The Epic Homer’s Odyssey Virgil’s Aeneid and O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000)

Learning objectives  Identify the characteristics of Epic Poetry and the Epic Hero.  Describe the function of Roman literature and the Epic.  Explain the general significance of Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil and his work, Aeneid. (1).  Evaluate the relationship between and value of the stories, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and Oh Brother Where Art Thou? (2000 ) (3).  For what other purposes is this story (the journey and the impossibility of return) adapted in the modern era? In contemporary time? (4-5) In other words, in what way(s) are these stories important or relevant now? (5)  * There is a special focus on the Virgil’s work in this unit. Read the excerpted books for both Homer and Virgil’s work. You do not have to read both author’s works in their entirety. You should do your best to make sense of the epic poetry in the context provided in this unit and in your textbook.

Epic Poetry/ Epic Hero  Supports the maintenance of patriarchal society  The role of the divine  The Epic Hero  Roman-ticizing the story

Doh!  Who was Homer? Born c. 800 BCE Died c. 701 BCE Greece  Lived in a Greek colony on Asia Minor  Did not write, but compiled the stories that become the Iliad and the Odyssey.  The poems he collected/compiled usually focused on one character or another; This explains disconnected parts.  Dactylic hexameter. Aka heroic hexameter Long short short. For more on structure click hereclick here

Doh!  Who was Homer? Born c. 800 BCE Died c. 701 BCE Greece  Lived in a Greek colony on Asia Minor  Did not write, but compiled the stories that become the Iliad and the Odyssey.  The poems he collected/compiled usually focused on one character or another; This explains disconnected parts.  Dactylic hexameter. Aka heroic hexameter Long short short  For more on structure click hereclick here

Characteristics of Roman Epic  Historicizes the development of the Roman world  Borrows from conquered cultures  Political and secular components.  Christians argue that there are religious components that nod to the coming of Christ.  The role of food in Latin lit  Uses same meter. For more on structure click hereclick here  Criticisms:  Everything is a copy  All literature serves as propaganda for the empire  Resources:  History of the Roman Empire through maps History of the Roman Empire through maps

Latin Lit  Rough estimates  Early BCE  Classical or Golden 80 BCE CE (AD)  Silver Age CE (AD)

Virgil  Born 70 BCE Publius Vergilius Maro died 20 BCE Italy  Written between BCE  After Punic Wars, after Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, after Octavian Caesar Augustus takes power= after a wretched and glorious time in Roman history.  Openly acknowledged his work was based on Homer’s work, but had Latin flare.  Becomes national epic of Roman Empire  Most notably used by Dante in The Divine Comedy.

Why is Virgil’s work considered to be a prime example of Roman literature ?

O Brother Where Art Thou ?  Coen Bros  2000  Openly acknowledges the work is based on Odyssey, but has modern themes

Significance/relevance  In what other ways can/ in what other mediums can we recognize the story of the journey, the story of coming home, and the story of the impossibility of returning to the space and people you left behind?  In what other ways are these stories relevant today?

Learning objectives  Identify the characteristics of Epic Poetry and the Epic Hero.  Describe the function of Roman literature and the Epic.  Explain the general significance of Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil and his work, Aeneid. (1).  Evaluate the relationship between and value of the stories, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and Oh Brother Where Art Thou? (2000 ) (3).  For what other purposes is this story (the journey and the impossibility of return) adapted in the modern era? In contemporary time? (4-5) In other words, in what way(s) are these stories important or relevant now? (5)