THE ODYSSEY

by

HOMER

3000 years ago, people who lived in Greece were telling stories about a great war.

Only in the past 100 years, have archaeologists established that Troy was an actual city that met violent destruction about 1200 B.C. ( a date very close to 1184 B.C., the traditional date for the climax of the Trojan War).

The person credited with later gathering all these stories together and telling them as one unified epic is a man named Homer. These stories are called The Iliad & The Odyssey

9th Century B.C. • Little is known about him, but seven different cities claim to be his birthplace.

• Tradition says Homer was blind, but if he was, he must have been able to see at some point in his life because of the imagery and detail he weaves into his story.

• The details of Homer's life are a mystery; some scholars believe that no such man ever existed, and that the works credited to him were actually told and gathered by many people over many centuries. Other stories give various birthplaces and ages for Homer and suggest he was a wandering poet or minstrel. Homer is usually said to have been blind, a point on which nearly all the legends agree.

HOMER

EPIC:

A LONG NARRATIVE POEM ABOUT A NATIONAL OR LEGENDARY HERO

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EPIC

• A physically impressive hero of national or historical importance

• A vast setting involving not only much of the known world but also the underworld

• Action such as a quest or journey requiring superhuman ability and courage

• Evidence of supernatural forces

• A 10 YEAR WAR FOUGHT ON THE PLAINS OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF A GREAT CITY CALLED TROY

• THE RUINS OF TROY (ILION) CAN BE SEEN IN WESTERN TURKEY

• The Iliad was written between 900 & 700 B.C. & preceded the Odyssey by several years.

• The Trojan War was said to have been fought over sexual jealousy: The world’s most beautiful woman, Helen, abandoned her Greek husband, King Menelaus, and ran off with a man called Paris, a prince of Troy.

Eris was so furious about her exclusion that she decided to go to the wedding and throw a golden apple, the fruit of temptation, to the banquet table. The apple was supposed to go out to the "Calliste"- the fairest one. Three goddesses claimed the beautiful golden apple: Hera, the goddess of Marriage, Athena, the goddess of Wisdom and Aphrodite, the beautiful goddess of Love.

Zeus had a hard time to decide, since all three were dear to him, so he handled the judgement to the most handsome youth, the Trojan Prince Paris.

Hera and Athena did their best to bribe Paris with power and glory; Aphrodite, on the other hand, seduced him with love, offering him the most beautiful female mortal in the world, Helen of Sparta.

Paris opted for Aphrodite and so Helen was taken from Sparta to become Helen of Troy....And according to mythology, this was the inception of the legendary, ten-year Trojan War.

It all started when Eris, the goddess of discord, realized that she had not been invited to the marriage of the King Peleus, with the sea Nymph Thetis; a marriage that took place in the Mountain of Pelion in Thessaly (Central Greece).

•  In reality, the war was probably fought over economic factors because of its location. Whoever controlled the Dardanelles controlled all of the shipping, once Troy was destroyed, the Greeks could expand their power.

• Since Greece was not a unified country, but was composed of several independent cities, it took several years for the angry Menelaus to assemble an army.

• Kings & soldiers from all over Greece, Odysseus & Achilles among the, sailed for Troy to bring back Helen.

• The war lasted 10 years and finally the Trojans were defeated.

THE ODYSSEY • Homer’s 2nd epic, the Odyssey is the story of the attempt of one Greek soldier (Odysseus) to get home after the Trojan War.

• The Iliad is the primary model for the epic of war.

• The Odyssey is the model for the epic of the long journey.

• This theme is found throughout Western literature.

Examples are: The Incredible Journey, Moby-Dick, The Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, The Lion King and Forest Gump.

Definition of a HERO

In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.

What is a MYTH? Myths are stories that use fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed easily in realistic terms.

Myths are essentially religious because they are concerned with the relationship between human beings and the unknown or spiritual realm

An important theme throughout the Odyssey is: RESPECT FOR THE GODS IS ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVAL.

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

•  He believed that the gods controlled all things.

•  Athena, goddess of wisdom, is always at Odysseus side, appropriately because Odysseus is known for his “mental” abilities.

•  In Homer’s stories, a god can be an alter ego, reflecting the hero’s best or worst qualities.

•  The god who works against Odysseus is Poseidon, god of the sea.

•  Poseidon is known for his arrogance and a certain brutishness.

•  It is important to understand that Odysseus can also be violent and cruel.

•  In classical Greece, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC and perhaps earlier, a rhapsode was a professional performer of poetry, especially of epic poetry (notably the epics attributed to Homer)

Here a rhapsode stands on a platform and performs before a listener. The man behind him with a forked stick may be a judge. The rhapsode holds in his left hand a staff (rhabdos) that is a sign of his profession.

OTHER FACTS YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW

• Homer’s epic poems were composed of some historical facts, some legendary material, and some added original plot structure, realistic characters, dialog, detail and tales of fabulous monsters.

• He also included interests of the Olympian gods and goddesses who often intervened to protect or punish mortals.

• Homer made the gods and goddesses seem human as they quarreled, loved and were jealous of each other.

• Poems were not written down at first, but were passed on orally from one generation to another by RHAPSODES, traveling poets.

• These poets memorized and recited the poems in the homes of kings and noble families.

• Both poems, the Iliad & the Odyssey were recited in public every 4 years at the festival of Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron of the city.

• The poems became the FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION for Greek children. •  Young people learned to: 1. Tell a story

3. Portray a character

5. Give a speech

4. Express the Greek ideals of thought and action

•  The Odyssey is very long, 11,300 lines. •  It is written in 24 books.

•  It has 3 major plot strands. 1.  What happens in Ithaca to Odysseus’ wife & son

while he is gone 2.  Odysseus wanderings during the 10 years after

the end of the Trojan War 3.  These 2 strands combine when Odysseus returns

home & joins forces with his son, Telemachus to destroy their enemies.

1.  THE ODYSSEY CAN BE VIEWED AS A LONG, EXCITING ADVENTURE STORY

3.  BECAUSE OF THE EMPHASIS ON CHARACTER & PLOT, MANY CONSIDER IT THE FORERUNNER TO THE NOVEL

3. SOME INTERPERATE THIS THE STORY OF EVERY HUMAN BEING WHO MUST OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS AND OBSTACLES IN THE JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE AND IN THE EFFORT TO FIND A PLACE OF PEACE AND JOY.