NOTES ON “AN INTRODUCTION TO

THE ODYSSEY”Ms. Helton, English I

November 11, 2014

HOMER

• Author of Iliad and Odyssey

THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY

• The Iliad takes place during the tenth and final year of the Trojan War. It provides the model for the epic of war.

• The Odyssey details Odysseus’ journey home post-war. It provides the model for the epic of the long journey.

EPICS AND THEIR VIRTUES

• Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the adventures of heroes who in some way embody the values of their civilizations.

• The Iliad and The Odyssey were long used to teach Greek virtues in Greek schools.

TROJAN WAR

• The Greeks attacked Troy when Helen, wife of Menelaus (King of Sparta), ran off with Paris, a young prince of Troy.

• Troy was ultimately reduced to ruins and the Greeks were victorious.

HEROES

•Heroes were considered to be a special class of aristocrats and, as such, were placed somewhere between the gods and ordinary human beings.

•Most were always “on top of the world” in spite of experiencing pain and death.

HEROES

•Odysseus is different from the typical hero of Homer’s time in that he is a hero in trouble, one who faces a world of difficult choices and great obstacles (and opposing forces).

PENELOPE

• Penelope is the beautiful and ever-faithful wife of Odysseus. Together, they have a son named Telemachus.

• She is significant especially because of the strong role she plays in what is typically considered the “man’s world” of the Greek epic.

WOODEN HORSE

• The wooden-horse trick from the Trojan War was Odysseus’ idea. The horse was disguised as a peace offering and a sign of retreat, but there were soldiers hidden within awaiting entrance to Troy.

• This trick shows Odysseus’ cunning; he is known for his intellect in addition to his bravery and brawn.

THE ANCIENT WORLD

•Odysseus’ world is described as harsh and familiar with violence.

A COMMON THEME

•Odysseus and his family are described as searching for the right relationships with one another and those around them.

• Finding their proper places in life is a theme that sets the tone for The Odyssey and its unusual structure.

MYTHS

•Myths are traditional stories, rooted in a particular culture, that usually explain a belief, a ritual, or a mysterious natural phenomenon.

• They are essentially religious due to their concern with the relationship between humans and the unknown/spiritual realm.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH GODS

•Homer, too, is concerned with the relationship between humans and gods.

• For him, gods control all things.

•Gods can also be viewed as the alter egos of characters/heroes, revealing their best or worst qualities.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH GODS

• For instance, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is often at Odysseus’ side. He is known positively for his intellect and cunning and, as such, she could be seen as his alter ego (in addition to an ally/helper).

RHAPSODES

• “Singers of tales”

• Their role more or less made them the historians, entertainers, and mythmakers of their time

• There was likely no written history in Homer’s day

HOW WERE EPICS TOLD?

• They were told aloud by people who likely could not read or write.

• They were formulaic, with repetition and rhythm, and they could be improvised on the spot.

• The familiarity/patterns could allow those telling the tale some time to mentally compose following sections of the story.

HOMERIC/EPIC SIMILES

• These compared heroic or epic events to simple and easily understandable everyday events—events the audience of the time would have recognized instantly.

EPITHET

• A short, poetic nickname—often in the form of an adjective or adjectival phrase—attached to the normal name. Frequently, this technique allows a poet to extend a line by a few syllables in a poetic manner that characterizes an individual or a setting within an epic poem.

EPITHET

• The Homeric epithet in classical literature often includes compounds of two words such as, "fleet-footed Achilles," "Cow-eyed Hera," "Grey-eyed Athena," or "the wine-dark sea." In other cases, it appears as a phrase, such as "Odysseus the man-of-many-wiles," etc.