Homer

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Homers The Odyssey
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Who is Homer?

• An Ancient blind poetWhich is amazing!
• The man is credited for who composing the Iliad
  and the Odyssey between 900 and 700 B.C.

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• 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
• Amazing given that the original Greek version was
  over 12,000 lines
• Editors, not Homer himself, organized the epics
  in 24 books.

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What exactly is an Epic?
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The Epic

• A long narrative poem that tells the adventures
  of a hero
• Used to teach virtues of a civilization or
  peopleor even the basis of their creation!

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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

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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

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The Homeric Simile

• An embellishment using like or as
• The typical Homeric simile makes a comparison to
  some kind of event, in the form "like a ____ when
  it ______.
• Ex. But the man skilled in all ways of contending
  satisfied by the great bow's look and heft, like
  a musician, like a harper, when with quiet hand
  upon his instrument he draws between his thumb
  and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg so
  effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the
  bow. Then slid his right hand down the word and
  plucked it, so the taut gut vibrating hummed and
  sang a swallow's note.

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Heroes During Homers Time

• Heroes were a special class of people, in between
  gods and ordinary human beings.
• Some are actually part God
• A hero must exhibit both brains and brawn.

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The Iliad

• Setting 10th year of the Trojan WarGreeks vs.
  Trojans during the final siege of the walls of
  Troy.
• Theme War, Arete, Hubris
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vzGFVTYn8Yvk
• Important Characters
• Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships.
• Menelaus, Helens Greek Husband
• Paris, the prince of Troy
• Climax Trojan Horse (Odysseuss idea)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vYbiR6IMf5KQ

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The Odyssey

• Setting 10 years after the end of the Trojan War
• Theme The Long Journey Home, Temptation
• 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 anymoretoo
  much time has passed
• His son (Telemachus) and wife (Penelope) trying
  to fend off suitorsAlso Heroes

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The Role of the Gods

• The Gods are physical manifestations who interact
  with people
• Oftentimes they are manifestations of human
  traits or physical earthly phenomenon
• AthenaGoddess of Wisdom
• PoseidenGod of the sea and earthquakes
• Gods and Goddesses can either favor and help our
  heroes or they feel that they need to punish our
  hero
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v2_5ayprT6LM

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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.