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The odyssey
Background Information
Homer
• blind storyteller who drew from cultural myths and
legends to create his epics
• he lived between 800 and 850 BC
• got his information for his poems from stories that
were passed by word of mouth because Greece as well
as other primitive cultures had an oral tradition of
literature
• author of the two greatest epics of all time – The
Odyssey and The Illiad
• traveled around the land singing stories
(minstrels) to people for their entertainment and
enlightenment (taught lessons about religion and
society)
• put into poems with music
• based on historical fact
• The Illiad and The Odyssey are based on the
Trojan War
• started The Odyssey 10 years into Odysseus’
journey “in media res” (in the middle)
The Odyssey
Homer’s story begins en medias res.
Odysseus has been gone from his
homeland, Ithaca in Greece, for 20 years.
He spent 10 years fighting the Trojan War
and another 10 fighting the gods to return
home.
• In Part one of The Odyssey, Odysseus tells
his story of danger and hardship, spending
10 years trying to get home to his wife
and child.
• In Part two Odysseus arrives at his home
in Ithaca to find that hundreds of men are
trying to woo his wife and murder his son
in order to take over his kingdom.
The Epic Poem
• long narrative poem – tells a story
• centered around a larger-than-life character
• has an invocation of the muse (the divine
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poetry spirit)
theme stated near the beginning
extensive battle scenes
repeats phrases, speeches, and incidents
epic similes and hyperbole (exaggeration)
• tells the fate of the hero at the beginning of
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the poem
refers to supernatural often
contains epithets (word or phrases used to
characterize someone – ex: swift-footed
Achilles)
has long sentences, complex words, and
flashbacks
on a serious subject written in a grand or
elevated style
“in media res” (in the middle)
• Homeric simile: Also called an epic simile it is a
detailed comparison using “like” or “as”. The
object of the comparison is usually something
familiar to the audience, such as an animal or
the weather. For example, in The Iliad, near the
end of Book 6, Paris, returning to battle, is
compared to a prancing stallion breaking out of
the barn and galloping over the fields.
National EPICS
• Greek – Illiad, Odyssey (Homer)
• Roman – Aeneid (Virgil)
• English – Beowulf, Paradise Lost (Milton)
• Spanish – El Cid (folk)
• Italian – The Divine Comedy (Dante)
• American – Evangeline (Longfellow)
• French – Chanson de Roland (folk)
The Epic Hero
• larger-than-life man
• faithful to his
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friends, his family,
and his gods
capable of great
deeds of strength
and courage
seems to have
“super” powers, but
does not
• great warrior
• regarded as a
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national hero
goes on a quest or
journey which tests
his endurance,
courage, and
cunning
an imposing physical
stature