1. THE ODYSSEY BY HOMER Epithets and Epic Similes

2. Epithets Brief descriptive phrases Characterize a person or thing Sometimes set off by commas Used to help listener better remember details

3. Epithets Examples of Epithets:  Odysseus, master mariner  Grey-eyed Athena  Muse, daughter of Zeus  The ocean, the wine dark sea  Rosy- fingered dawn

4. Epithets TASK: create an epithet for your own name. Consider what you like to do, who your parents are, and what you are best known for.

5. Epic Similes Also known as Homeric Simile Uses like or as Does not always have to use like or as Comparison between two things An elaborate version of a regular simile

6. Epic Similes Homer uses these similes for emphasis Example: “She brushed it away from his skin as lightly as when a mother brushes a fly away from her child who is lying in sweet sleep.” (Homer 5).

7. Epic Similes Example: “And Odysseus let the bright molten tears run down his cheeks, weeping the way a wife mourns for her lord on the lost field where he has gone down fighting” (Homer 8). What is being compared?

8. Epic Simile Now write your own epic simile… Make sure you are comparing two things and make sure it is epic…

9. Calypso Reading Comprehension 1. Who is Hermes, and what is his mission? 2. What can Hermes do with his wand? 3. What is Calypso’s reaction to having to let Odysseus go? 4. What is the main problem Odysseus faces while traveling by sea? 5. What happens to Odysseus after he sets sail for home? 6. Why does Athena want to help Odysseus? 7. What is Odysseus’s biggest fault? 8. One theme is hospitality, how do people have to treat strangers in ancient Greece? 9. Explain how the theme of “home” shows up in this story. 10. Explain how the theme “will of the gods” is present in this story.