The Odyssey Background and Facts Author – Homer Homer collected the stories of the great Greek war and turned them into one long epic written in two books: The Iliad and The Odyssey The Iliad tells of the Trojan War Trojan War Ten years long Fought between Troy and an alliance of Greek kings Cause of the war – sexual jealousy Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, left her husband, a Greek king named Menelaus, and ran off with Paris, a Trojan prince

The Odyssey Background and Facts The Odyssey is the story of one Greek soldier's journey home from the Trojan War – Odysseus Epic – a long narrative poem that tells of the adventures of a hero who in some way embodies the values of his civilization The Iliad is the model for the epic of war The Odyssey is the model for the epic of the long journey The Iliad and The Odyssey were used in Greek schools for centuries to teach virtues

Characteristics of an Epic A physically impressive hero of national importance A vast setting encompassing much of the known world and sometimes the Land of the Dead A quest or journey undertaken in search of something of value The involvement of supernatural forces Glorification of the hero at the end A basis in a specific culture or society

Epics in Ancient Times No movies, television, possibly no written history Stories were told orally by story-tellers Rhapsodes - ”singers of tales”; the historians and entertainers and myth-makers The minstrels would travel from town to town singing of recent events or of the gods and goddesses and heroes of the day

The Iliad Set in the tenth (final) year of the Trojan War Greeks attacked Troy to get revenge for the insult to King Menelaus of Sparta Greek kings banded together under Agamemnon, Menelaus's brother They sailed across the Aegean Sea and attacked Troy They succeeded, burned Troy to the ground, and killed all the inhabitants except for those they took as slaves

The Iliad cont. Achilles – the greatest of the Greek warriors; died in battle Agamemnon returned home from war victorious only to be murdered by either his unfaithful wife or her lover Homer – wife's lover Aescylus – wife Odysseus – hero known for both his brain and his brawn; the hero of The Odyssey

Odysseus A hero in trouble Relatable because, like us normal people, Odysseus faces many difficult choices Married to Penelope – beautiful, strong woman They had one son, Telemachus – still a toddler when Odysseus went to war Odysseus tried to avoid going to war – acted insane when they came to get him

Odysseus cont. Odysseus thought up the Trojan horse trick For ten years the Greeks had fought the Trojans outside the massive walls surrounding the city of Troy Odysseus suggested they build a gigantic wooden horse and hide soldiers inside it The Greeks rolled it to the city gates and then withdrew Trojans, thinking the Greeks surrendered and left a peace offering, brought the horse into the city At night, the Greeks inside the horse broke out, opened the gates to the whole army and began the last battle of the war

The Odyssey Theme – the characters' struggles to find their proper places in life Structure – does not begin with Odysseus' departure from Troy; starts with Telemachus dealing with a group of suitors determined to pressure Penelope into marriage and rob Telemachus of his inheritance Starts ten years after Odysseus left Troy and twenty years after he left his family to go fight in the war

The Odyssey cont. Telemachus is in search of his father Odysseus is in search of inner peace and balance Both quests frame the poem and incorporate the reader, because all of us are searching for our real identities

Mythical aspect of The Odyssey Myths – traditional stories, rooted in a particular culture, that usually explain a belief, a ritual, or a mysterious natural phenomenon Myths are essentially religious because they are concerned with the relationship between human beings and the unknown or spiritual realm The Odyssey is concerned with the relationships between humans and the gods and goddesses of Greece