1. What makes a hero?

2. Epic hero
Epic= Long, narrative poem, focused on a larger-than-life hero and his/her quest
Hero embodies the values of his civilization
Vast setting
Told in a formal, elevated style
Hero’s actions determine the fate
of a group, a nation, and/or mankind.
Often conflicts of
GOOD vs. EVIL
Example: Homer’s Iliad and
Odyssey

3. What do greeks think make a hero?
10 characteristics:
1. He is of royal birth, or half mortal, half god.
2. He must perform extraordinary feats.
3. He is a noble character, meaning close to perfectly ideal except for a fatal flaw.
4. The suffering of the character is physical.
5. Death must occur in an unusual way.

4. And the hero … 6. He fights for his own honor.
7. He is stronger than an ordinary man and more courageous.
8. War or dangerous adventure is their normal habit.
9. They accept challenges and sometimes create disaster.
10. They are child-like in their boasting and rivalries, in their love for presents and rewards, and in concern for their reputation.

5. The journey…don’t stop believin’
Key question: What makes his/her particular journey “heroic”?
The Greeks believed all heroes go on the same journey consisting of…
1. A quest for something valuable for him or his people
2. Tests over and over to prove his worthiness, usually by the gods and supernatural creatures

6. And the quest must..
3. Contain a “low” point, where the hero appears defeated and might give up… but then he overcomes all and succeeds!!
4. The hero regains his rightful place in society (King, military leader, father type of roles)

7. Epithets and Epic Similes
The Odyssey

8. Epithets Brief descriptive phrases that characterize a person or thing
Sometimes set off by commas
Used to help the rhapsode (singer of tales) and listener better remember details.

9. Examples of Epithets in The Odyssey
Odysseus, master mariner
Grey-eyed Athena
Muse, daughter of Zeus
The ocean, the wine dark sea

10. Epic Similes Also known as Homeric Similes Sometimes uses like or as
Comparison between two things
An elaborate version of a regular simile
Homer uses these similes for emphasis

11. Example 1
“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.”
1. What is being compared?

12. Example 2
“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.”
What is being compared?

13. Example 3
“Her mind in torment, wheeling like some lion at bay, dreading the gangs of hunters closing their cunning ring around him for the finish.”
What is being compared?

14. A few more things to know…
It is a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length.
Object of the comparison is usually something familiar to the audience, such as an animal or weather.
Homer’s use of similes deepens the reader’s understanding of the individual or action taking place.

15. How to spot and understand an Epic Simile
Questions to ask yourself:
1. What two things are being compared?
2. What is the impact, or purpose, of this comparison?
Often follows this format ->
…. Like a ___ when it ____