1. Introductory Lecture: The Odyssey
Mrs. Holder’s
Introductory Lecture:
The Odyssey

2. Why read The Odyssey? Experience the oldest literary form
Study and analyze the genre of epic
Study and analyze other elements of literature (character, theme, etc.)
Look for archetypes
Enjoy a fascinating adventure tale

3. It’s good to know, during the Odyssey when we talk about dates,
3010 years ago also can mean 1000 B.C.E
B.C. = Before Christ
A.D. = After Death

4. HOMER Greek storyteller
composed the Iliad and the Odyssey around 800 BC
may have been blind, a group of poets, or even a woman

5. What is an EPIC? Long, narrative poem about the adventures of a hero
Shows values & beliefs of a culture
Includes a journey / quest
Encompasses vast setting (world)
Involves supernatural forces
Hero’s actions determine nation’s fate

6. EPIC: Iliad
A story of the 10 year Trojan War (occurred around 1200 B.C.)
Began with Paris King of Troy who took Helen, wife of King Menelaus.

7. EPIC: Odyssey
A story of Odysseus’ long and wayward journey from the Trojan War.

8. Epics and Values Epics: long narrative poems
Usually contain reference to supernatural powers or events.
Contains the ideas, morals themes, and values of a culture from which it is created.
EXAMPLES:
Iliad: the archetype of the war epic.
Odyssey: the archetype of the story of a long journey; the long journey can be see as a metaphor for living one’s life.

9. ILLIAD Trojan War was fought over Helen.
Menelaus, king of Sparta, wanted his wife back.
Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, gathered the army together.
Agamemnon got the wind to sail the ships to Troy by sacrificing his daughter to the gods.
Greeks own the war through trickery, the Trojan horse, created by Odysseus.
Achilles, greatest Greek hero, died young in the last year of the war.
Agamemnon, killed when he returned home by his wife who had taken another lover.

10. The Wooden Horse
A hollow wooden horse the Greeks built, supposedly to honor the Trojans.
The Greeks pretended to leave and the horse was brought inside the gates of Troy.

11. At night, the Greeks who were hidden inside slipped out and opened the gates to the city.
The Greeks who had returned entered the city and slaughtered the Trojans.
The idea for the wooden horse was Odysseus’.

12. The Odyssey: Odysseus, A Hero in Trouble
Odysseus is a very human hero.
More than his strength, which was great, Odysseus was known for his clever and agile mind.
It was he who thought of using the Trojan horse to gain entrance to the impregnable walls of Troy.

13. Odysseus feels the effects of life after the great war
his reputation does nothing for him against the unthinking monsters he faces in his journey home.
does not have the respect he once had even from the citizens of Ithaca, his home
has the love and loyalty of his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus.
did not want to leave his wife and family to go to war in the first place

14. The Ancient World and Ours
At this time in history, the idea of “king” must be taken with a grain of salt. The king of an area might simply be the person who owned the most goats. Treasure was really just anything that might have a use to the people taking it.

15. A Search for Their Places in Life
Odysseus:
In a mid-life crisis.
Searching for inner peace.
Looking to re-join his family.
Searching to find a balance in his life.
A quest for his identity.
Telemachus
In danger of losing his inheritance.
Needs father for guidance and help.
In search of his father.

16. Relationships with the gods
Myths: stories that show the relationship between the people and the unknown or spiritual realm.
Literary Technique: In these stories, the gods can be an alter ego, another version of the person’s personality, a reflection of the character’s best or worst qualities.

17. The god who is on Odysseus’ side will reflect his better or stronger qualities.
The god who opposes Odysseus will reflect the darker, more negative side of Odysseus’ personality.

18. Poseidon the god who opposes Odysseus
the god of the sea, tempestuous, violent and cruel.
Odysseus is also quick to anger, violent and cruel at times to this god

19. Athena goddess who favors Odysseus the goddess of wisdom
a war goddess who fights to protect the homeland.

20. Who Was Homer? No one knows who Homer was.
The traveling storyteller or the royal storyteller has a long history. People have always wanted entertainment and these epic stories were some of the best entertainment of the day. People have always enjoyed being told a good story by someone who really knows how to get attention. Homer, if there even was a Homer, must have been one of these.
 Remember that none of these stories were written down. Each storyteller would have had to memorize the entire work and told it in such a way as would be part performance. Very likely they did not memorize the story word for word but would know the basic story and improvised on the spot, following a basic rhythm of the words, much like a rapper who creates his or her song for the immediate audience.

21. Homeric Simile: A Homeric or heroic simile compares heroic events to everyday occurrences.
Example: “A man in a distant field, no hearth fires near, / will hide a fresh brand in his bed of embers / to keep a spark alive for the next day; / so in the leaves Odysseus hid himself, (Lines )
The way Odysseus hides himself in the leaves to sleep is compared to the way a burning coal is buried deep in the embers to preserve a spark for the next day.

22. Epithet
Adjective or descriptive phrase regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing. We speak of “Honest Abe,” for example, and “America the Beautiful.”

23. Homeric Epithet
compound adjective that modifies a noun. Ex: “wine-dark sea,” “rosy-fingered dawn,” “the gray-eyed goddess Athena.”

24. LASTLY…
Notice that there is a great deal of repetition in the stories. This made it a bit simpler to tell.

25. ENJOY THE ADVENTURE! THE END