The OdysseyBy Homer
Homer Biography
• Greek
• Blind
• Bard (Poet)
• Sang or recited orally
• Around 600 – 700 B.C.E
EpicA long poem, narrative in form that surrounds the fictional account of a hero on an incredible adventure.
• Originally sung
• Poet often played a Lyre
• Tells the tales of history, culture, religion
• Gave a peek at those things that terrified the people (monsters, death, storms, etc.)
Epic Characteristics
Supernatural forces are perpetually at work throughout the epic.
The story opens in media res, invokes a Muse (a goddess who inspires creativity), and uses heavy repetition.
Begins with a statement of the theme.
Often features the tragic hero's descent into the Underworld or hell.
Epic Plot
Vast geographical distances, including many oceans, nations, and worlds.
Primary epics seem generated by periods of upheaval, of struggle and adventure
Epic Setting
Features heroes that embody the values of the civilization.
Epic Theme
Cross out everything except Archetypes
In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.
Other Terms to Know …An extended simile (remember what similes use) that often covers multiple lines in an epic poem.
Epic Simile
Allusion
EpithetA term used to characterize a person or thing, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the Great.
A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or event.
Let’s talk about more examplesmakes a comparison to some kind of event, in the form "like a ____ when it ______." The object of the comparison is usually something strange or unfamiliar to something ordinary and familiar
Epic Simile Allusion
EpithetAlexander the Great.
Master of the war-cry, glorious, excellent, fair-haired, warrior, red-haired, and son of Atreus for Menelaus.
Biblical allusions
PLL (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bad Seed, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Great Expectations, 1984, Lolita, Harry Potter, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Macbeth, The Bell Jar, The Lottery, and Grapes of Wrath.)
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