1. The Adventures of Odysseus

2. HOMER Blind poet Trojan War probably occurred in the 12 th century, but Homer composed the two poems, The Illiad and The Odyssey in the 8 th century They began as oral tales and were written down 200 years later

3. EPIC POEM A long narrative poem on a serious subject; written in a grand or elevated style centered on a larger than life hero

4. It all started with an apple… One of the minor goddesses, Eris, the Spirit of Discord, was not invited to a wedding feast – for obvious reasons. In revenge, she threw a golden apple into the party with the words, tei kallistei (to the fairest) on it. The 3 most powerful goddesses, Hera, Athena and Aphrodite fought over it until Zeus decreed Paris, the prince of Troy would decide the fairest among them.

5. Let the bribery begin… Hera promised to make Paris lord of Eurasia Athena promised him victory in battle over the Greeks Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, daughter of Zeus and the mortal, Leda ….and we have a winner

6. A little problem: Helen was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose brother was Agamemnon, the most powerful of the Greek kings The Allies were called in (including Odysseus and Achilles) and the war began

7. The Fall of Troy (The Iliad) The Greeks have been away at war for 10 years. The Greeks defeat the Trojans with the help of Athena and Poseidon. The Greeks go mad with victory the night they sacked the city of Troy. The Greeks violate the prophetess Cassandra in Athena’s temple

8. The Fall of Troy Athena turns against the Greeks (for violating her temple) and convinces Poseidon to do the same. This causes the Greeks to be terribly punished on their journey back home.

9. The Odyssey takes place 10 years after the Trojan War All of the warriors from the Trojan war have made it home except for Odysseus who is imprisoned by the nymph Calypso on her island

10. Life Back Home Odysseus has been away from his home in Ithaca for a total of 20 years. His son, Telemachus, has become a man and his wife Penelope is assumed to be a widow by the people of Ithaca. Suitors come to woo Penelope but she remains faithful to Odysseus, believing he is still alive. The suitors continue to live in Odysseus’s house until Penelope agrees to marry one of them.

11. Life Back Home She holds the suitors off by promising them she will marry one of them when she finishes weaving a shroud for Odysseus’ father They give in to her promise and agree to let her finish Every day she works on the shroud but secretly undoes it at night. The suitors eventually find out about her scheme and catch her in the act. They become more unmanageable than ever.

12. Athena’s Forgiveness Athena’s anger subsides and she decides to bring Odysseus home. Although Poseidon is still angry with Odysseus, Athena asks the other gods to help him get home. She also goes to Ithaca in disguise and asks Telemachus to search for his father. Telemachus seeks the help and advice of Menelaus in Sparta He says he has heard from Proteus that he is being held a prisoner of love by sea nymph Calypso.

13. Free From Calypso Hermes visits Calypso and tells her of Zeus's command to let Odysseus go. She finally gives into Zeus’s command and gives Odysseus all the necessities he needs to make a raft to get home. On his journey home, Poseidon catches sight of him and sends a storm to wreck his ship. The goddess Ino feels sorry for him and gives him her veil to protect him from harm in the water.

14. Ever had a relationship you just could not seem to end? Meet Calypso, the nymph Egocentric Dominating/possessive Desperate (offers immortality to Odysseus if he will stay) Classic relationship where one person wants out and the other does not

15. Zeus forces her to let go The Odyssey begins with the council of the gods deciding that it is time for Odysseus to return home Hermes is sent to relay the message and force Calypso’s hand She reluctantly agrees to release him

16. Free From Calypso He swims for 2 days and finally reaches the land of the Phaeacians and their king. The king’s daughter finds him naked and filthy on the shore. She leads him to the king where he is received warmly and kindly. The King says he will make sure he gets home and lets him eat and sleep at his house. The next day he tells the story of his suffering.

17. The Odyssey as a psychological hero journey “Myth is a mirror for the ego” – Campbell The epic can be read as a metaphor for coming home to ourselves Odysseus travels through the symbolic temptations of apathy, revenge, greed, and lust to return home to his true heroic self

18. Odysseus’ Journey Lotus eaters The inhabitants try to feed some of the men their flower food that makes them lose their longing to get home. Odysseus had to drag them back to the ship and chain them as they wept to stay in the Lotus Land. Cyclops Polyphemus Hungry and tired the men come across the cave of Polyphemus where Odysseus lost many men. By blinding the Cyclops, Poseidon became even more angry with Odysseus

19. Odysseus’ Journey Aeolus, keeper of the winds The men come to the country of the winds where Aeolus receives them with hospitality. As a gift, Aeolus gives Odysseus a parting gift of a leather sack full of all the storm winds. Odysseus can sail home safely as long as he keeps the sack closed. His crew, thinking the sack is full of gold, opens the sack and unleashes a storm They are blown off course towards the Land of Laestrygons. These cannibals destroy all of his ships except the one he was in.

