The OdysseyAuthor and Background Information
Simple:
The Fate of a Nation. (Ithaka, to be precise)
What is at risk?
Witty
Strong and well built
Handsome and does quite well with the women.
Intelligent
Manages to get out of bad situations with his cleverness.
He appears superhuman, yet flawed.
Main Character: Odysseus
His wife, Penelope.
His son, Telemachus.
Suitors: This is a term for people who court or try to woo another.
Eurykleia, Odysseus and Telemakhos’ nurse
Supplemental Characters
Laertes, Odysseus’ father.
His Crew
Many others as he travels; keep track of who is who and who is connected/related to whom. It will save you lots of re-reading!
Supplemental Characters (cont.)
Akhaians or Danaans = the Greeks. You will hear Telemakhos call to them or
criticize them. It is just another name of the Greeks to distinguish them from the Trojans.
Other Important Background Info
This takes place in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean world.
Time estimates for this journey are variedMost scholars place the story telling to be
over 3,000 years old.Talk about writing a 3,000-year-best-seller!
Phew!
Setting
Epic poet begins in the middle of the action – “in-
medias res”
Tells significant prior events through flashback
Begins with an invocation to the muses (Calliope is
muse of epic poetry)
Each line is the same poetic meter (dactylic
hexameter!)
Epic: a long narrative poem on a serious subject
In-media res
Invocation of the muses
Poetic meter
Flashbacks and repetition
Epic Poetry
Some things you are familiar with:
• similes and metaphors• epithets• symbols and omens• repetition
• This is a function of the fact that this was a STORY TOLD ORALLY
Epic Structure Devices:
Some things you may not be so familiar with:• long speeches and little dialogue• catalogues • great listing of people, especially in battle
sequence• Digressions• Moving away from the topic at hand to discuss
something related, often from the past or tied to the matter at hand in some way, but still off topic. (The phrase, “And I digress” means you’ve gotten away from your point.)
Epic Structure Devices: (cont.)
Dactylic Hexameter = a form of poetic meter or rhyme schemeThe meter consists of lines made from six
("hexa") feet. A “dactyl” is a long syllable followed by two
short syllables, as determined by syllable weight.A useful mnemonic for remembering this long-
short-short pattern is to consider the relative lengths of the three bones of a human finger: beginning at the knuckle, it is one long bone followed by two shorter ones (hence the name "dactyl").
Language
1. Creation of characters with uncomplicated motives
2. Actions that are true to Human Nature3. Plots that blend the joys of living with the
tragic sense of life.4. Long, musical lines (in the original Greek or
in a poetry translation)
Elements that make it a “Classic”
people of importance to society national hero monsters - for the purpose of playing up the good
traits of the hero fate of a nation (ex. Ithaca) setting of worldwide scope (ex. Mediterranean world) journeys or quests tests for the hero divine intervention
Elements included in epics:
intelligent and clever courageous strong and well built performs heroic feats wants to defeat evil adventuresome manages to get out of every bad situation
using his cleverness faithful to family, country and gods
Hero has outstanding traits of that nationality:
These are the lasting and enduring lessons we aim to take from this reading:
1. The Oral Tradition and its devices were used to explain and teach natural and religious origins, political origins, history of culture, and acceptable behavior for society.
2. Understanding how an epic poem is structure and the devices it employs enables full appreciation of its message.
3. Epic heroes are both courageous, intelligent leaders and flawed humans; they reflect the culture from which they emerge.
4. An odyssey takes one well beyond the familiar geography and explore the boundaries of human psyche and human society both literally and figuratively.
5. An individual’s understanding of self, his interaction with others and the world form his identity.
6. Home is a vital link to one's past, present, and future.
Why Read it?
Let’s read the opening together to get a feel for the dactylic hexameter!
Reading!
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