1. GREEK TERMS

2. MYTH
A story that explains an unexplainable event; For example: Long ago, people tried to explain earthquakes by saying that giant monsters were stomping below the surface of the earth.

3. Rhapsode is the Greek word for a bard (a traveling storyteller/ poet)

4. Asking the muses for inspiration and help with telling a story
INVOKING THE MUSES
Asking the muses for inspiration and help with telling a story

5. THE MUSES
They are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They are known for the music of their song, which brings joy to any who hear it. There are nine Muses, each with her own specialty: Clio (History), Urania (Astronomy), Melpomene (Tragedy), Thalia (Comedy), Terpsichore (Dance), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato (Love Poetry), Polyhymnia (Songs to the Gods), Euterpe (Lyric Poetry).

6. HOMERIC/ EPIC SIMILE
An extended comparison using “like” or “as” (usually mounts in excitement as it goes on) and compares something simple and “every-day” to something of epic proportions

7. EPITHET
A descriptive adjective or phrase used to characterize someone or something; for example: “yellow-bellied coward,” “Catherine the Great,” “raider of cities, “loved of Zeus”

8. HYPERBOLE
A gross exaggeration

9. An epic poem’s narrative opens in media res (“in the middle of things”).

10. An epic poem’s setting is vast in scope.

11. 7 traits of an epic hero:
An epic hero is superhuman. He is braver, stronger, smarter, and cleverer than an ordinary person is.
2. The epic hero is on a quest for something of great value to him or his people.
3. The epic hero fights monsters. The villains that try to keep the hero from his quest are usually uglier, more evil, and more cunning than anyone we know in ordinary life.
4. The epic hero is often of mixed divine and human birth and so possesses human weaknesses.

12. 5. The divine world (the gods) interferes with the human world (called “machinery”)
6. The epic hero returns home significantly transformed by his journey.
7. In his journey, the epic hero covers great geographical distances and even visits the underworld, other worlds, and/ or other times.

13. Values or Themes

14. The Greeks value:
CUNNING over STRENGTH

15. The Greeks value:
Their Homeland

16. The Greeks value:
Respect for the gods

17. The Greeks Value:
the importance of hospitality

18. The Greeks Value: Youth and beauty

19. The Greeks Value: rhetorical abilities (the admiration for those who speak well)