Ms. Geller’s

Fabulous Freshman Lit Class

Fall 2013

Homer’s Odyssey: A Brief Introduction

Rhapsode: Traveling poet/storyteller; ancient Greek entertainment

Probably lived sometime before the 8th century B.C.E.

Believed to be blind (Greek homerus=blind)

Oral tradition: Greek alphabet was still developing. Most people were illiterate and accustomed to hearing rather than reading stories

Adventure tales of heroes and gods; audiences believed they were true

Who Was Homer?

Iliad: Story of the Trojan War

Odyssey: Story of the hero Odysseus’s ten-year journey home from war

Some controversy exists among historians as to whether both epics were written by the same person

Homer’s Compositions

• Long narrative poem, often about the adventures of a legendary hero

• Steady rhythmic pattern (meter) made the poems easier for the rhapsode to remember

• Action includes extraordinary or superhuman deeds, gods and monsters, and elements of the supernatural

• Purpose is not only to entertain, but to teach and inspire

• Convey the values of a culture

Epic Poetry

• Narrator begins by “invoking the Muse,” asking for divine guidance and inspiration

• Tale begins in medias res (“in the middle of things”)

• Formal tone and style

• Figurative language and vivid, often graphic descriptions bring the narrative to life

Epic Narration

• Larger-than-life figure from history or mythology

• Often aided by the gods, but does not have “superpowers”

• Has a flaw that can lead to catastrophe; in Odysseus’s case, hubris (arrogance)

The Epic Hero

• Odysseus: King of the Greek city-state of Ithaca

• Legendary general who came up with the idea for the Trojan Horse, winning the Trojan War for the Achaeans

• “Formidable for guile;” known as much for his cleverness as for his strength in battle

• Son of Laertes (patronym) and Anticlea; husband of Penelope; father of Telemachus

The Epic Hero

Around the 1200’s B.C.E.

At sea and on various islands in the Mediterranean

Setting

• When the epic begins, Odysseus is at the palace of King Alcinous, about to embark on the last leg of his journey home.

• He tells the story of his adventure over dinner at the king’s banquet table.

• Point of view shifts from third person to first and back again.

In Medias Res…

Choose one of the following topics and respond in a well-developed paragraph of at least eight sentences on the back of your note sheet.•A modern-day hero…•A seemingly impossible challenge and how I overcame it…•The aspect of my personality that most often gets me in trouble…

Your Task