The Odyssey
By Homer
Mr. Shelton
George Wythe High School
The Odyssey
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Packet Intro:
Cause of the Trojan War:
1.
Historical: over a trade route between the
Black and the Agean Sea
2.
Mythological: over Paris’s stealing of Helen
Queen of Sparta
Literary terms
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Epic: a long narrative poem about the deeds of a
hero
Apostrophe: where someone speaks to someone
non present or non existent
Personification: giving something non-human
human-like qualities
Direct / indirect characterization:
Direct: what is known about the character is simply
stated.
Indirect: what is known about the character is
implied through actions or what others say about
them or body language.
You will encounter the following in The
Odyssey
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Loyalty, devotion, and fortitude
The Greek idea of a strong body and mind
The wandering hero
The triumph of good over evil
Obedience to the laws of the gods
Important characters
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Alcinous: king of the Phaecians, the one to
whom Odysseus tells his story
Odysseus: King of Ithaca, protagonist
Calypso: a sea goddess who loved Odysseus
Zeus: king of gods
Apollo: god of music, poetry, and medicine
Poseidon: god of sea and earthquakes, and
father of cyclops, Polyphemus
Athena: goddess of wisdom
Characters to know
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Polyphemus: the cyclops who imprisons the
Greeks
Penelope: Odysseus’s wife
Laertes: Odysseus’s father
Telemachus: Odysseus’s son
Sirens: creatures whose songs lead sailors to
their deaths
Scylla: a sea monster of grey rock
Important characters continued
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Charybdis: a giant whirpool of destruction
Eumaeus: an old faithful swine herder
Antinous: the leader of the suitors (antagonist
in part 2)
“Prologue”
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1. Homer is “me” in the opening.
2. The man in line 2 is Odysseus
3. Odysseus’s two goals are to save his life and the
life of his shipmates
4. His recklessness led to the destruction of his
men.
5. Homer calls upon the goddess of inspiration (the
Muse) in telling his story (apostrophe).
6. She is daughter of Zeus
“Sailing from Troy”
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1.
2.
3.
7. Ten years have passed since the Trojan war.
8. Odysseus’s fame has gone abroad to the “sky’s rim”
9. Odysseus’s father is Laertes
10. Ithaca is good for a boy’s raising. He would never find a
better place in the world. (even if one would find a house of
gold)
11. His home is Ithaca
12. Three reasons Odysseus’s men were defeated by the
Cicones:
1.The Greeks were drunk
2.The Greeks were outnumbered
3. The Cicones were better trained (to fight on ground or
horseback)
“The Lotus Eaters”
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13. A storm keeps Odysseus from reaching
home after he leaves the Cicones.
Odysseus sent out two men and a runner
14. The men who ate the lotus forget about
home (they only care about the lotus).
15. Odysseus carries his men who have
tasted the plant back to the ship and ties
them under the benches.
16. His men don’t always listen to him.
“The Cyclops”
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1.
2.
3.
4.
17: 4 descriptions of the Cyclops way of life:
They don’t plow or sow by hand (they just
let stuff grow)
They each dwell in a mountain cave
They “deal out rough justice” to wife and
children
Indifferent to what others do (they do what
they want).
“The Cyclops”
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18. He took with him: his 12 best men; goat
skin of Maron’s wine and victuals (food).
19. Descriptions of cyclops:
a. A prodigious man, a brute with one eye.
b. A savage
20. he seemed (like) a shaggy mountain
21. the cave had cheeses and pails for
milking
“The Cyclops”
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22. Polyphemus call Odysseus a “ninny”
because he suggests that Polyphemus would
be afraid of the gods.
23. He eats 2 of Odysseus’s men.
24. Odysseus decides not to kill the cyclops
because they cannot move the rock from the
door (it is too heavy).
“The Cyclops”
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25. He uses the following to escape:
Fallen green olive tree to blind the cyclops
Nectar and ambrosia to get the cyclops drunk
Hot embers and coals to heat and harden the
stake
Nohbdy to trick Polyphemus so that he can’t
get other cyclops to help him
Sheep for he and his men to hide under their
bellies and ride out.
“The Cyclops”
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26. Parts of the curse:
1. O. Never gets home
2. if he does get home, it will be long and
difficult
3. he will lose all companions (shipmates)
4. arrive home under strange (different) sail
5. bitter days at home
O. Tempted the cyclops. Why did he do
this? Could it have been a stupid decision?
“The Cyclops”
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27. Odysseus finally tries to make an offering
to Zeus to “make things right.” Zeus rejects it.
28. This shows that the gods are fickle (they
change often).
29. leadership qualities Odysseus shows?
Smarts, loyalty, determination
30.Flaws he shows?
