Download document

The Odyssey
An Epic Journey
Important Definitions
Epic• 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 OdysseyHomer
The Places of the Odyssey
Mount Olympus
Olympus 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 Cyclops
The Cyclops was the son
of the God of
Earthquakes. He was a
one-eyed giant of the
race that built
Olympus for the gods
The Sirens
Although 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
Before the Odyssey
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 Trojan War
• 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.
The Specifics About the 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 which
said, “For the Fairest.”
Eris’s Apple
• All of the Goddess at
the marriage party
wanted to be
considered the
prettiest, but the
choices were
narrowed to 3
goddesses.
• Hera- Zeus’s Wife
• Athena- The goddess
of civilization and
wisdom
• Aphrodite- The
goddess of love and
beauty
The Winner
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 offendedWATCH 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!
Menelaus’s Revenge
• Menelaus was not
happy.
• The Greek Army
sailed off to go to war
with Troy.
• Helen became known
as “the face that
launched 1000
ships.”
The Gods and Goddesses
Greek Warriors
Hera and
Athena
In the Middle
Trojan
Zeus- He didn’t
Aphrodite
like the Trojans, Ares (He had a
but he didn’t
crush on
Aphrodite)
They were still want to put up
with
Hera’s
mad at Paris for
Apollo (A
nagging.
not choosing
friend of
them!
Hector)
The Warriors
• Greeks
– Achilles
– Patroclus
– Agamemnon
– Ajax
– Diomedes
– Odysseus
• Trojans
– Hector
– Paris
The War
• The Greeks were
not doing well in
the war, so they
built the Trojan
Horse.
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 10 years.
Because of the gods’
interference, it took
him 10 more years to
sail home. These
years were not all
pleasant.
The Structure of the Odyssey
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
The story of
what happens
to Ithaca while
Odysseus is
gone to war.
Odysseus tells
of his
wanderings
during the 10
years trying to
get home.
Odysseus
returns to
Ithaca and joins
with
Telemachus to
destroy the
men who have
taken over his
home.
Group One
• Discuss the similarities between the
journey of Odysseus and events that
have occurred in your own life. Think
about the different choices Odysseus
is required to make during his
journey.
Group Two
• Discuss the women in Homer’s work.
What role do women play in the Odyssey,
and how do you think they represent the
women of ancient Greece?
Group Three
• Select an event from popular culture in which a
hero or heroine is placed in a struggle. Examples
from movies include Shane, Schindler’s List,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Saving
Private Ryan, Patch Adams, and Alien. Describe
how the director or writer makes you feel
toward the hero or heroine and his or her
opponents. Compare and contrast this to the
characters in the Odyssey.
Group Four
• Explain how the struggles of Odysseus to
reach Ithaca are a contest between
Poseidon and Athena as well.
Group Five
• The ancient Greeks truly believed in caring for
strangers. Traditional voices in our culture have
attempted to continue that tradition by advising
all to care for strangers in need and teaching that
such assistance is particularly pleasing to God.
The media is quick to praise good Samaritans,
and civic groups still award medals to
humanitarians. But what forces in our time
threaten to extinguish this tradition of kindness
to and care for strangers? What can we do to
care for strangers in need?
Group Six
• Revenge as a means of obtaining justice
was more acceptable in Homer’s society
than in our modern society, which has a
formidable criminal justice system. Even
so, Homer’s idea of revenge bears
qualification. Define the nature of revenge
in the Odyssey that suggests under what
conditions it is an acceptable means of
justice.