An epic hero

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The Odyssey

• An epic heros journey home
• Homer

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Homer

• Guess the answer to these facts! True/False?
• He was born about 850 B.C.
• He was blind.
• He lived in the same place all of his life.
• He wrote down all of his poetry and passed it on
  for others to read.
• There are theories that Homer was actually a
  woman.

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Some actual facts about Homer

• Very little is known about the epic poet, Homer
  (Homeros, in Greek)
• He was an Asiatic Greek, probably born in Smyrna
  (an ancient city of Ionia, on the western coast
  of Asia Minor) around 850 B.C.
• It is widely believed that he was blind and a
  nomad, traveling from place to place.

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More facts

• Homer did not present his poetry in written form.
  He and others recited it from memory.
• There is one theory that his poems were actually
  created by a group of poets.
• There are also some who believe Homer was
  actually a woman.
• Homers works were unique for their time because
  they were actually recorded.

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Homers works

• Almost 3000 years ago, people who lived in the
  area of the world now known as Greece told
  stories of a great war.
• Homer gathered these stories together and told
  them as one unified epic.
• His stories are called The Iliad and The Odyssey.
  (In Greek, Ilias and Odysseia).
• These real battles would have taken place as
  early as 1200 B.C.

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The Iliad

• Homers first epic
• Tells the story of the ten year war fought on the
  plains outside the city of Troy. The ruins of
  Troy can still be seen in western Turkey.
• The Trojan War was fought between the people of
  Troy and an alliance of Greek kings.
• The cause of the war was sexual jealousy The
  worlds most beautiful woman, Helen, abandoned
  her husband, Menelaus, a Greek king, and ran off
  with Paris, a prince of Troy.

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The Iliad continued

• The story is set in the 10th and final year of
  the Trojan War.
• The Greek kings banded together under the
  leadership of Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus.
• They sailed 1000 ships across the Aegean Sea and
  encircled the city of Troy.
• The Greeks eventually were victorious.

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Just a little more

• They reduced Troy to ruins and butchered the
  inhabitants, except for those they kept as slaves
  and took back to Greece.
• The Greeks did lose their greatest warrior,
  Achilles, in the last year of the war.
• When Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces,
  came home from Troy, he was murdered by his
  unfaithful wife!

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Odysseus, an usual hero.

• Odysseus is the Greek war hero who is the subject
  of The Odyssey.
• He is known as much for his brain as his brawn.
• In Homers day, heroes were thought of as a
  special class of aristocrats, somewhere between
  gods and human beings.

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Odysseus a hero in trouble

• He is lost in a world of difficult choices.
• He was a great soldier in the war, but his war
  record is not of interest to the monsters he must
  face during his journey home to Ithaca.
• Before the war, Odysseus was married to the
  beautiful and faithful, Penelope. They have one
  son, Telemachus.

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Odysseus a hero in trouble

• Telemachus was a toddler when Odysseus was called
  to war by Agamemnon and Menelaus against Troy.
  However, Odysseus did not want to go to war, and
  he tried draft-dodging. He was, however, finally
  forced to go to war.
• Once in Troy, Odysseus performed extremely well
  as a soldier and commander.

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The Wooden-Horse Trick

• Odysseus came up with a plan to get inside the
  walls of Troy since the war had been fought
  outside the walls for ten years.
• Odysseus plan was to build a massive
  wooden-horse and hide a few Greek soldiers inside
  it.
• After the horse was built, the Greeks pushed it
  up to the gates of Troy and withdrew their armies
  so it looked like they abandoned their camp.
• The Trojans thought the Greeks had given up and
  the horse was a peace offering, so they brought
  the horse into their city.
• That night, the Greeks hiding inside the horse
  came out and let the whole Greek army into Troy
  to begin the battle to win the war.
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vYbiR6IMf5KQ

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The Odyssey

• Written sometime during the 7th or 8th century
  B.C.
• Tells the story of the travels of the Greek hero,
  Odysseus, as he makes his way home to Ithaca
  after his army defeats the Trojans in the Trojan
  War.
• The story begins with his son, Telemachus, who is
  now 20 years old.
• There have been many rude, powerful men swarming
  about his home pressuring his mother to marry one
  of them.

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The Odyssey continued

• While this is happening, Odysseus is stranded on
  an island trying to find a way back to his family
  and home.
• It has been 10 years since Odysseus sailed from
  Troy, and 20 years since he left Ithaca to fight
  in Troy.
• While Telemachus is searching for his father,
  Odysseus is searching for a way out of his
  mid-life crisis.

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A tough road home

• Odysseus makes his journey with the help of his
  guardian goddess, Athena. During his 10 year
  journey, he must face
• Violent storms, enslavement by a sea nymph,
  witches, a Cyclops, blood-thirsty Sirens, and the
  mysterious underworld.
• When he finally returns home, he must rid his
  house of the suitors who have been terrorizing
  his wife and son during his absence.

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Gods and Goddesses

• Ancient Greeks are always concerned about the
  relationship between humans and gods. The Gods
  controlled all things.
• Gods did not normally appear to mortals, and when
  they did, it was to punish them.
• Ancient Greeks feared their Gods and felt they
  had to be appeased and showered with gifts even
  if the humans were not aware of having done
  anything wrong.

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Gods and Goddess you will encounter

• Zeus
• Hera
• Poseidon
• Aphrodite
• Athena
• Artemis
• Hermes

• Apollo
• Hephaestus
• Hades
• Demeter
• Dionysus
• Ares
• Persephone

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Epic

• An extended narrative poem recounting actions,
  travels, adventures, and heroic episodes
  involving a hero who embodies the values of his
  civilization.
• The Greeks, for centuries, used The Iliad and The
  Odyssey to teach Greek virtues.
• The Odyssey is the model for the epic of the long
  journey.

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Characteristics of an epic

• A physically impressive hero/protagonist of
  national or historical importance
• A vast setting involving much of the known
  physical world and sometimes the land of the dead
• Action such as a quest or journey taken in search
  of something of value
• Evidence of supernatural forces at work
• Glorification of the hero at the end
• Rooted in a specific culture and society

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In an epic, you will often find

• A request for help from a muse or other deity.
• The story beginning in medias res (in the middle
  of things).
• The use of patronymics (calling a son by his
  fathers name).
• Long, formal speeches by important characters.
• A journey to the underworld.
• The use of the number 3.
• Previous episodes in the story are later
  recounted.

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How to become an epic hero

• Separation
• The ordinary world
• Call to adventure
• Initiation
• Refusal to the call (reluctant hero)
• Mentor
• Crossing the first threshold
• Tests, allies and enemies
• Approach the innermost cave
• Supreme ordeal
• Reward

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How to become an epic hero

• Return
• The road back
• Resurrection
• Return with the prize

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The Odyssey-Quiz Review Material

• Matching characters/Gods/Goddesses to
  descriptions
• Part I The Wanderings-events from the stories,
  i.e. The Cyclops, The Lotus Eaters, Calypso, The
  Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, The Witch Circe,
  The Cattle of the Sun God
• Characteristics of an epic hero-Odysseus actions
• Part II Coming Home-events from the stories,
  i.e. The Meeting of Father and Son, The Test of
  the Great Bow, Death at the Palace, Odysseus and
  Penelope
• Themes within The Odyssey
• Greek values of hospitality, loyalty, deference
  for the Gods
• Short Answer question-paragraph response
  dramatic irony in Part II, The Meeting of Father
  and Son