Download In your W.N., discuss: Who is Homer? Write down everything you

Who is Homer?
What is the “original story
pattern” for a heroic adventure?
(you’ll need to take some notes)
Who is Homer?
•Greek Poet
•During 700’s BC, Homer “composed” two
great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
•Epic – long poem describing heroes and
great events.
•Modern tributes to Homer:
• James Joyce – Ulysses
• Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Cold Mountain
The Homeric Age
 Why was it called
“The Homeric Age”?
 Hero
 Mythology
The Odyssey
What is an Epic?
A long narrative poem about a
legendary hero.
Homer
poet
thought to be blind, but
describes events as a seeing
person
lived between 900 and 700 B.C.E.
Homer
Wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey
Both are epic stories about the
war between the Trojans and
the Greeks (which occurred
around 1200 B.C.E.)
Iliad
 Story of the last year of the Trojan War (it lasted
10 years)
 Troy was defeated when Odysseus and his men
were able to get inside the city
 Concealed within the hollow body of an
enormous horse, they secretly opened the gates
to the rest of the Greek forces.
 Troy was destroyed.
The Trojan Horse
The Odyssey
Odysseus and his men journey home
after winning the Trojan War
Takes 10 years to get back home to
Ithaca, his kingdom
Archetypal story: It is about humans
on the journey of life overcoming
temptations along the way
Characters – family or close friends
Odysseus (Ulysses)
Penelope – wife
Telemachus - son
Laertes – father of Odysseus
Tiresias – advisor and prophet
Eumaeus – loyal servant who knew
Odysseus from childhood
Characters – gods or monsters
 Circe - goddess, enchantress, turned men
into swine
 Scylla - monster with six heads, each with
three rows of teeth, who carries off a sailor
in each mouth
 Charybdis – Three times a day, this
enormous whirlpool monster destroys ships
 Sirens – beautiful women whose songs lured
sailors to steer their ships onto rocks where
they crashed (and the men drowned)
Characters - gods
Hyperion - the sun (distinct from
Apollo, the sun god)
Zeus - leader of the gods
Hermes – messenger of the gods
Persephone – daughter of Demeter &
wife of Hades
Calypso – sea goddess who fell in love
with Odysseus
Characters - gods
Apollo – god of music, poetry, medicine
Poseidon – “earth shaker” – the god of
the seas and earthquakes
Athena – goddess of wisdom, skillcraft,
and warfare
Cronus – father of Zeus, he was a Titan
(forebears of the gods)
Polyphemus – one of the Cyclops and a
son of Poseidon
Characters - mortals
Agamemnon – king of all the Greek
forces
Antinous – leader of the suitors
Amphinomus &Eurymachus – suitors
Perimedes & Eurylochus –
crewmembers
Eurynome – housekeeper to Penelope