1. Homer’s The Odyssey
Background Notes

2. Who is Homer?

3. No, not Homer Simpson…

4. An Ancient blind poet
The “bard” who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey between 900 and 700 B.C.

5. Homer did not compose each epic all at once: he told them in a series of short episodes that could be recited in an evening.
Editors, not Homer himself, organized the epics in 24 books.

6. What exactly is an Epic?

7. The Epic… A long narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero
Used to teach virtues of a civilization

8. Characteristics of an Epic
A physically impressive hero (usually famous)
A quest or journey
A vast setting involving much of the known physical world
Descent of the hero into the underworld
Supernatural Forces
Glorification of the hero at the end

9. Famous Epics from Around the World
Iliad and Odyssey Greece
Gilgamesh Sumeria
Aeneid Rome
Song of Roland France
Divine Comedy Italy
Mahabharata, Ramayana India
Sundiata Mali

10. Heroes During Homer’s Time
Heroes were a special class of aristocrats, in between gods and ordinary human beings.
No matter what pain they may have experienced, they always displayed CONFIDENCE .

11. The Iliad Setting: 10th year of the Trojan War Greeks vs. Trojans
Theme: War
Important Characters:
Helen, the “face that launched a thousand ships.”
Menelaus, Helen’s Greek Husband
Paris, the prince of Troy
Climax: Trojan Horse (Odysseus’s idea)

12. The Odyssey Setting: 10 years after the end of the Trojan War
Theme: A Long Journey
A Hero In trouble:
Odysseus, a Greek soldier trying to find his way home to Ithaca
People of Ithaca have forgotten about him
His war-hero status is not important anymore

13. “In Medias Res” Means: “In the middle of a sequence of events”
The Odyssey does not begin at the beginning; it starts with Telemachus at 20 years old trying to figure out what to do about his missing dad.