Original papyrus with
Homer’s Odyssey
(285-250 B.C.)
“THE ODYSSEY”
HIRA PERACHA
JORDANA QI
HEATHER SHAEFFER
PLOT BOOKS 1-4
•
Poseidon hates Odysseus
•
Telemachus is Odysseus’ son
•
Goddess Athena helps Telemachus
•
Suitors want to marry Penelope
•
Penelope and weaving
•
Telemachus heads off to Pylos
•
Telemachus hides from Penelope
•
Menelaus vs. Agamemnon
Penelope Unraveling Her Work At Night,
Dora Wheeler , 1886
PLOT BOOKS 1-4
Map of Troy
•
Telemachus visits Menelaus, who
missed Odysseus a lot
•
Odysseus a previous hero in the Trojan
War
•
Telemachus vs. Proteus
•
The suitors plan to sail and ambush
Telemachus for making their lives
difficult
•
Penelope finds out about Telemachus
PLOT BOOKS 5-7
• Athena begs Zeus to have mercy on Odysseus
• Hermes takes Zeus’s message to Calypso
• Odysseus leaves Calypso’s island
• Sea hardships
• “White armed princess” encounters Odysseus
Calypso, Greek vase, 400 B.C.
PLOT: BOOKS 9-16
• Odysseus tells the story of his
adventures on the sea
•
He has travelled to many different
islands to come to where he is
now
•
He lost all of his crew in many
different situations
• The Phoenicians took him back to
Ithaca, and left him with all of his
treasures
• Athena disguises him as an old
man
• Odysseus, disguised, stays with
Eumaeus
The Return of Odysseus, Claude Lorrain,
1644
Landscape with Polyphemus and Galatea
(Ancient Roman wall painting, 1st century
B.C.)
PLOT: BOOKS 17-20
• Odysseus returns to his own castle,
disguised as a beggar.
• He is challenged to a fight by a
messenger, ultimately proving his
strength, and tells tales of his travels
to Penelope, still in disguise.
• The palace is filled with Penelope’s
suitors. Odysseus receives signs
from Athena and Zeus to defeat the
suitors, but waits.
ca. 450 B.C.
PLOT: BOOKS 21-24
Return of Odysseus,
Nicholas Monsiau,
Early 1800's
• The contest to string Odysseus’ bow is underway. Odysseus, still in disguise,
wins the contest, leaving all the suitors in horror.
• After making sure the women are safe, Odysseus slaughters all of the suitors
and servants disloyal to Penelope and the palace.
• Odysseus finally reveals his identity to Penelope. He fights one last battle
against the suitors’ soldiers, which he wins, and Athena brings peace to Ithaca.
EPIC QUALITIES
• In Medias Res
•
Gods speak of “the great Odysseus” (Book 1)
• Vast Setting
•
Begins in Ithaca and continues to Sparta (Books 2-3)
•
Odysseus’ journey at sea lasts 10 years
• Invocation to a Muse
•
“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story…” (Book 1)
Not
THAT
Ithaca!
EPIC QUALITIES (CONT’D.)
• Statement of Theme
•
Mortality of Humans— “Your last
hour has come. You die in blood.”
(Book 22)
• Use of Epithets
Odysseus as a Guest of the Nymph Calypso, Hendrick van
Balen, 1616
•
“Odysseus, the great teller of tales”
(Book 9)
•
“the bewitching queen of Aeaea”
(Book 9)
•
“Calypso the lustrous goddess”
(Book 9)
EVEN MORE EPIC QUALITIES
•
•
•
Some lovely violets and parsley…
Epic Catalogue
•
Description of Calypso’s island
•
“Long-tongued beachcombing birds”, “beds
of violets and tender parsley” (Book 5)
Epic/Formal Speeches
•
King Nestor tells Telemachus a story “in
length” about his time in Troy (Book 3)
•
Menelaus mourns Odysseus in a “deep”,
long, and affectionate manner(Book 4)
Divine intervention
•
“Now Zeus who masses the stormclouds hit
the fleet with the North Wind” (Book 9)
•
“Athena stroked Odysseus with her wand.”
