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The Odyssey

BACKGROUND INFO

+AUTHOR

HOMER Little is known about him Storyteller Oral tradition Wrote poem about 720 BC; written about events in 1100s BC

+The Iliad

Prequel to The Odyssey

In The Iliad, Odysseus participates in the Trojan War.

Abduction of Helen (Queen of Sparta) by Paris (Prince of Troy) and Aphrodite; her husband, King Menelaus, called soldiers to avenge his honor and bring her back

Odysseus’ madness and involvement (King of Ithaca- fought to help King Menelaus)

10 year war ending with Odysseus’ Trojan horse

Odysseus angered the gods who wanted Troy to win the war

Odysseus’ punishment was that his return home to Penelope (wife) and son, Telemachus would be as difficult as possible

Journey began with 720 men and 12 ships

+GREEK CULTURE

Hierarchy of society

Family ties and relationships

Polytheism

Host/guest relationship

+LITERARY DEVICES

Epic Poem: a long narrative poem in which heroes of great historical or legendary importance perform valorous deeds. Epics usually possess certain common characteristics:

Formal/elevated style and diction

Objective author

Hero is famous and important

Superhuman qualities

Gods and supernatural forces

Unlimited setting

+LITERARY DEVICES CONT…

In medias res: “in the midst of things” To begin in the middle of events already happening

Author may use flashbacks to reveal previous events

+LITERARY DEVICES CONT…

Epithets: brief descriptive formulas of people or godsExamples:

“Zeus, father of gods and men

Laertes’ son, Odysseus

Epic simile- a simile of great length and detail,

+GREEK CUTURE AND BELIEFS

Gods and goddesses resembled humans in many ways

Gods controlled all things and took active interest in human affairs, but humans still had free will

Mortals must respect gods or suffer consequences

+XENIA

Hospitality Generosity and courtesy shown to others Reciprocal relationship between host and guest

Host provides guest with food/drink and a bath; no questions are asked until the guest states his/her needs

Guest must be respectful and not be a burden to the host. Material gifts given Non-material gifts: protection or shelter

Zeus Xenios- role as protector of travelers Theoxeny- theme in Greek mythology- humans are hospitable to a

stranger who turns out to be a disguised diety (theos) All guests should be treated with hospitality because any of them

could be a disguised god or goddess

+Author’s purpose and themes

To entertain

Teach lessons about religion and society

+Terms to know…

Rhythm: pattern of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables

Refrain: the repetition of one or more lines in each stanza

Stanza: a grouping of two or more lines in a pattern that is repeated in a poem (compare to paragraph in prose)

+24 books of The Odyssey

6 groups of 4

1-4: adventures of Telemachus (Odysseus’ son)

5-8: Wanderings of Odysseus

9-12: retrospective narrative; Odysseus tells of his adventures

13-16: main narrative resumes

17-20: return of Odysseus to his palace

21-24: denouement

+theme

* The central topic of the text

*Thematic concept- what the reader thinks the work is about

*Thematic statement- what the work says about the subject