1. “The Epic” Notes and Definitions

2. Qualities of an Epic Hero Larger than life National, international, and cosmic importance Historical or legendary Close relationships with the gods Seems superhuman Journey, Quest, Test (hero archetype)

3. Add to that for Odysseus… Super Intelligence –the goddess Athena, whose symbol is the owl, is the goddess of war and wisdom and helps Odysseus throughout his journey home Hubris (arrogance/ bad pride) –This, on the other hand, gets him in trouble with the gods. Come on, Odysseus – just be humble and say “thank you” to the gods, and you’ll get to see your fam again!

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF EPIC POETRY And now for…

5. Elevated Language Fancy, flowery: –Takes 5 lines to say what we could say in 3 words “In the small hours of the third watch, when stars that shone out in the first dusk of evening had gone down to their setting, a giant wind blew from heaven…” (The Odyssey p.1076) So…at night?

6. Invocation of the Muse What might the word “invoke” mean? So what is an “invocation”? Any ideas on “Muse”? This event always takes place in the beginning and it’s where the POET (i.e. Homer) asks the goddess of music and the arts to help him tell his story. We see this in famous Greek epics, and Milton later uses it in Paradise Lost (that one’s British)

7. Repetition Lots of little reminders of people and incidents throughout the story Why? Even phrases are repeated: –“When the young Dawn with fingertips of rose lit up the world, the Cyclops built a fire…” (The Odyssey p. 1053) –This phrase is repeated something like 5 times in this one story

8. Complex Phrasing Inverted word order and long sentences: –“Nowhere had I to stand, no way of climbing, the root and trunk being far below, and far above my head the branches and their leaves, massed, overshadowing Charybdis’ pool.” (The Odyssey p. 1081) Basically, this was written a long time ago, so the language is very different (even the translation!) and more complex –Strategy: Find the subject and the verb, figure out what’s happening to whom: the rest is just elevated gravy

9. In Media Res This is Latin for “In the Middle” The narrative structure of The Odyssey is complicated: –First, Odysseus is off fighting the Trojan war for 10 years (that’s another Epic poem: The Iliad) –The Odyssey starts with an Invocation of the Muse –Books 1-4: Describes Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, who has been searching the Mediterranean for his dad. –Book 5: Odysseus is on the island of the goddess Calypso; she finally releases him at Zeus’ command, and Odysseus sails on a raft until Poseidon creates a storm. –Books 6-8: Odysseus washes up on the shore of Scheria, home of King Alcinous. Here he tells his story of his journey, beginning in media res (in the middle).

10. Figurative Devices Epic similes: An extended simile elaborated in great detail –Normal simile on an EPIC scale (long): Hyperbole: Exaggeration for effect –Calypso's place is described as being so lovely that "even a god who found this place / would gaze, and feel his heart beat with delight." For Pete's sake, she lives in a cave that she's fixed up. Epithets: An adjective or descriptive phrase that gives qualities of someone –Athena, the clear eyed goddess