Odyssey Introduction.pdf

The odyssey
By Homer

The Epic
• Definition-Long story told in
elevated language (usually
poetry) which relates the great
deeds of a larger than life
hero who embodies the values
of a particular society.

Features of an Epic
• Long narrative poem
• Hero reflects values of his
culture
• Hero fights against values
reflected by his culture
• Supernatural forces at work
• Hero seeks revenge for the
injustices committed against
him, his family, his society

The Epic Hero
• Excels in skills, strength,
courage
• Succeeds in war and
adventures; achieves his goals
• Values honor and glory
• Usually has a guide who is
often supernatural

The Epic Hero (cont.)
• Battles demons, monsters,
temptations
• Is generous to his followers
but ruthless to his enemies
• Sometimes makes rash decisions
and takes unnecessary risks
• Descends into darkness (the
underworld)

The Iliad and The Odyssey

Homer
• Greek bard
(storyteller)
• According to
tradition, he
was blind
• Composed both
The Iliad and
The Odyssey

Homer’s epics became the basis
of Greek education, teaching
the following lessons:
• How to tell a story
• How to portray characters
• How to give a speech
• How to express the Greek ideals
of thought and action

The Iliad- the story of the Trojan
War
Ten year war between Greece and Troy that
began about 1200 B.C.

• Historically:
economics and
trade routes
• By legend: the
beautiful wife of
King Menelaus of
Sparta, Helen, was
kidnapped by Paris,
a young Trojan
prince (Helen and
Paris had fallen in
love)
Cause of the war

The Hero of the Iliad
• Achilles, the
greatest warrior of
the Greeks. His only
weakness is his
heel.

The Legend of Achilles
• Thetis (Achilles'’ mother)
sought to give him immortality
by bathing him in the river
Styx, whose waters held the
property of making
invulnerable those washed in
it. Unfortunately when she
dipped the child in, she held
him by his heel which,
consequently, was not
immersed. This made him
subsequently vulnerable in his
heel.
• (Right: Image of Achilles from
a Grecian urn from 450 B.C.)

Odysseus’ role
• Pretended madness initially to escape going to the war
against Troy
• Ruler of Ithaca, with wife Penelope and son
Telemachus

Odysseus’ role (cont.)
• Shrewdest of the Greeks, he conceived a
plan to build a huge wooden horse, leave
it outside the gates of Troy, make the
Trojans believe the Greek ships had sailed
home and left this horse as an offering to
the Gods. This enabled the Greeks to
enter Troy by hiding in the belly of the
horse and open the gates for their army.

• The Trojan
Horse

The Odyssey

Odysseus and the Gods
• The Gods were sympathetic to Troy so
they were angry with Odysseus as he
traveled home
• The gods vowed to make his journey
home long and difficult (10 years)

The length of The Odyssey
• 11,300 lines
• 24 books

The plot of The Odyssey
1. Events occurring in Ithaca to
Odysseus’ son and wife while he
is away
2. Odysseus’ wanderings during
the 10 years after the Trojan
War
3. Odysseus returns to Ithaca and
joins his son Telemachus to
destroy their enemies

The Odyssey may be read as
one or both of the
following:
• Exciting adventure story,
forerunner of the novel
• The story of every human being
overcoming temptations and
obstacles to find peace and joy
in the journey through life

• ZEUS (represented
by lightning
bolts and eagles)
was the supreme
god of the
Olympians.
ZEUS

• Zeus was the leader of the
gods, but shared some of
his power with his two
brothers: Poseidon and
Hades. Poseidon received
the sea as his domain,
Hades got the Underworld
and Zeus took the sky.
Zeus also was accorded
supreme authority on earth
and on Mount Olympus.
Pictured Below: A Statue of Zeus

POSEIDON
• POSEIDON (represented by
a Trident) was the god of the
sea, earthquakes and horses.
Although he was officially one
of the supreme gods of Mount
Olympus, he spent most of his
time in his watery domain.
Poseidon was brother to Zeus
and Hades.

POSEIDON
• Interesting Fact: Poseidon and Athena
(the Goddess of Wisdom) were in a
competition for the love of the people of
the area around the Acropolis. It was
decided that the divinity who created the
most useful object would win the right to
have the city named for them. Poseidon
created horses, but Athena created the
olive, and so the capital of Greece is
Athens, not Poseidonia.