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Homer’s The Odyssey

Homer’s The Odyssey. Definitions of Terms. Greek word odusseia – story of Odysseus Epic-a long narrative poem which celebrates the deeds of legendary heroes

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Homer’s The Odyssey

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  1. Homer’s The Odyssey

  2. Definitions of Terms • Greek word odusseia – story of Odysseus • Epic-a long narrative poem which celebrates the deeds of legendary heroes • Epic hero-a man (very rarely a woman) who seems to conquer most problems he encounters, and who is usually protected by or descended from gods but does not possess any god-like powers himself

  3. Terms con’t • Epic simile –compares heroic or epic events to simple understandable everyday events. Rich in detail. Ex: She brushed it away from his skin as lightly as when a mother brushes a fly away from her child who is lying in sweet sleep. • In media res - Latin expression meaning the story begins in the middle of the action. • Oral tradition – the transference of stories, songs, etc., from one generation to another or one culture to another.

  4. Terms con’t • Xenia – “guest-friendship” shown by the exchange of gifts/goods/services • Kleos – “reputation”

  5. The Odyssey • Epithets-an adjective or phrase which delineates a personality by the attributes possessed by the person or thing Ex: Achilles the invincible • Homeric epithet is a phrase, usually a compound adjective, use to describe a person or a thing Ex: the wine-dark sea or rosy-fingered Dawn • Helps reader understand the characters’ important characteristics

  6. Oral Epic • The Odyssey, like the Iliad, is an epic poem (Greek epos = verse) • Composed to be recited, accompanied by lyre to a listening audience • Characteristic of oral poetry (constant repetitions, both of phrase, line, the whole scenes) • Epithets applied to people may not always be appropriate to context-assisted in composition of poetry

  7. Composition • The Odyssey is 12,110 lines long and would have taken 20-25 hours to recite • Divided into 24 books (one for each letter of the Greek alphabet) • Narrative presents the ideas of adventurous journey and change of fortune • Three Major Sections: Telemachy, Wanderings, and Homecoming

  8. Composition con’t • First four books called telemachy • Generally epics start at the beginning, then continue chronologically • Begins with an invocation • Homer chooses to let the Muse begin in the middle (media res)

  9. Look for these Themes • The Quest of Telemachus • The Wanderings of Odysseus • Homecoming, Vengeance, and the Restoration of Order • Loyalty • Hospitality, or Guest/Host Relationship • Intelligence • Experience • Respect for the Gods, Order, Fate

  10. An important development during adolescence is learning to accept oneself (and thereby being able to answer questions for oneself and making choices and decisions). This is the same as being able to start bearing one’s own, individual, responsibility.Bernard Lievegood

  11. Young man of 20 Waiting to be told what to do Untested Feels powerless against mother’s suitors Telemachus

  12. I have said before that the beginning of the forties is a sort of a fork in the road leading to the rest of our lives. Either the road goes downhill, together with the biological functions of the body and mind, or it leads into totally new territory in which quite different creative powers are awakened.Bernard Lievegood

  13. Fully grown, mature man Undergone 10 years of war and traveling Man of courage, integrity, complexity, and maturity Man of intellectual curiosity Does not stray from his original goal Odysseus

  14. Odysseus’ wife Not the usual twentieth century heroine Woman of great inner strength Intelligent Penelope

  15. Daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete She is young, untested, and unsure of what she wants in life Is she too innocent? Too tied to her parents and the strict behavioral code that they impose on her? Nausicaa

  16. Map of the Wanderings

  17. Polyphemus the Cyclops Son of Poseidon and Thoosa The Voyage Home

  18. Circe the witch Turned men into animals The Voyage Home

  19. Realm of the Dead Meets Tiresias, Jocasta, and others The Voyage Home

  20. Scylla Monster with six heads and twelve feet

  21. Charybdis More dangerous of the two monsters Daughter of Poseidon Turned into monster by Zeus Sinks passing ships

  22. Odysseus and the nymph Calypso Calypso falls in love with Odysseus and keeps him on her island for seven years

  23. The old nurse recognized Odysseus by the scar on his thigh.

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