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3 Thousand years ago, people living in Greece talked about a great war. The man credited with recording this war was Homer. His stories are called the Illiad and the Odyssey.
The Illiad tells about the story of Troy. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus and his travels after the war.
Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the adventures of heroes who show the values of their civilizations (town) Epics and Values Greeks used these stories to teach Later other cultures used the ideas with their own values
Homers stories are the heart of the epic tradition The Odyssey is a model for the epic of long journeys Other stories such as:
The War Story Background- Violence and Brutality In the Iliad - Greeks attacked Troy to avenge insults The kings wife ran off with Paris (a young prince of Troy)!
Eventually- Greeks were successful Brought the city to dust The king was killed by his wife when he returned.
Odysseus: A Hero in Trouble In Homers day: Heroes were special Placed between Gods and ordinary humans The Odyssey is melancholy- post war feelings
Odysseus had great history No one cared... Seemed as if people were saying: You were a great soldier once- or so they say- but times have changed. This is a difficult world and we have more important things to think about than your record. Nice huh...
Odysseus married Penelope Very strong woman! (mentally) Had a son- Telemachus Didnt want to go to war Pretended to be crazy! Kings men threw Telemachus in front of a cart- Odysseus saved him- NOT CRAZY ANY MORE!
The Wooden Horse Trick Great soldier and leader His idea for the horse Bring a hollow horse into the city walls- jump out at night and start the war
Harsh place with lots of violence The Ancient World and Ours On the way home- stole lots of stuff- PIRATES!
Odysseus and family are searching for the right friends A Search for Their Places in Life This is a theme in the story Theme- big idea of the story/lesson to be learned
Telemachus is 20 at start of story Threatened by rude men- pressuring mom to marry one of them! Needs Dad to come save the day! Problem: Dads stuck on an island!
10 years since he left! Odysseus is in mid-life crisis Searching for inner peace- a way to re- find himself We connect- always trying to find ourselves as well
Relationships with the Gods Myths = traditional stories that explain a belief, ritual, or mysterious natural happening Myths are basically religious because they talk about relationship between humans and beyond
Homer talked about relationship between humans and the gods Homer is religious: thought gods control all Athena is always with Odysseus She is goddess of wisdom Odysseus is also known for his mental abilities
Gods can be alter egos - a reflection of the best and worse qualities in a hero God who works against Odysseus is Poseidon God of the Seas- known for arrogance and certain brutishness Sometimes Odysseus is mean too!
Who is Homer? Were not really sure... Think he was a blind singer from Chios Scholars think he was too good to be true At least know he was a model for wandering bards called rhapsodes
Rhapsodes or singers of tales were historians Traveled from city to city to tell the news No TV or radios Would be like an author of Book of Kings in the Bible, a writer of history of WWII, and a famous pop singer were combined into one person!
How Were the Epics Told? Stories were probably told by people who could not read and write Only learned stories by hearing them Stories followed basic plot, but most was made up on the spot Work hard, practice a lot, and need a good audience
Story tellers knew a formula for arrivals, greetings, eating, and bathing Formulas had an advantage- gave singer and audience breathing time Audience could relax and singer could plan for the next thing Thinking about the audience we understand the extended comparisons we call Homeric or epic similes today
These similes compare heroic or epic events to simple and easily understandable things today The stories could not have been told in one sitting Text is broken up- like it would have been The audience would want to talk between We are part of that audience now
A Live Performance We can guess what it was like as we read There are references to singers performing Lets picture the setting of a performance
Picture a hall full of people freshly showered, doused in body spray, wearing really fancy clothes. Dinner is cooking in the kitchen, lots of people talking. Anticipation is hanging in the air. This famous guy is in town for the weekend with new tricks up his sleeve. What will he present tonight? This is more modern than Homers time, but you get the idea!