Homer’s The Odyssey
Background Notes
Who is Homer?
No, not Homer Simpson…
•An Ancient blind poet•The “bard” who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey between 900 and 700 B.C.
• Homer did not compose each epic all at once: he told them in a series of short episodes that could be recited in an evening.
• Editors, not Homer himself, organized the epics in 24 books.
What exactly is an Epic?
The Epic…•A long narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero
•Used to teach virtues of a civilization
Characteristics of an Epic
• A physically impressive hero (usually famous)
• A quest or journey
• A vast setting involving much of the known physical world
• Descent of the hero into the underworld
• Supernatural Forces
• Glorification of the hero at the end
Famous Epics from Around the World
• Iliad and Odyssey Greece
• Gilgamesh Sumeria
• Aeneid Rome
• Song of Roland France
• Divine Comedy Italy
• Mahabharata, Ramayana India
• Sundiata Mali
Heroes During Homer’s Time
• Heroes were a special class of aristocrats, in between gods and ordinary human beings.
• No matter what pain they may have experienced, they always displayed CONFIDENCE .
The Iliad
• Setting: 10th year of the Trojan WarGreeks vs. Trojans
• Theme: War• Important Characters:
– Helen, the “face that launched a thousand ships.”
– Menelaus, Helen’s Greek Husband– Paris, the prince of Troy
• Climax: Trojan Horse (Odysseus’s idea)
The Odyssey
• Setting: 10 years after the end of the Trojan War
• Theme: A Long Journey
• A Hero In trouble:– Odysseus, a Greek soldier trying to find his
way home to Ithaca– People of Ithaca have forgotten about him– His war-hero status is not important anymore
“In Medias Res”
• Means: “In the middle of a sequence of events”
• The Odyssey does not begin at the beginning; it starts with Telemachus at 20 years old trying to figure out what to do about his missing dad.