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The Odyssey
~ 0r ~
Travelin’ Man
Introduction
 Homer: The man credited with
gathering great war stories from
ancient Greece
 The Iliad: tells of a ten-year war
fought on the plains outside the
walls of the great city of Troy.
 The Odyssey: tells the story of the
attempt by one Greek soldier,
Odysseus, to get home after the
Trojan War.
Epics and Values
 Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the
adventures of heroes who in some way embody the
values of their civilizations.
 The Iliad is the primary model for the epic of war.
 The Odyssey is the model for the epic of the long
journey.
 Some examples of the theme of the journey in
Western Literature: The Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz,
Star Wars and Forrest Gump
The War-Story Background:
Violence & Brutality
 According to the Iliad - the Greeks attacked Troy to avenge the
insult suffered by Menelaus, King of Sparta, when his wife,
Helen, ran off with Paris, a young prince of Troy.
 1,000 ships sailed across the Aegean Sea and encircled the
walled city of Troy. Helen was so beautiful, it has been said that
her face “…launched 1,000 ships.”
 The Greeks were eventually victorious, reduced the city to
smoldering ruins, and butchered the inhabitants, except for those
they took as slaves back to Greece.
Odysseus: A Hero in Trouble
 Heroes are often placed
somewhere between the gods
and ordinary human beings.
 Odysseus was a great soldier in
the war, but the people of his
homeland, Ithaca, lacked respect
for him.
 Odysseus marries the beautiful
and ever-faithful Penelope and
together they have a son,
Telemachus.
The Wooden-Horse Trick
 Odysseus is the one who thought up
the famous wooden-horse trick that
lead to the downfall of Troy.
 The plan: build an enormous wooden
horse and hide a few Greek soldiers
inside, push the horse to the walls of
Troy and retreat.
 The outcome: Thinking that the
Greeks had given up and left the horse
as a peace offering, the Trojans bring
the horse inside the city walls, at
nightfall the Greek soldiers inside come
out and open the gates of Troy to the
whole Greek Army and win the war.
Relationships With The Gods
 Myths are stories that use
fantasy to express ideas
about life that cannot be
expressed easily in realistic
terms.
 They are concerned with the
relationship between human
beings and the unknown or
spiritual realm.
 Homer is religious and feels
the gods control all things.
 Athena (the goddess of
wisdom) is at Odysseus’ side
– represents his keen mental
abilities. Poseidon (the god
of sea) represents Odysseus’
arrogance and brutishness.
~People and Places~
 Aeaea: home of Circe, the
witch-goddess
 Alcinous: king of Phaeacia
 Calypso: beautiful goddessnymph who keeps Odysseus
on her island for 7 years
 Charybdis: female monster
who sucks in water 3 times a
day to form a deadly
whirlpool
 Cicones: people living on the
southwestern coast of
Thrace, who battled
Odysseus and his men on
their journey home.
 Circe: witch-goddess who
turns Odysseus’ men to
swine
 Erebus: dark place through
which the dead pass before
entering Hades.
 Eurylochus: one of
Odysseus’ loyal crew
~More People and Places~
 Lotus Eaters: people who
feed Odysseus’ men lotus
plants to make them forget
Ithaca
 Phaeacia: island kingdom
ruled by king Alcinous
 Polyphemus: son of
Poseidon; the cyclops
blinded by Odysseus
 Scylla: female monster with
6 serpent heads, each head
having a triple row of fangs
Sirens: sea nymphs who use
their music to lure sailors to
shipwreck
Teiresias: blind prophet from
the city of Thebes
Thrinakia: land where the sun
god Helios keeps his cattle
~People at Home in Ithaca~
 Antinous: One of
Penelope’s leading
suitors – arrogant and
mean
 Eumaeus: swineherd
who is loyal to Odysseus
 Eurycleia: Odysseus’ old
nurse
 Eurymachus: suitor of
Penelope
~More People at Home in Ithaca~
 Eurynome: Penelope’s
housekeeper
 Penelope: Odysseus’
faithful wife
 Philoeteus: cowherd
who is loyal to Odysseus
 Telemachus: Odysseus’
son – is a toddler when
Odysseus leaves for the
Trojan War
The Gods
~Apollo~
 god of poetry,
music, prophecy,
medicine, and
archery
~Athena~
 daughter of Zeus;
goddess of wisdom
and the arts of war
and peace
~Cronus~
 a Titan (giant god)
who ruled the
universe until his
son Zeus
overthrew him
~Helios~
 sun god
~Hephaestus~
 god of
metalworking
~Hermes~
 messenger god
~Olympus~
 mountain home of
the gods
~Poseidon~
 god of the sea;
brother of Zeus
~Zeus~
 most powerful
god, whose home
is on Olympus
The End