The Odyssey

1. The Odyssey Homer & The Trojan War

2. Homer….the earliest Greek poet? • Credited with creating two epic poems: • The Iliad (750 B.C.E.) and • The Odyssey (720 B.C.E.) • How do we know this is true? • We know very little about Homer’s Greece. • Scholars believe it wasn’t put into writing until centuries later.

3. Did Homer even exist??? • Some scholars think that Homer was actually an embodiment of several different men, all of whom collaborated on both The Iliad and The Odyssey.

4. If he did exist, he was most likely: • Blind • From Chios • Ancient Greek playwrights referred to him as a “gifted blind poet.” • “If anyone should ask you whose song is sweetest, say: blind is the man and he lives in rocky Chios." • The dialect used in The Odyssey was common in the area of Chios at the time this epic was composed. http://www.mitchellteachers.net/WorldHistory/AncientGreece/TheOdysseyAssignment.htm

5. The Transmission of The Odyssey bard [bahrd] –noun 1.(formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like. • Many think that Homer was a bard who wandered from town to town chanting his poetry to the accompaniment of a lyre. • During Homer’s time, very few people could read and write, and so stories were passed down orally. The Greeks of Asia Minor, known as the Ionians, developed a tradition of heroic poetry. The Homeric epics were regularly performed and were known to their audiences through performance.

6. The Transmission of The Odyssey • 5-4th century B.C.E- The Greeks learned an alphabet from the Phoenicians. Scholars believe that The Odyssey was written down at this time. • 3rd century B.C.E.- Ancient scholars working in Alexandria were responsible for the division of The Odyssey into twenty-four books. They were written on papyrus rolls. • 2nd-5th century C.E.- Our book form replaced the roll. • 1488- First printed edition of Homer issued in Florence. Before that, it existed only as a handwritten book.

7. So when does The Odyssey take place? • The Odyssey chronicles the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his 10-year voyage home to Ithaca after the end of the Trojan War (1184 B.C.E.) in the twelfth century B.C.E.

8. 12 years before The Odyssey… Why was she kidnapped??? • Odysseus, wise and noble King of Ithaca, reluctantly sails with his army to take part in the rescue of Helen after she is kidnapped by Prince Paris.

9. The Trojan War : it all started with an apple. • The Trojan War has its roots in the marriage between Peleus and Thetis, a sea-goddess. Peleus and Thetis had not invited Eris, the goddess of discord, to their marriage and the outraged goddess stormed into the wedding banquet and threw a golden apple onto the table. The apple belonged to, Eris said, whomever was the fairest. • Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claimed the apple belonged to them. Zeus proclaimed that Paris, a Trojan prince, would act as the judge.

10. The Apple of Discord • All three goddesses bribed Paris. Hera promised him power, Athena promised him wealth, and Aphrodite promised the most beautiful woman in the world.

11. The Apple of Discord • Paris chose Aphrodite, and in return, she helped him kidnap Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Stories conflict as to whether Helen fell in love with Paris (with the help of Aphrodite) and left willingly, or if she was forcefully abducted by Paris. In either case, Paris carried off much of Menelaus’ wealth. • In Troy, Helen and Paris were married. This event set into motion the Trojan War (1194-1184 B.C.E.) for the next ten years.

12. The Trojan War • Odysseus was forced to fight because he was an old suitor of Helen’s. All of the old suitors made an oath that they would back Helen’s husband to defend her honor. • Since it was their duty to help Menelaus recover Helen, the Greeks sent one thousand ships to Troy to recover Helen; hence the saying, “A face that could launch a thousand ships”.

13. The Fall of Troy • In the tenth year of the war, Achilles was killed by Paris’s arrow that was guided by Apollo. • The war was not going well for the Greeks. • Still seeking to gain entrance into Troy, clever Odysseus (some say with the aid of Athena) ordered a large wooden horse to be built. Its insides were to be hollow so that soldiers could hide within it. • Once the statue had been built, a number of the Greek warriors, along with Odysseus, climbed inside. The rest of the Greek fleet sailed away, so as to deceive the Trojans.

14. The Fall of Troy • One man, Sinon, was left behind. When the Trojans came to marvel at the huge creation, Sinon pretended to be angry with the Greeks, stating that they had deserted him. He assured the Trojans that the wooden horse was safe and would bring luck to the Trojans. • The Trojans celebrated what they thought was their victory, and dragged the wooden horse into Troy. • That night, after most of Troy was asleep or in a drunken stupor, Sinon let the Greek warriors out from the horse, and they slaughtered the Trojans.