An Introduction to the Odyssey

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An Introduction to the Odyssey
Feature Menu
An Introduction to the Odyssey The War-Story
Background Odysseus A Hero in Trouble The
Wooden-Horse Trick The Ancient World and Ours A
Search for Their Places in Life Relationships
with Gods Epic and Values The Telling of
Epics Homer
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Standards
Vocabulary and Concept Development 1.1 Identify
and use the literal and figurative meanings of
words and understand word derivations. 1.2
Distinguish between the denotative and
connotative meanings of words and interpret the
connotative power of words. 1.3 Identify Greek,
Roman, and Norse mythology and use the knowledge
to understand the origin and meaning of new
words Reading 3.3-3.7 Analyze characters,
determine character traits, analyze the use of
figurative language, develop a theme statement
3.12 Analyze the way in which a work of
literature is related to the themes and issues of
its historical period. Writing 2.2 Write
responses to literature
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An Introduction to the Odyssey
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the
story of that man skilled in all ways of
contending, . . .
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An Introduction to the Odyssey
The Odyssey is a tale of a heros long and
perilous journey home.
But, it is also the story of a son in need of his
father and of a faithful wife waiting for her
husbands return.
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The War-Story Background
The Iliad provides the background for Odysseuss
story and tells the tale of a ten-year war fought
outside the walls of Troy. In Homers Iliad

• the Trojan War is in its tenth and final year

• the people of Troy are fighting an alliance of
  Greek kings because 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 War-Story Background
The Iliad provides the background for Odysseuss
story and tells the tale of a ten-year war fought
outside the walls of Troy. In Homers Iliad

• the Greeks won the war, reduced the city of Troy
  to smoldering ruins, and butchered all the
  inhabitants, except for those they took as slaves
  back to Greece

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Odysseus A Hero in Trouble
Odysseus is not a typical epic hero. He is faced
with

• difficult choices

• post-war disillusionment

• disrespect from the people of his homeland

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Odysseus A Hero in Trouble
Before the Trojan War, Odysseus

• married the beautiful and faithful Penelope

• had one son, Telemachus

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Odysseus A Hero in Trouble
When called to serve in the Trojan War, Odysseus

• pretended to be insane so he wouldnt have to go
  (he dressed as a peasant, plowed his field, and
  sowed it with salt)

• revealed his sanity to save his sons life (who
  was placed in front of the plow)

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The Wooden-Horse Trick
During the Trojan War, Odysseus

• performed extremely well as a soldier and
  commander

• thought of the famous wooden-horse trick that
  lead to the defeat of Troy

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The Wooden-Horse Trick

• Odysseuss plan was to build an enormous wooden
  horse and hide Greek soldiers inside.

• The horse was left outside the gates of Troy, and
  the Greeks abandoned their camp.

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The Wooden-Horse Trick

• The Trojans thought the horse was a peace
  offering and brought it into the walled city.

• At night, the men hidden in the horse came out
  and opened the gates to the entire Greek army.

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The Ancient World and Ours

• Odysseuss world is harsh, violent, and primitive.

• The palaces that he and his men raid might have
  been nothing more than mud and stone farmhouses.

• The worldly goods they carry off from town
  might have been only pots and pans, cattle and
  sheep.

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A Search for Their Places in Life
The Theme of the Odyssey Odysseus and his family
are searching for

• the right relationships with one another and the
  people around them

• their proper places in life

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A Search for Their Places in Life
The Structure of the Odyssey The story begins
with Telemachus, Odysseuss son. Telemachus is
searching for his father because he

• is being threatened by rude, powerful men who
  want to marry his mother and rob Telemachus of
  his inheritance

• needs his father to return home and restore order

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A Search for Their Places in Life
The Structure of the Odyssey Readers learn that
Odysseus

• is stranded on an island, longing to get home

• has been gone for twenty yearshe has spent ten
  years at war and ten years trying to get home

• is in the middle of a midlife crisis and
  searching for inner peace

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Relationships with Gods
In Homers stories, a god can be an alter egoa
reflection of a heros best or worst qualities.

• Odysseus is known for his mental abilities, so he
  receives aid from Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

• Odysseus can also be cruel and violent.
  Odysseuss nemesis is Poseidon, the god of the
  sea, who is known for arrogance and brutishness.

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Relationships with Gods
Myths in the Odyssey Greek myths plays an
important role in the Odyssey.

• Homer is concerned with the relationship between
  human and gods.

• For Homer, the gods control all things, including
  Odysseuss fate.

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Epics and Values
Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the
adventures of heroes who in some way embody the
values of their civilization.

• The Greeks used Homers epics, the Iliad and the
  Odyssey, to teach Greek virtues.

More about Epics
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Epics and Values
The Epic Tradition All epic poems in the western
world owe something to the basic patterns
established in Homers epics.

• The Iliad is the primary model for an epic of war.

• The Odyssey is the model for an epic of the long
  journey.

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The Telling of Epics
Epics and other tales were probably told by
wandering bards or minstrels called rhapsodes.
Rhapsodes were

• the historians, entertainers, and mythmakers of
  their time

• responsible for spreading news about recent
  events or the doings of heroes, gods, and
  goddesses

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The Telling of Epics
Epics were originally told aloud.

• They followed basic story lines and incorporated
  formulaic descriptions.

• Most of the words were improvised to fit a
  particular rhythm or meter.

• Epics included Homeric, or epic, similes that
  compare heroic events to easily understandable
  everyday events.

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The Telling of Epics
Epics such as the Iliad and Odyssey were probably
told over a period of several days.

• Singers might have summarized part of the tales,
  depending on how long they stayed in one
  community.

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Homer
No one knows for sure who Homer was.

• Later Greeks believed he was a blind minstrel, or
  singer, from the island of Chios.

• One scholar suggests Homer was a woman because
  home and hearth played such an important role in
  his stories.

• Some scholar think there were two Homers. Some
  think he was just a legend.

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The End
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The War-Story Background
Troy was located in what is now Turkey.
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Odysseus A Hero in Trouble
Epic Hero In Homers time, epic heroes

• were placed somewhere the gods and ordinary human
  beings

• experienced pain and death

• were always true to themselves

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Relationships with Gods
Myths are traditional stories, rooted in a
particular culture, that usually explain a
belief, a ritual, or a mysterious natural
phenomenon.

• Myths are essentially religious because they are
  concerned with the relationship between human
  beings and the unknown or spiritual realm.

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Epics and Values
More About Epics Epics use elevated language and
a serious tone and often include elements of
myth, legend, folk tale, and history.
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Epics and Values
Journey The theme of the journey is found in many
stories in western literature, including

• fairy tales

• novels, such as The Incredible Journey,
  Moby-Dick, and The Hobbit

• movies, such as The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars

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The Telling of Epics
Formulaic Descriptions Formulaic descriptions
gave the singer time to think ahead to the next
part of the story. The oral storyteller had
formulas for

• the arrival and greeting of guests, eating of
  meals, and taking of baths

• describing the sea (wine-dark) and Athena
  (gray-eyed Athena)

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The Telling of Epics

• Homeric, or Epic, Similes
• In the Iliad, the singer uses a Homeric simile to
  describe how Athena prevents an arrow from
  striking Menelaus.

She brushed it away from his skin as lightly as
when a mother Brushes a fly away from her child
who is lying in sweet sleep.