An introduction to

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An introduction to The Odyssey
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TIMELINE 1600 - 1100 BCE Heroic
Age Flourishing of the Greek
Empire -------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- 1193 BCE City
of Troy is destroyed -----------------------------
---------------------------------------------- 110
0 750 BCE Dark Age ----------------------------
----------------------------------------------- 75
0 500 BCE Renaissance of Greek
Empire Time of Homer and Hesiod --------------
--------------------------------------------------
----------- 500 400 BCE Rise and Fall of
Athens Golden Age of Greece
Persian and Peloponnesian
Wars ---------------------------------------------
------------------------------ 400 300
BCE Macedonian Invasion End of Greek Empire

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Overview of the Age of Heroes

• The Greek Empire dates back to around 1600 BCE.
• From 1600-1100 BCE, the empire flourished.
• However, it went into a dark age that lasted
  until around 750 BCE.

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The Age of Heroes

• The city of Troy (see map) was destroyed around
  1193 BCE, likely by Greeks seeking trade routes
  through the Dardanelles.
• The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homers immortal epic
  poems, are about the Trojan War.
• The epics are part of the historical credo of
  ancient Greece because they tell of a time when
  the Greek city-states were unified and powerful
  politically.

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The Age of Heroes

• In The Odyssey, Greeks are referred to as
• Achaeans
• Argives
• Danaans
• Myceneans
• These names represent the different cities or
  island states of the Greek empire.
• Troy is referred to as Ilium, one of the names of
  this ancient city.

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The Ideals of the Heroic Age

• The Heroic Age is a semi-mythical time in the
  Greek civilization from 1400 to 1100 BCE.
• While Homer did not live during the Heroic Age,
  he wrote about it extensively.
• According to Greek traditions, humans during this
  time lived in closer contact with the gods.
• This was the time of the Trojan War (1193 BCE)
• Democratic ideals flourished under the mythical
  king of Athens, Theseus.

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The Ideals of the Heroic Age

• In ancient Greece, men were judged by arete, not
  by birth and could achieve a higher social status
  by thoughts and deeds.
• Three major sins in Greece were
• Blasphemy against or disrespect towards the gods
• Treachery or betrayal of a host or guest
• Shedding or spilling the blood of relatives

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The Author

• Homer

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The Author

• Nearly 3,000 years after they were composed, The
  Iliad and The Odyssey remain two of the most
  widely read stories ever told, but next to
  nothing is known about their author.
• What is known is that he was an accomplished
  Greek bard that was blind and probably lived in
  the late 8th and early 7th centuries BCE.
• His work was inspired by a long tradition of
  unwritten, oral poetry.

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What is an Epic Poem?

• An epic poem is a long poem that deals with the
  origins of a people or nation or religious
  beliefs.
• Epic poems are presented in a structured format.
  The Iliad and The Odyssey are composed in
  dactylic hexameter.
• Gods or supernatural beings play a role in epic
  poetry.
• In epic poetry, mortals or heroes fight against
  great odds and ultimately triumph, although for
  humans, death is always lurking in the distance.
• Epic poetry usually contains an detailed scenes
  of violence and gore.
• The setting of an epic poem is global.

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What is an Epic Poem?

• Epic poems are narrated in objective, third
  person point of view.
• In an epic poem, the story or narrative starts in
  medias res, or, in the middle of things, with an
  invocation to the gods or Muses.
• Epic poems pose an epic question that addresses a
  crucial theme of human life.

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What is a myth?

• A myth is a traditional story whose author is
  unknown. It has its roots in the folk-beliefs of
  cultures and uses the supernatural to attempt to
  explain nature, man and the gods.
• Myths teach us that we are responsible for our
  own fate.
• These stories are passed down by word-of-mouth,
  also called oral tradition.

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Why do we read myths?

• Myths explore and challenge ideas of the human
  condition
• Myths provide a glimpse into other cultures and
  their values
• In our culture today, do we experience heroism,
  love, jealousy, war, tragedy, and triumph?
• Think about the news and current eventscan you
  think of something that involved one of the above
  named elements?

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What do all epics and myths have in common?

• A HERO!
• A man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed
  with great courage and strength, celebrated for
  his bold exploits and favored by the gods, with a
  noble purpose (will risk and sacrifice own life)
• A tragic hero suffers as a result of a tragic
  flaw a vice as a result of internal conflict

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The Gods Goddesses
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The Titans

• The Titans, also known as the elder gods, ruled
  the earth before the Olympians overthrew them.
• The ruler of the Titans was Cronus who was
  de-throned by his son Zeus.
• Most of the Titans fought with Cronus against
  Zeus and were punished by being banished to
  Tartarus.
• During their rule the Titans were associated with
  the various planets.

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The Olympians

• The Olympians are a group of twelve gods who
  ruled after the overthrow of the Titans.
• All the Olympians are related in some way. They
  are named after their dwelling place Mount
  Olympus.

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Ahhhto be Immortal

• Each story has gods, goddesses, and monsters.
• The gods are immortal. Immortals are beings who
  can not die.
• These gods are much like real people they forgot
  stuff, they became jealous, they can be kind or
  ruthless.

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ZEUS

• King of the gods
• God of the sky
• weapon thunderbolt
• god of justice and
• punisher of evil-doers

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Aphrodite

• goddess of love most beautiful of all goddesses
• Sometimes worshipped as a war goddess and the
  goddess of sailors
• She was the essential cause of the Trojan War.
  During the war and after she sided with the
  Trojans, not the Greeks. She and Poseidon kept
  Odysseus from going home.