(Book 13)
•
“Poseidon, quaking with anger at you” (Book
13)
TIRED OF EPIC QUALITIES YET?
• Heroes Embodying Civilization’s
Values
•
Feast Traditions—Odysseus enjoys
the feast and listens to “the lyre
that god has made the friend of
feasts” (Book 17)
• Descent into the Underworld
•
Kingdom of the Dead, Gary Stickel,
(The Homeric Project)
“What brings you here, forsaking
the light of day to see the joyless
kingdom of the dead?” (Book 11)
WHO IS THE TRUE HERO?
• Warrior
•
Strength—Odysseus “years
ago…rose to Philomedes’
challenge, wrestled him, pinned
him down with one tremendous
throw…” (Book 17)
•
Loyalty—Odysseus has taught his
son loyalty. Telemachus refuses to
pack his mother “off against her
will from her own home”. (Book
20)
•
Courage—Odysseus quietly thinks
through his decisions until he
bravely defends his kingdom and
kills the suitors in Book 22.
The Return of Odysseus, Romare Bearden, 1978
MORE HEROIC CODE…
• King
•
•
Hospitality—Odysseus treats his
hostess, Penelope with grace. “Never a
man in the wide world should have
fault to find with you…” (Book 19).
Political Skill—The servants and suitors
were held responsible by Odysseus for
their actions.
•
•
They “bore the cold weight of the
dead…” (Book 22)
Generosity—Odysseus saves the two
men who were loyal to him in his
absence.
•
Phemios
•
Medon “cared for [him] from
boyhood…” (Book 22)
Ulysses Killing the Suitors, 1805
LITERARY ELEMENTS
• Foreshadowing
•
Odysseus and Companions Escape, 550-450 BC
(Vessel)
Cyclops curses him: “Hear me – Poseidon,
god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the
earth! If I really am your son and you claim
to be my father – come, grant that
Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes’ son who
makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches
home. Or, if he’s fated to see his people
once again and reach his well-built house
and his own native country, let him come
home late and come a broken man – all
shipmates lost, alone in a stranger’s ship –
and let him find a world of pain at home!”
LITERARY ELEMENTS (CONT’D.)
• Repetition
•
“When young Dawn with her rose
red fingers shone once more” (Books
5, 7, 9, 10, 17)
• Kennings
•
Poseidon is “the Old Man of the Sea”
(Book 17).
•
Odysseus is “the man who’d borne
long years abroad”. (Book 17)
• Symbolism
•
The west side of the Palace of Minos and the central
courtyard. Piet de Jong.
Photographed by Craig Mauzy in 2006
Odysseus’ literally difficult journey
symbolizes the social difficulties he
faces in getting back to his own
kingdom.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT
• Homer lived around 8th century B.C.
• However, “The Odyssey "was not written
down until almost 500 years later
•
Written in a manner more similar to
everyday speech
• Great for storytelling!
• Most likely written for all types of audiences
REFERENCES
• Fitzgerald, R. (1962). The odyssey: Homer. Doubleday Publishing Group.
• Homer. (1997-2013). Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/288
• http://www.agathe.gr/id/agora/image/2008.03.0022
• http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tragedy_theater.html
• http://faculty.catawba.edu/cmcallis/history/greece/greece1.htm
• http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/06/edible-gardens-chicago-botanicgarden.html
• http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/288862
REFERENCES (CONT’D.)
• http://www.maryshelleyfolkart.com/collections.php
• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_homillod.htm
• http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Be-Ca/Calypso.html
• http://www.sites.si.edu/romarebearden/works/returnOfOdysseus.html
• http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/flaxman-ulysses-killing-the-suitorst11217
• http://www.travellinkturkey.com/troy.html
• http://www.umich.edu/~homeros/Representations%20of%20Homer's%20Ide
as/Marisa-Iliad%20Odyssey/Marisa-Iliad%20Odyssey.htm
• http://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/balen/odysseus.html