The Odyssey

THE ODYSSEYAn Epic Journey

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONSEpic- An extended

narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.

Odyssey- An extended

journey or trip, sometimes for spiritual reasons.

THE AUTHOR- HOMER

All we know about the author of the

Odyssey is that he lived some 2700

years ago. By tradition in ancient times,

Homer was a blind bard, one of the minstrels who recited long poems about heroes of a bygone age.

THREE SOURCES OF GREEK AND ROMAN EPIC ADVENTURES

The Iliad- Homer

The Aeneid- Virgil

The Odyssey- Homer

THE PLACES OF THE ODYSSEY

MOUNT OLYMPUSOlympus is a

mountain in northern Greece, rising to multiple

peaks of over 9000 feet.

In mythology, it is the home of the supreme gods,

who lived there in a beautiful castle. They were known as the Olympians in consequence.

THE GODS AND GODDESSES

THE DIVINE PLAYERS

Muses- There were nine goddesses of artistic inspiration, known collectively as the Muses. They were rarely worshipped, but often called upon by poets since they aided memory as well as creative spark.

THE CYCLOPSThe Cyclops was

the son of the God of

Earthquakes (Poseidon). He was a one-eyed

giant of the race that built

Olympus for the gods.

THE SIRENSAlthough Homer

describes the treacherous sweetness

of their singing, he does not describe the

physical appearance of the Sirens. Later

writers visualized them in various combinations of woman and bird. One

source also had them playing the lyre and flute in addition to

singing.

WHERE DO WE FIRST SEE ODYSSEUS? The one at odds with the gods.

Odysseus is first present in the Illiad . We find Odysseus fighting in the Trojan War. When Odysseus was first recruited, he pretended

he was mad because he didn’t want to fight. So, the soldiers who came to get him threw his son Telemachus in front of his plow. Odysseus swerved to miss his son, and they concluded he wasn’t mad.

So, he had to fight. His trouble really began when he left the

Trojan war. To know why he had such a treacherous journey home, we have to know about the war.

THE TROJAN WAR: BRIEF SYNOPSIS

The Trojan War began when a prince of Troy eloped with the wife of a Greek king.

The woman's name was Helen, and she became infamous as

Helen of Troy. Hers was "the

face that launched a thousand

ships."

Sailing to Troy, they

besieged the city for nine

years. Homer's

other epic, The Iliad,

concerns this siege and the

many individual

battles that were fought

between heroes on

both sides.

SPECIFICS ABOUT THE TROJAN WAR

Causes of the War Eris, Goddess of

Discord, was angry for not being invited to a wedding party.

To cause trouble, she threw an apple into the banquet (wedding party) which said, “For the Fairest.”

ERIS’ APPLE All of the

goddesses at the marriage party wanted to be considered the prettiest, but the choices were narrowed to three goddesses.

Hera- Zeus’s Wife Athena- The

Goddess of Civilization and Wisdom

Aphrodite- The Goddess of Love and Beauty

WHO GOT TO CHOOSE?The Son of

King Priam,

PARIS, was chosen

to decide on the fairest.

THE BRIBERY Hera offered power and land. Athena offered victory in battle. Aphrodite offered Paris the most beautiful

woman in the world!

THE CHOICE Paris chose APHRODITE

Hera and Athena were offended- WATCH OUT, PARIS!

HELEN Aphrodite led Paris to

Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world.

The problem- Helen was already married to Menelaus, the King of Sparta.

Paris kidnapped her? Or. She went willingly? We don’t really know for

sure. It is still debated.

MENELAUS’ REVENGE Needless to say,

Menelaus was not happy.

After reporting the incident to his brother, Agamemnon, the Greek army sailed off to go to war with Troy.

Helen became known as “the face that launched 1,000 ships.”

THE GODS AND GODDESSES AND WARRIORS

Greek WarriorsOdysseus and Achilles (although he claimed he didn’t fight for them)

Patroclus, Agamemnon, Ajax, and Diomedes

Hera and Athena

They were still mad at Paris for not choosing them!

In the Middle

Zeus- He didn’t like the

Trojans, but he didn’t want to

put up with Hera’s

nagging.

Trojan Warriors along withParis and

Hector

AphroditeAres

(He had a crush on Aphrodite)Apollo

(A friend of Hector)

THE WAR The Greeks were

not doing well in the war.

Odysseus was believed to have come up with the

idea that would win the war for the

Greeks. Athena, the goddess of wisdom,

is said to have inspired Odysseus

with this idea.

THE PLAN …In the tenth year of

the Trojan War, the Greeks tricked the enemy into bringing a

colossal wooden horse within the walls of Troy. The

Trojans had no idea that Greek soldiers were hidden inside,

under the command of Odysseus.

That night they opened the city gates to the Greek army. Troy was destroyed. Now it was time for

Odysseus and the other Greeks to return to their kingdoms across the sea.

THE RESULTS The Greeks won the war, but angered

the gods because they forgot to say thank you!

The soldiers captured Cassandra and were mean to her. She was a friend of Athena, who became angry.

Athena asked Poseidon to help her give the Greeks a bitter homecoming.

Many of the Greek ships were lost at sea.

ODYSSEUS’S JOURNEY

Odysseus fought in the war for

ten years. Because of the

gods’ interference, it took him ten more years to

sail home. These years were not all

pleasant.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE ODYSSEY

Part One Part Two Part ThreeThe story of what happens to Ithaca while Odysseus is gone to war.

Odysseus tells of his wanderings during the ten years trying to get home.

Odysseus returns to Ithaca and joins with Telemachus to destroy the men who have taken over his home.

WHAT ARE WE READING? We will be reading from books in each

section. We don’t have the full text of each

book, but we get the best parts!