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Hera

• Zeus wife
• Supreme goddess

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Ares The Bad Boy

• Zeus Heras son
• god of war
• tall, vain, cruel

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Hades

• god of the underworld
• Zeus brother
• unpitying and horrible

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Apollo

• god of music, light and archery
• drives the sun like a chariot across the sky

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Hermes

• V.I.G. Very Important God
• Messenger for the gods
• Most clever of all gods
• In The Odyssey, Hermes saves Odysseus from the
  island of Calypso.
• In several stories, it is Hermes job to deliver
  weapons and saving items to heroes.

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Poseidon

• a.k.a. Neptune God of the sea, earthquakes and
  horses
• Although he is one of the supreme gods of Mount
  Olympus, he spends most of his time in his watery
  domain
• Zeus and Hades brother the three divided up
  creation Zeus is the ruler of the sky, Poseidon
  is the ruler of all water and Hades is the ruler
  of the underworld

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Poseidon contd.

• In The Odyssey, Poseidon wanted to punish
  Odysseus for blinding how son. He could not kill
  Odysseus because he was favored by the other
  gods, so Poseidon doomed Odysseus to wander the
  seas unable to get home.

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Athena

• V.I.G. Very Important Goddess
• goddess of wisdom, war and the arts
• Zeus favorite daughter sprang full grown in
  armor from his forehead (no mother) allowed to
  use Zeus weapons, including his thunderbolt
• Athena LOVES Odysseus he is her favorite mortal
  remember summer reading

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Artemis

• Apollos twin
• goddess of the hunt

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Hephaestus Dionysus

• god of fire

• youngest of The Olympians
• god of wine

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Iris Perseus

• goddess of the rainbow

• half-human/half-god, son of Zeus
• slays Medusa

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Mothers

• DEMETER
• Persephones mother goddess of the harvest
• Persephone is the queen of the underworld Zeus
  daughter

• GAEA
• goddess of the earth and all living things
• Mother
• Earth

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Important Monsters

• Cyclops
• one-eyed monster associated with metal working
  and weapon building
• represents chaos and evil
• father Neptune
• one of the major reasons Odysseus cant get home

• Sirens
• type of nymph beautiful half-woman, half-bird
• lure sailors to their death with their song that
  makes people forget everything and die from
  hunger
• seductive, sensual, mesmerizing but deadly
• Where have you seen
• a siren before???

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The Odyssey and The Iliad

• These two epic poems tell the tales around the
  Trojan War.
• The Trojan War is believed to have taken place in
  ancient Troy, around 1200 BCE.
• The ruins of this ancient city in Asia Minor
  (Turkey) were discovered in the early part of the
  20th century.
• The Iliad is the tale of the war itself, and The
  Odyssey is the story of one Greek hero, Odysseus,
  as he tries to sail back home to Ithaca.

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Possible Routes of Odysseus' Travels
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The Trojan War

• It all begins with a beauty contest
• On the side of Trojans Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis,
  Apollo, Zeus
• On the side of Greeks Athena, Hera, Poseidon

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The Trojan War
You will learn all about the war and events
leading up to Odysseus journey in The Odyssey
from The Iliad PowerPoint presentation you will
view for homework.
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The Epic
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The Odyssey

• The epic is divided into two parts
• Part One The Voyage Home (Books 1-12)
• 1-4 Epic question Voyage of Telemachus
• 5-8 Odysseus in Ogygia
• 9-12 Court of Phaeacia. Odysseus narrates the
  story of his voyage from Troy to Ogygia

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The Odyssey

• Part Two Odysseus Regains His Kingdom (Books
  13-24)
• 13-16 Touching reunion scenes with Eumaeus and
  Telemachus, who arrive home just after Odysseus
• 17-20 Penelope learns of his arrival and is put
  into a sleep. His Nurse recognizes him. His dog
  barks at him.
• 20-24 Retribution and Reconciliation

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The Odyssey

• At the beginning of The Odyssey, it is almost 20
  years after Odysseus left home to go fight the
  Trojans, a task he did not want.
• He is stuck on the island of Ogygia, with the
  beautiful enchantress and sea goddess, Calypso,
  who promises him immortality if he stays with
  her.

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The Odyssey

• The poem starts with an argument between Athena
  and Zeus, and the epic question is proposed
• Why is it that Odysseus chooses a human life of
  mortality and suffering?
• The gods are so moved by the depth of his human
  love for Penelope, they decide to let him go home
  to Ithaca.

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The Odyssey

• In the meantime, Odysseus son Telemachus is now
  grown, and suitors for his mothers hand are a
  huge and dangerous nuisance.
• He heads out on his own voyage to Sparta, to see
  if Menelaus and the notorious Helen can tell him
  news of his father. (Books 1-4)
• The poem uses this double narrative very
  effectively to create suspense and dramatic
  tension.

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Literary Views of Odysseus

• The epic journey is a genre that has lasted
  through Western literature.
• The untested young hero, often of uncertain
  parentage, goes forth to seek truth, fights
  against superhuman odds, and often travels to the
  realm of death itself.
• He achieves glory and rewards, suffers great
  losses, and learns a key lesson of human life
  the inescapable fact of mortality.

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Its all Greek to me!

• Think about allusions to Greek mythology that you
  recognize in our society. Any of these come to
  mind?
• Achilles heel
• Herculean task
• Apollo 13 mission
• Honda Odyssey
• Starbucks logo
• Olympics Olympians
• Disney movies ? whos King Tritan from The Little
  Mermaid?
• Pandora
• Nike
• Tennessee Titans
• Trident gum
• Can you think of some more???