Homer’s The Odyssey

Background Notes

Who is Homer?

No, not Homer Simpson…

•An Ancient blind poet•The “bard” who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey between 900 and 700 B.C.

• Homer did not compose each epic all at once: he told them in a series of short episodes that could be recited in an evening.

• Editors, not Homer himself, organized the epics in 24 books.

What exactly is an Epic?

The Epic…•A long narrative poem that tells the adventures of a hero

•Used to teach virtues of a civilization

Characteristics of an Epic

• A physically impressive hero (usually famous)

• A quest or journey

• A vast setting involving much of the known physical world

• Descent of the hero into the underworld

• Supernatural Forces

• Glorification of the hero at the end

Famous Epics from Around the World

• Iliad and Odyssey Greece

• Gilgamesh Sumeria

• Aeneid Rome

• Song of Roland France

• Divine Comedy Italy

• Mahabharata, Ramayana India

• Sundiata Mali

Heroes During Homer’s Time

• Heroes were a special class of aristocrats, in between gods and ordinary human beings.

• No matter what pain they may have experienced, they always displayed CONFIDENCE .

The Iliad

• Setting: 10th year of the Trojan WarGreeks vs. Trojans

• Theme: War• Important Characters:

– Helen, the “face that launched a thousand ships.”

– Menelaus, Helen’s Greek Husband– Paris, the prince of Troy

• Climax: Trojan Horse (Odysseus’s idea)

The Odyssey

• Setting: 10 years after the end of the Trojan War

• Theme: A Long Journey

• A Hero In trouble:– Odysseus, a Greek soldier trying to find his

way home to Ithaca– People of Ithaca have forgotten about him– His war-hero status is not important anymore

“In Medias Res”

• Means: “In the middle of a sequence of events”

• The Odyssey does not begin at the beginning; it starts with Telemachus at 20 years old trying to figure out what to do about his missing dad.