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ODYSSEY BACKGROUND NOTES
I.
Epic Poem
A. The Odyssey is written in a
genre called an epic poem
B. An epic poem is a long,
narrative poem about warriors
and heroes.
C. It has four main ingredients:
myth, legend, folktale, and
history
D. An epic poem has cultural
significance. It is like a cultural
bible.
E. The Greeks had two major epic
poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey.
F. The Romans had an epic poem
called The Aeneid.
G. The English have an epic poem
called Beowulf.
H. The Odyssey has two strong
features:
Homeric similes (long similes)
epithets (a word or phrase used
to characterize someone or
something such as “Raider of Cities”
meaning Odysseus, or “Lord of the
Clouds” meaning Zeus.)
II. The Greek Gods
A. The Greeks were polytheistic
(believed in many Gods)
B. Their Gods behaved like
humans; they played jokes, got
angry, etc.
C. The Greeks believed that the
gods lived in northern Greece on
Mt. Olympus.
D. They believed that the gods
came down to earth disguised as
wandering strangers
E. The major Gods:
Zeus: King of the Gods
Hera: Queen of the Gods
Athena: Goddess of War &
Wisdom
Aphrodite: Goddess of love &
beauty
Apollo: God of the sun
Poseidon: God of the sea
III. The Life of Homer
A. Homer was the poet who wrote
both Greek epic poems, The Iliad
and The Odyssey.
B. The Iliad is about a ten-year war
at Troy.
C. The Odyssey is about
Odysseus’ ten-year journey back
home after the war.
D. Homer wrote these poems
about 800BC; however, the Trojan
War took place 400 years earlier in
1200BC.
E. Homer is believed to have been
blind.
F. Homer memorized the entire
poem and sang it for hours, as a
kind of entertainment for people to
listen to.
G. This type of poem-singer was
called a rhapsodoi (professional
reciter) similar to minstrels of
Medieval England.
H. These epic poems united all the
Greek city-states into one nation.
I. The poems were viewed as
sacred and the ultimate authority
on morality.
J. The poems were lost during the
Dark Ages but were re-discovered
in Constantinople (Turkey) during
the Renaissance.
IV. The Greek People
A. The Greeks were polytheistic
and believed in many gods.
B. Because the gods could come
to earth disguised as wandering
strangers, the Greeks treated all
wandering travelers with their best
hospitality. To treat a stranger
badly was a risk at offending a
god. Therefore, the people valued
hospitality very highly.
C. The Greek people respected
their religious prophets called
oracles.
D. The people also valued
moderation and looked down on
people with too much pride
(hubris) or who were greedy or
cruel.
E. Greek households grouped
together to form city-states. Each
city-state tried to win the favor of a
particular god or goddess by giving
offerings.
F. The people also believed in hero
worship involving a person who
displayed honor, bravery,
hospitality, loyalty to home,
intelligence, and respect for the
gods.
G. The people traveled mainly by
sea because Greece was so
mountainous. They traded with
countries who had alphabets and
began to develop their own about
the time of Homer. The story was
passed down from generation to
generation until it was written down
about 850 BC.
V. Background Information
A. The Historical Perspective
1. The city of Troy did exist. In
fact, there were at least nine
“Troys” built one on top of the other
– all located in the country we now
call Turkey.
2. Later conquered by the Greeks,
the city also went by the name
Ilios, and when conquered by the
Romans, it became Ilium; hence,
the name of Homer’s first epic
poem, The Iliad, (not the Troyad.)
3. Troy was an important trade city
that was strategically located at the
Dardanelles Straight at the
entrance to the Black Sea from the
Aegean Sea.
4. Since sea trade was vital to
transporting goods, anything from
the Far East went across the land
to the Black Sea, where it could be
loaded onto boats and distributed
out to the Mediterranean Sea area.
5. Troy was a city worth capturing
and archaeologists say that it was
burned to the ground in the 11th
century BC, about the time of the
Trojan War.
6. The word “Greek” did not exist
back then; the people from Greece
were called Achaens, Argives, or
Danaans.
B. The Story behind the City of Troy
1. In the 11th century BC, Troy was
supposedly ruled by King Priam.
2. With his first wife, Hecuba, and
his other wives, King Priam had 50
sons and 12 daughters.
3. In those days, dreams were
believed to foretell the future, and
Queen Hecuba dreamed that she
would have a troublemaker of a
son who would bring about the fall
of Troy.
4. The next child is born, a son
named Paris. He is taken to the
mountainside and left to die (a
frequent Greek custom usually
reserved for handicapped children;
the Greeks believed only the
strongest should survive.)
5. The baby Paris was given a rattle
with the King’s seal on it to
entertain himself while he dies.
6. Legend says that Paris was
rescued and raised by a shepherd.
7. The shepherd kept the rattle, and
when Paris was a young man, the
shepherd told him who he thought
he was. Paris returned to the king’s
household to continue his life.
8. There was to be an important
social wedding in Troy between a
mortal man named Peleus and a
sea nymph named Thetis.
9. One goddess, Eris, the goddess
of strife and discord, was
deliberately left off the guest list.
10. In revenge, she “crashes” the
wedding and rolls a golden apple
down the wedding table. The apple
is engraved with the words, “To the
Fairest.”
11. The three most powerful
goddesses – Hera, Aphrodite, and
Athena – each grab for the apple
considering themselves to be the
“fairest.”
12. Zeus is afraid to make the
controversial decision over who
should get the apple, so he picks
Prince Paris to make it instead.
13. Bribery begins: Hera promises
Paris all the power in the world;
Athena promises him wisdom and
military skills; Aphrodite promises
him the most beautiful woman in
the world. Paris chooses Aphrodite
as the “Fairest.”
14. The most beautiful woman in the
world is Helen of Sparta.
Unfortunately, she is already
married to King Menelaus.
15. Paris pretends to be a beggar at
King Menelaus’ castle and kidnaps
Helen with Aphrodite’s help.
16. Menelaus gathers armies from all
his friends (including King
Odysseus of Ithaca) and sails to
Troy to bring back his wife.
17. The Greeks fight the Trojans for
nine years before Odysseus
comes up with the idea for the
Trojan horse in the 10th year. This
idea ends the war and they regain
Helen. This is the basis for the epic
poem, The Iliad.