unforgiving but we must not think of him

as evil or bloodthirsty.

Do you know of OTHER CULTURES THAT SHARE SIMILAR VALUES?

MAORI VALUES

Mana signifies status, authority, prestige and honour (ancient heroic / leadership qualities)

Māori vigorously defended their mana in everyday matters and tried to enhance it whenever they could.

MAORI VALUES

Utu:Often defined as ‘revenge’, utu has a broader meaning: the maintenance of balance and harmony within society.

A wrong had to be put right (justice), but how this was done could vary greatly.

Social and cultural BEhaviours

• THE CUSTOMS OF GUEST FRIENDSHIP• CUSTOMS RELATING TO SYMPOSIA• GREEK VIEWS ON JUSTICE AND REVENGE• THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Social and cultural traditions 1. THE CUSTOMS OF GUEST FRIENDSHIP – Books 1, 9, 20-22• What is guest friendship - How did this custom come about?• Ritual aspects of guest friendship.• How were the suitors / Cyclops expected to behave?• Examples of situations where guest friendship is violated.

XENIA COMPARED TO MANAAKITANGA

What is manaakitanga?

Showing respect for hosts or kindness to guests.

Entertaining guests or looking after them.

Manaakitanga is often practised on a Marae

Like the Greek custom of xenia there are

certain rituals that one has to follow when visiting a Marae.

For example: hosts welcome their

guests with a powhiri or a hongi

xenia and KOHAIn return the Marae guests

(manuhiri) respect the local customs and patterns of

behaviour and give a koha (gift) to the tangata whenua.

The koha is usually money to help cover costs, but can

also include gifts or donations of food and other

precious items.

Identify similarities between xenia and:• Manaakitanga• koha

Social and cultural BEHAVIOURS2. CUSTOMS RELATING TO SYMPOSIA Books 1, 20-22• Ritual aspects of the symposium• Suitors’ bad behaviour and reasons why they deserved to be punished

3. GREEK VIEWS ON JUSTICE AND REVENGE Books 9, 20-22• How were the slaves / suitors expected to behave?• Which behaviours brought about their downfall.• Why Odysseus / Telemachus had the right to take revenge

4. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY Books 6 and 23• Social customs relating to a young girl• Marriage customs for young girls (Nausicaa)• Penelope as the ideal wife and qualities that make her the ideal wife. How was she expected to behave in Odysseus’ absence?

Social and cultural BEHAVIOURS

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS: • How were people expected to behave in certain situations?• What the ancient people considered to be appropriate or

inappropriate behaviour according to their social and cultural traditions.

• Reasons why these social and cultural traditions were upheld by ancient people. Eg The idea that Odysseus has the right to take revenge so as to

regain his honour. Customs and traditions enable societies to function / provide

them with standards according to which they could live their lives etc

relationships• The relationship of Odysseus and: his son his wife other women in his life eg Calypso and Nausicaa gods especially Athena slaves suitors

• The relationship of Telemachus and: his mother the gods especially Athena the suitors the slaves

• The relationship of Penelope and: her suitors

relationshipsAND:• What ancient people value about these

relationships?

Eg they value the respect that Telemachus

shows to his father. Evidence?

• The beliefs and expectations of ancient people about these relationships eg they expect Penelope (the ideal wife) to remain faithful and loyal to her husband while he can travel for long periods of time and have relationships with other women while away from home. Evidence?

• The significance of these relationships to the people of the classical world:

Ancient people model their lives on the lives of the Homeric heroes

They use these relationships to teach about the values of loyalty and faithfulness

These relationships teach about hierarchy in

society Evidence?

beliefs  • Homeric gods are anthropomorphic, they have human emotions • The role they play in the Odyssey eg Athena the protector of

Odysseus and his family• Their relationship to humans is a give and take relationship, they

interfere in people’s lives in both positive and negative ways

AND:• What are the attitudes of ancient people towards their gods ie how

do they relate to them / what do they expect from them• Why are these religious beliefs and attitudes about their gods

important to ancient people? Eg Religious beliefs and attitudes provided them with a standard

by which to live their lives These religious beliefs and attitudes were handed down from

generation to generation. These religious beliefs and attitudes united them as people of

the same society and marked them as different / superior from other (barbaric) societies

PARAGRAPHS

Understand the question and respond to it

write several excellent paragraphs using clear structure

start with a with a key idea,

develop and explain ideas giving detailed responses

provide relevant examples and link to key idea

Finish paragraph with an insightful / analytical statement that links back to the key idea)

use terminology correctly