20. Odysseus’ Journey Circe, a beautiful but dangerous witch Some of the men go ahead and encounter Circe who turns them into pigs. One man escapes and returns to Odysseus to tell him what happened. Odysseus goes to help his men armed with a herb Hermes has given him that would protect him from Circe’s magic. She falls in love with Odysseus and changes his crew back into human form and they live in luxury at her house for a year. After having enough, Circe uses her magic to tell them how to get home They must travel to Hades and speak to the dead prophet Teiresias.

21. Human defiance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty5A2 BMRTz0 The odyssey-circe (Kurt Douglas) Scene when Calypso offers him eternal life Chooses his mortality and “the greater gift to be born and die and in between life like a man” Accepts his fragilty and vulnerable who nevertheless battles with the gods

22. Odysseus’ Journey Odysseus and his men lure Teiresias’ spirit with blood and ask for help. He tells Odysseus’ he will eventually get home and advises the men not to kill oxen belonging to the sun. Circe also tells the men not to listen to the Sirens. The Sirens- women that lured men to death by singing

23. Odysseus’ Journey The men plug their ears with wax while passing the island except Odysseus. He was tied to the mast so he could not wander away. They finally arrive at the island of the Sun where the hungry men kill and eat an ox while Odysseus is away. Zeus destroys the ship and drowns everyone but Odysseus. He is then carried to the island of Calypso where he is held for so long.

24. Odysseus Heads Home After hearing this, the Phaeacians make a ship for him to get home. When he reaches home, Athena comes to him and tells him of the situation with his wife and comes up with a plan to win his home back. Odysseus is disguised as a beggar so he will be welcomed into his palace.

25. Fighting For His Home After being tormented by the suitors at the palace, Penelope orders the old nurse to tend to the stranger. The nurse recognizes the scar on the beggar and knows it is Odysseus. The next day, Penelope presents the suitors with a challenge: whoever can string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through twelve rings would be able to marry her. All the suitors try and fail but when the beggar asks for a try they all laugh at him.

26. Fighting For His Home The beggar quickly and easily strings the bow and shoots the bow through the rings. The suitors, taken off guard go for their weapons but Telemachus hid them all. They try to run away but the doors are all locked as Odysseus slaughters them all. Odysseus finally reveals himself to Penelope and after 20 years of separation, they live happily ever after.

27. THEMES OF THE ODYSSEY Odysseus’ hero characteristics The epic’s double standard for women Battle mentality of Greek culture Fate vs. Free Will

28. Is Odysseus a hero? The facts: He’s not a great fighter He’s sort of sleazy, but cunning and smart He’s smug and overconfident He’s a liar and serial adulterer But heroism to the Greeks is embodying and overcoming human imperfection. Just as their accomplishments served to highlight the struggle for meaning in the face of mortality, their vindictiveness and lapses in judgment served as the mythological embodiment of human error.

29. Does the epic diss women? The evidence: When the men and women in the epic engage in the exact same behavior, the men are thought of as studs and the women as sluts In fact, the only way for a man to be heroic is to have sex with a lot of women. Hence the irony: the only way for a man to achieve ideal manliness is for women to fail at achieving ideal womanliness Most monsters in the epic are women (Sirens, Scylla, etc)

30. Can the cycle of violence be stopped? In the Iliad the main theme is glory, but in The Odyssey, the main theme is adjusting to peace-time Odysseus essentially returns home with PTSD. He slaughters the suitors and then their relatives come to town to slaughter him The violence only stops with divine intervention (Athena comes down and forces the end)

31. FATE vs. FREE WILL The human characters are caught like strong swimmers in an undertow that is much stronger than their most strenuous strivings: the will of Zeus was moving toward its end” BUT, Zeus says in exasperation, “Mortals! They are always blaming the gods for their troubles when their own witlessness causes them more than they were destined for”

32. QUIZ TIME 1. Who wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey? 2. Does The Odyssey take place before or after the Trojan War? 3. Name one reason Odysseus can’t make it home to Ithica? 4. Why is Odysseus considered a hero when he is not a great fighter, is sleazy and smug, lies and commits adultery? 5. Respond to the following quote: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way” (Victor Frankel). Is this true? Are men free or controlled by forces outside of their control?

33. www.youtube.com Clash of the gods Odysseus S01EP06