Odyssey Terms

Archetype Definition: a recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology Example: good vs. evil, the hero, the mother figure, the villain

Epithet Definition: an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned. Example: in Homer’s Odyssey, the wife is “prudent”, Odysseus himself as “many–minded” and their son Telemachus as “sound-minded”.

Epic/Homeric Simile Definition: elaborate comparisons between two different objects using like or as. Example: “I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright’s drill that men below, whipping the strap back and forth, whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never stopping – So we seized our stake with it fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant’s eye.”

Couplet Definition: A couplet is a pair of lines of metre in poetry.Couplets usually comprise two lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). Example: "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/Humpty Dumpty had a great fall/All the king's horses and all the king's men/Couldn't put Humpty together again!"

Epic Poetry Definition: Traditionally, an epic poem is a long, serious, poetic narrative about a significant event, often featuring a hero. Before the development of writing, epic poems were memorized and played an important part in maintaining a record of the great deeds and history of a culture. Example: Homer’s The Odyssey

Invocation Definition: the summoning of a deity or the supernatural. Example: "his invocation of the ancient mystical powers"

Narrative Definition: a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. Example: Any book, movie, etc. A more specific example is Homer’s The Odyssey

Oral Tradition Definition: Oral tradition is information passed down through the generations by word of mouth that is not written down. This includes historical and cultural traditions, literature and law. Examples: - Blowing out candles at birthday celebrations - Not wearing white to a wedding, unless you are the bride

Arete Definition:  in its basic sense, means "excellence of any kind". The term may also mean "moral virtue". In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential. Example: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence (arete), if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (The Admonition of Paul in Philippians)

Iambic Pentameter Definition: a certain kind of line of poetry, and has to do with the number of syllables in the line and the emphasis placed on those syllables. Pent means five, so a line of iambic pentameter consists of five iambs – five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. Example: - But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?  - Now is the winter of our discontent.

Allusion Definition: an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. Example: “When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary.” Scrooge was an extremely stingy character from Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol.