Background for the Odyssey

1
Background for the Odyssey
2
What is an Epic

• Definition of an Epic
• Use of Iliad and Odyssey within schools
• Examples of famous Epic poems
• Romes Aeneid
• Frances Song of Roland
• Italys Divine Comedy

3
What is an Epic

• Primary model for the Iliad
• Primary model for the Odyssey
• Stories that follow the model provided by the
  Odyssey
• Fairy tales
• Huckleberry Finn
• Moby-Dick
• The Hobbit

4
The War-Story Background

• Action of the Iliad
• Original reason for Greeks to attack Troy
• Avenge the insult suffered by Menelaus, king of
  Sparta
• Menelaus wife Helen ran off with Paris
• Odysseus is known for his brains and brawn

5
The Odysseys Hero

• Definition of hero from Homers day
• Relating to the hero in the Odyssey
• Odysseus seems lost in a world filled with
  difficult decisions
• Odysseus has to cope with unfair authority
  figures
• Odysseus must work very hard to get what he wants

6
The Odysseys Hero

• Before the great war Odysseus married Penelope
  and they had one son named Telemachus.
• Story of Odysseus after he is called to war by
  Agamemnon and Menelaus

7
The Wooden-Horse Trick

• Odysseus was behind the wooden-horse trick.
• Story of the wooden-horse

8
The Gods in the Odyssey

• Most myths are essentially religious because they
  are concerned with the relationship between human
  beings and the unknown or spiritual realm.
• Athena is the goddess of wisdom. Throughout the
  entire epic, she is by Odysseus side helping him
  overcome difficulties in his adventure.

9
The Gods in the Odyssey

• In Homers stories a god can be an alter ego, a
  spiritual or psychological reflection of a heros
  best qualities.
• Poseidon

10
Homer

• Unknown exactly who Homer was
• Like Shakespeare in that some are unsure Homer
  ever existed
• Later Greeks believed him to be a blind minstrel
  from the island of Chios

11
How Were Epics Told?

• Homeric Epics were told orally to large audiences
• Repetition
• Homeric or Heroic Simile
• It would take several days to tell a story like
  the Odyssey. The storytellers would choose
  suspenseful places to stop the story so audiences
  would return.