The Odyssey by Homer Background Information Sophomore English 2017

Who was Homer? According to Biography.com, He was an ancient Greek poet who probably lived “between the 12th and 8th centuries BCE.” (No Biggie give or take 400 years???) He might even be a group of people. Scholars also believe he wrote The Iliad . Both The Odyssey and The Iliad are more of “urban legends” than actual stories written by a single author. Both stories were memorized and recited by Homer as writing wasn’t very common yet. Many scholars also believe he was blind.

Who was Homer? (continued) What time period is this in relation to ancient Greek philosophers? Socrates (469-399 BCE) Plato (424-327 BCE) Aristotle (384-322 BCE) (Almost 300 years before Socrates)

The Odyssey is the sequel to The Iliad, so in order to understand The Odyssey we must also understand the basic plot of The Iliad. The Iliad is a story about the Trojan War. Scholars believed the city of Troy and The Iliad were a myth until the mid 19th century when an archeologist found the remains of an ancient city on the West coast of Turkey.

Can you find Troy on a map of the world?

The Trojan War (Don’t you think it’s a little weird that the name Troy gets changed to Trojan when it’s an adjective?) According to the University of Pennsylvania the Trojan war was fought around 1250 BCE. The Trojan War was allegedly fought over Helen of Troy (Not Greece) who was originally Helen of Sparta (Greece) and originally married to King Menelaus. At the time of the Trojan War, Greece was a loose configuration of city states all with their own king. King Menelaus was King of Sparta. Helen was taken from her husband to be with Paris the Prince of Troy with the help of the ancient Greco – Roman gods. The legend / myth tells of an argument between Hera, Aphrodite and Athena over who was the most beautiful.

The Trojan War (continued) Initially Zeus, the father of the gods, was to decide the winner, but he passed the task on to the mortal Prince Paris of Troy. Each goddess offered Paris something in return for him selecting her as the most beautiful. Hera = offered to make Paris King of Europe and Asia Athena = offered Paris wisdom and skill in war Aphrodite = offered Paris the most beautiful mortal woman (who just happened to already be married to King Menelaus). Paris accepted Aphrodite’s gift and Helen of Sparta was whisked away to Troy. King Menelaus was NOT ok with his wife being taken away, so he waged war on Troy and asked a bunch of his friends (other Greek kings) to help him get Helen back.

The Trojan War (continued) Odysseus (from The Odyssey) was one of the other Greek kings Menelaus asked for help. Odysseus was King of Ithaca another Greek city state. Menelaus also asked his own brother Agamemnon for help. Odysseus readily agreed to travel to Troy to help Menelaus get Helen back even though he had a wife (Penelope) and a newborn son (Telemachus). The Trojan War was fought for almost 10 years. Finally the Greeks, under the plan that Odysseus created, defeated the Trojans. Helen was returned to Sparta and Menelaus also returned. Another 10 years pass and Odysseus still isn’t back from the war; nobody knows anything about where he is.

The Odyssey…Book One “Athena Inspires the Prince…” When The Odyssey opens, we see Athena asking her father Zeus for permission to help Odysseus. Think about why she would do this! We meet Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, who is not happy with his current situation. We also meet Penelope Odysseus’ wife, who is also not happy with her current situation. She is being “hit on” by all the nobles on Ithaca.