1. The Odyssey

3. What is an Epic?
A long narrative poem about a legendary hero.

4. Homer
poet
thought to be blind, but describes events as a seeing person
lived around 800 B.C.E

5. Homer
Wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey - stories about the war between the Trojans and the Greeks which had happened between 900 and 700 B.C.E.

6. Illiad Story of the last year of the Trojan War
War had lasted 10 years.
Troy was defeated when Odysseus and his men were able to get inside the walls of Troy concealed within the body of the Trojan horse.

7. The Trojan Horse

8. The Odyssey
The story of the journey of Odysseus and his men trying to get home after the Trojan War.
10 years
an epic about humans on the journey of life overcoming temptations along the way.

9. What makes Odysseus a classic Greek hero
What makes Odysseus a classic Greek hero? How can Homer’s The Odyssey be characterized as the story of an epic hero?
Let’s start with the brains of the operation!
Odysseus is intelligent, but his intelligence is of the cunning, sly type….not the book-smart type.
He is, after all, a man of “twists and turns…” The Greek term for this versatility is “polytropos,” or “turning in many directions.” Odysseus is a man of deceptions and disguises.

10. Odysseus is a wanderer who seeks to return home.
The sharpness with which he led his men in the Trojan War is the same devious aptitude he uses to find his way back home after the war. It is also the same intelligence he uses to outwit monsters and other foes who block his path and threaten his men’s lives.

13. In order to use his cunning and his strength, Odysseus must be willing to face danger with courage. He does not shrink away from his leadership role in times of great peril.

14. Physical Strength
While Odysseus demonstrates cunning, farsightedness, adaptability and other aspects of intellectual prowess, he is by no means a physical weakling! He is not enormous, but he is powerful, and he is both an excellent athlete and a formidable soldier. This combination of intellectual and physical excellence is called “arete” in Greek.

15. What else?
Odysseus is also an aristocrat. He is a member of the ruling class who seeks to recapture his “rightful” place after his long years away at war. He returns to one last battle in which he takes revenge on interlopers…rude, crass suitors for his wife’s affections and possessions…and reasserts his claim to his palace, a beautiful wife and a loyal son to be his proper heir.

16. Fortunately……
Odysseus also has the help of the gods at times. In the beginning of the epic, Athena represents Odysseus favorably to the other gods at council meetings. Ultimately, Zeus helps Odysseus rule peacefully once he finally arrives home.
Of course, the gods are not always pleased. Poseidon makes Odysseus’s journey a true test of his wit and valor.

17. As with many tragic heroes, Odysseus has faults that lead to disaster
As with many tragic heroes, Odysseus has faults that lead to disaster. Unlike tragic heroes, Odysseus is able to use his conniving to escape the ultimate price others have to pay for his mistakes.

18. Characters Odysseus or Ulysses
Sirens - group of females who lured sailors by their singing

19. Characters Circe - goddess, enchantress, who turned men into swine
Scylla - monster with 12 feet and 6 heads with 3 rows of teeth, carries off a sailor in each mouth
Eurylochus - one of the crew members

20. Let’s review…
Odysseus possesses a cunning wit, and he uses it more than he uses his aging physical strength.
He is brave, but he prefers to defeat his enemies with clever deception rather than meet them head-on.
He is on a journey home, and he must pass many trials to reach the safety of his home.
He must take the hero’s journey into the underworld and return, emerging as a new, wiser and more mature man.
He has weaknesses, but he manages to overcome them to complete his journey and reclaim his home and family.
He interacts with the gods and receives both their favors and their curses.
He is ultimately a heroic figure, a literary icon and an adventurer’s idol.
The End