ODYSSEY BACKGROUND NOTES

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ODYSSEY BACKGROUND NOTES

• Epic Poem
• A. The Odyssey is written in a genre called an
  epic poem
• B. An epic poem is a long, narrative poem about
  warriors and heroes.
• C. It has four main ingredients myth, legend,
  folktale, and history
• D. An epic poem has cultural significance. It is
  like a cultural bible.

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• E. The Greeks had two major epic poems The
  Iliad and The Odyssey.
• F. The Romans had an epic poem called The
  Aeneid.
• G. The English have an epic poem called Beowulf.
• H. The Odyssey has two strong features
• Homeric similes (long similes)
• epithets (a word or phrase used to characterize
  someone or something such as Raider of Cities
  meaning Odysseus, or Lord of the Clouds meaning
  Zeus.)

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• II. The Greek Gods
• A. The Greeks were polytheistic (believed in
  many Gods)
• B. Their Gods behaved like humans they played
  jokes, got angry, etc.
• C. The Greeks believed that the gods lived in
  northern Greece on Mt. Olympus.
• D. They believed that the gods came down to
  earth disguised as wandering strangers

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• E. The major Gods
• Zeus King of the Gods
• Hera Queen of the Gods
• Athena Goddess of War Wisdom
• Aphrodite Goddess of love beauty
• Apollo God of the sun
• Poseidon God of the sea

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• III. The Life of Homer
• A. Homer was the poet who wrote both Greek epic
  poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey.
• B. The Iliad is about a ten-year war at Troy.
• C. The Odyssey is about Odysseus ten-year
  journey back home after the war.
• D. Homer wrote these poems about 800BC however,
  the Trojan War took place 400 years earlier in
  1200BC.

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• E. Homer is believed to have been blind.
• F. Homer memorized the entire poem and sang it
  for hours, as a kind of entertainment for people
  to listen to.
• G. This type of poem-singer was called a
  rhapsodoi (professional reciter) similar to
  minstrels of Medieval England.
• H. These epic poems united all the Greek
  city-states into one nation.

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• I. The poems were viewed as sacred and the
  ultimate authority on morality.
• J. The poems were lost during the Dark Ages but
  were re-discovered in Constantinople (Turkey)
  during the Renaissance.
• IV. The Greek People
• A. The Greeks were polytheistic and believed in
  many gods.

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• B. Because the gods could come to earth
  disguised as wandering strangers, the Greeks
  treated all wandering travelers with their best
  hospitality. To treat a stranger badly was a risk
  at offending a god. Therefore, the people valued
  hospitality very highly.
• C. The Greek people respected their religious
  prophets called oracles.
• D. The people also valued moderation and looked
  down on people with too much pride (hubris) or
  who were greedy or cruel.

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• E. Greek households grouped together to form
  city-states. Each city-state tried to win the
  favor of a particular god or goddess by giving
  offerings.
• F. The people also believed in hero worship
  involving a person who displayed honor, bravery,
  hospitality, loyalty to home, intelligence, and
  respect for the gods.

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• G. The people traveled mainly by sea because
  Greece was so mountainous. They traded with
  countries who had alphabets and began to develop
  their own about the time of Homer. The story was
  passed down from generation to generation until
  it was written down about 850 BC.
• V. Background Information
• A. The Historical Perspective
• 1. The city of Troy did exist. In fact, there
  were at least nine Troys built one on top of
  the other all located in the country we now
  call Turkey.

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• 2. Later conquered by the Greeks, the city also
  went by the name Ilios, and when conquered by the
  Romans, it became Ilium hence, the name of
  Homers first epic poem, The Iliad, (not the
  Troyad.)
• 3. Troy was an important trade city that was
  strategically located at the Dardanelles Straight
  at the entrance to the Black Sea from the Aegean
  Sea.

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• 4. Since sea trade was vital to transporting
  goods, anything from the Far East went across the
  land to the Black Sea, where it could be loaded
  onto boats and distributed out to the
  Mediterranean Sea area.
• 5. Troy was a city worth capturing and
  archaeologists say that it was burned to the
  ground in the 11th century BC, about the time of
  the Trojan War.
• 6. The word Greek did not exist back then the
  people from Greece were called Achaens, Argives,
  or Danaans.

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• B. The Story behind the City of Troy
• 1. In the 11th century BC, Troy was supposedly
  ruled by King Priam.
• 2. With his first wife, Hecuba, and his other
  wives, King Priam had 50 sons and 12 daughters.
• 3. In those days, dreams were believed to
  foretell the future, and Queen Hecuba dreamed
  that she would have a troublemaker of a son who
  would bring about the fall of Troy.

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• 4. The next child is born, a son named Paris. He
  is taken to the mountainside and left to die (a
  frequent Greek custom usually reserved for
  handicapped children the Greeks believed only
  the strongest should survive.)
• 5. The baby Paris was given a rattle with the
  Kings seal on it to entertain himself while he
  dies.
• 6. Legend says that Paris was rescued and raised
  by a shepherd.

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• 7. The shepherd kept the rattle, and when Paris
  was a young man, the shepherd told him who he
  thought he was. Paris returned to the kings
  household to continue his life.
• 8. There was to be an important social wedding in
  Troy between a mortal man named Peleus and a sea
  nymph named Thetis.
• 9. One goddess, Eris, the goddess of strife and
  discord, was deliberately left off the guest
  list.

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• 10. In revenge, she crashes the wedding and
  rolls a golden apple down the wedding table. The
  apple is engraved with the words, To the
  Fairest.
• 11. The three most powerful goddesses Hera,
  Aphrodite, and Athena each grab for the apple
  considering themselves to be the fairest.
• 12. Zeus is afraid to make the controversial
  decision over who should get the apple, so he
  picks Prince Paris to make it instead.

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• 13. Bribery begins Hera promises Paris all the
  power in the world Athena promises him wisdom
  and military skills Aphrodite promises him the
  most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chooses
  Aphrodite as the Fairest.
• 14. The most beautiful woman in the world is
  Helen of Sparta. Unfortunately, she is already
  married to King Menelaus.
• 15. Paris pretends to be a beggar at King
  Menelaus castle and kidnaps Helen with
  Aphrodites help.

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• 16. Menelaus gathers armies from all his friends
  (including King Odysseus of Ithaca) and sails to
  Troy to bring back his wife.
• 17. The Greeks fight the Trojans for nine years
  before Odysseus comes up with the idea for the
  Trojan horse in the 10th year. This idea ends the
  war and they regain Helen. This is the basis for
  the epic poem, The Iliad.