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The Odyssey

The Odyssey. Epic. “An epic is an encyclopedia of the manners, customs, and values that bind a whole civilization together.” W.T. Jewkes But the textbook definition is… A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero who embodies the values of their culture.

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The Odyssey

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  1. The Odyssey

  2. Epic • “An epic is an encyclopedia of the manners, customs, and values that bind a whole civilization together.” • W.T. Jewkes • But the textbook definition is… • A long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero who embodies the values of their culture.

  3. Characteristics of an Epic • The protagonist is a physically impressive hero of national or historical importance who goes on a quest or journey and is glorified at the end of the work • The setting involves much of the known physical world and sometimes the land of the dead • The story is rooted in a specific culture and society

  4. Noble birth Superior strength and intelligence Embodies the values of his culture Possesses a flaw Goes on a journey or quest Overcomes obstacles Continually put through tests Travels to places most people cannot go Assisted by divine being(s) Attains immortality What Makes an Epic Hero?

  5. The Style of an Epic • Epics begin in medias res, literally translated it • means in the middle of things… the audience is • thrown into the story and the missing pieces are • filled in using literary techniques like extended • flashbacks, multiple story lines, and a variety of • narration techniques.

  6. Epics contain a unique combination of … • History (Trojan War) • Legend (an unverified story handed down by generations and generally accepted as factually based) • Myth (stories that use fantasy to express ideas about life that cannot be expressed easily in realistic terms… the gods, creatively woven tales, fantastical creatures)

  7. How is an Epic a form of Poetry? • The earliest forms of “story telling” were • sung tales. Our literary tradition began • as an oral tradition. To help people • remember long stories, rhapsodes • combined these stories with a “beat”… • more like a chant. Is it easier for you to • remember a 3 minute song or a 3 minute • speech?

  8. Poetic Devices Unique to the Epic • Epithets • A descriptive phrase that is used to characterize a person. An epithet would be used in place of a person’s name to avoid too much repetition and to give life to the character with added description. In a long tale this was a subtle way to remind the audience what/who a character is. • One of the most common epithets in the Odyssey is “Gray-eyed goddess” (Athena) • Homeric Simile • An extended comparison using heroic or epic events and compares them to easily recognizable items • "He pushed aside the bushes, breaking off with his great hand a single branch of olive, whose leaves might shield him in his nakedness, so came out rustling like a mountain lion, rain-drenched, wind-buffeted, but in his might at ease, with burning eyes - who prowls among the herds or flocks, or after game, his hungry belly taking him near stout homesteads for his prey."

  9. Homer • He was a well known storyteller from ancient Greece • By trade, he was a rhapsode (literally a “singer of tales”) • These men were the historians and entertainers as well as the myth-makers of their time • They traveled from place to place singing of recent events, heroes, or gods/goddesses • Credited with telling the epics the Iliad and the Odyssey

  10. The Iliad • An epic… this is Homer’s account of the Trojan War • This epic is set in the final weeks of the 10th year of the Trojan War

  11. The Trojan War The war began when the goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, bribed the prince of Troy, Paris, to name one of them as the most fair. He was offered power, wealth or the most beautiful woman as bribes. He chose Aphrodite as the most fair and in return, she gave him the most beautiful woman, Helen of Troy. The problem was that Helen was already married. Her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta and his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led an expedition of Achaean troops (Greeks) to Troy and thus began the 10 year war. After the deaths of many Greek heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell after Odysseus’s Trojan Horse trick caught the Trojans off guard.

  12. The Odyssey • This epic tells of the adventures of a famous • Greek hero, Odysseus as he makes his way • home from the Trojan War. • This narrative has everything the ancient Greek • could have wanted in a story…it was suspenseful, • action-packed, thought-provoking, romantic, • scary, funny, gory, and didactic (taught lessons) • all at once!

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