Mrs. Blaber Grade 9 English

 800 – 600 BC by Homer  Best known, stupendously awesome works of ancient literature  Ancient epic delivered first in oral tradition  Sequel to the Iliad  About Odysseus on his way back from the war in Troy  Hundreds of allusions to this epic poem

 Along with Homer’s Iliad, the Odyssey is one of the two great epics of ancient Greece.  Both poems display many of the epic’s characteristics, featuring a larger than life hero, deeds of great valor, and the interference of the gods in human affairs.

 literary devices typical of epics: opening with an invocation to the muse; beginning the story in medias res (basically, “in the middle of things”); providing long lists of people, genealogies, and places significant to mythological history; and using epithets, or repeated nicknames, for various characters, major and minor.  For the Ancient Greeks, an epic was written in poetic meter of “dactylic hexameter”

 Western literature first adventure story, almost fantasy genre  Has profound reflections on heroism, love, and human life  Odysseus uses his wits and strength to overcome  Also has strong female characters almost everywhere, unlike the Iliad

 Odysseus should’ve already returned home from the Trojan War; he hasn’t  His wife, Penelope, waits for him (for 20 years)  His son, Telemachus, waits for him; he hasn’t seen his father since he was a young boy  Odysseus must overcome different obstacle to get home

 Greek Hero  Husband to Penelope  Father to Telemachus  King of Ithaca  Wiliest of all Greek Heroes  Enormous strength  Protected by Athena  Downfall: hubris – excessive pride

 Son of Odysseus and Penelope  Prudent and clear headed  Has innate strength  Protected by Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle

 Wife to Odysseus; Mom to Telemachus  Queen of Ithaca  Suitors want to marry her, as they believe Odysseus is dead; she waits  Fortitude and determination

 Daughter of Zeus  Goddess of wisdom and warfare  Helps Odysseus  Disguises herself throughout epic

 angry suitor for Penelope  Greedy and lazy

 God of the sea; uncle to Athena  Forces Odysseus to wander the seas for twenty years

 Menelaos’s wife and instigator of the entire Trojan war  Helen was the most beautiful woman ever - married to a Greek king Menelaos, until Paris, the most handsome Trojan guy ever, decided he wanted her…  So he stole Helen.  The Greeks launched a war against Troy; Menelaos got his wife back.

 From Troy in Asia Minor across the islands of the Mediterranean Sea (near Italy) and back to Ithaka, Greece, sometime in the Bronze Age.

 Symbol – something that represents something else  Imagery – words that create vivid images in our heads  Allegory - work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning

 "The Odyssey." Shmoop: Homework Help, Teacher Resources, Test Prep. Web. 13 Aug