Stubborn, proud, selfish
“The Land of the Dead”
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…after leaving the island of the Cyclops,
Odysseus meets Aeolus, god of winds.
31. He gives them a bag full of all winds
except the favorable west wind.
32. His men open the bag when they are
almost home. It sends them back out to sea.
33. O’s men have no self-control, and they
are greedy.
34. Aeolus did not help them a second time
as he is afraid of the gods.
Land of the Dead
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The Laestrygonians: Land of Cannibals:
35. All ships but one are destroyed.
36. Circe turn his men to swine.
37. O is not affected as he has been given a
magic herb by the gods.
38. Circe tells O. that he must go to The
Land of the Dead in order to make it home.
He has to consult the blind prophet Tiresieas.
The Land of the Dead
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39. Some of the souls who gathered in the
LOD? Knights, maidens, men, young and
old, women young and old.
40. He encounters two people he knows:
1. Elpenor: who had gotten drunk and fallen
off a roof at Circe’s island; 2. Anticlea, his
mother.
41. Tiresias tells O. that his men must not
feast on the cattle of the sun god (Helios).
The Land of the Dead
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Tiresias makes four predictions concerning
Odysseus: 1. Disaster for ship and crew, 2.
lost for years, 3. return home under a
strange sail, and 4. trouble at home.
The Sirens
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43. Circe warns O. of five dangers:
1.Sirens, 2. the wandering rocks, 3. Scylla,
4. Charybdis, and 5. cattle of the sun god.
Odysseus saves he and his men from the
Sirens by: 1. bees wax in the men’s ears,
2. they tied him to the mast (with no bees
wax). Why not?
Scylla and Charybdis
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45. Odysseus’s encourages his men by
reminding them of other victories: Cyclops,
etc.
46. Odysseus didn’t warn them of
Scylla?They would be scared and all die.
48. Odysseus said the worst sight he had
suffered was seeing his men eaten by Scylla.
(He did tell them of the whirlpool, but not the
rock monster).
47. Heroic decision? Yes / d no
The Cattle of the Sun God
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49. Odysseus told his men not to harm the
cattle.
50. His men didn’t obey because they don’t
listen, and they are starving.
51. Odysseus prays to the gods for help;
they put him to sleep.
52. Euylochus’s insidious plea is: it is better
to drown than to starve to death (so let us eat
the cattle).
The Cattle of the Sun God
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53. They decide to eat them.
54. Helios threatens Zeus to punish them, or
he will go light the underworld.
55. Zeus tells Helios that he will punish them
with a thunderbolt.
56. Calypso saves O’s life and receives him
on Ogygia Isle.
Part II: Trouble at Home.
20 Years and Back Again
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1. Explain how the curse has come to pass:
Late may he come: 20 years have passed
With loss of men: all shipmates have
perished
Under strange sail: the Phaecians have
brought him home
Trouble at home: 118 suitors are trying to kill
his son and marry his wife.
20 Years and Back Again
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Characters:
Penelope: O’s wife
Telemachus: O’s son
Eumaeus: faithful swineherd
Athena: goddess of wisdom and warfare
3. The suitors are trying to kill Telemachus,
and they are abusing the home and
resources
20 Years and Back Again
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4. Athena tells Odysseus to get his son and
have vengeance on the suitors
5. Telemachus supsects his father to be a
god.
6. There are 118 suitors.
20 Years and Back Again
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7. Odysseus tells Telemachus to get the
weapons and hide them. 2. He tells him to
save two swords and spears. 3. He tells him
to give two excuses if the suitors ask why he
is hiding the weapons: 1. he was trying to
keep them clean from smoke. And 2. If they
got into a fight, they might kill one another
and ruin their feast.
8. O. says that Zues and Athena will help
them.
Argus
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9. Argus is O’s dog.
10. O. says that the dog has been abused.
Eumaes’s response lets O. Know that
Eumaeus has been loyal to him.
11. Eumaeus says that he thinks O. is dead.
12. Argus dies upon seeing O. (as if he were
waiting for his master to return).
The Suitors
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13. Antinous is a cruel man. He didn’t give
O any bread; he threw the stool at him.
14. Antinous calls Odysseus (beggar form) a
pest and a nosing rat.
15. Telemachus did nothing as this is part of
O’s plan.
16. Penelope asks her servant to send the
beggar form of O to her as she thinks that he
may have information on the whereabouts of
O.
Penelope
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17. Penelope asks the beggar where he is
from and who are his parents
18. Odysseus replies to her: please don’t
make me recall my pain (so that he doesn’t
have to lie to her).
19. Penelope tells the beggar that she has
not been the same since O. left.
20. She weaves the shroud at day and takes
it apart at night.
Penelope
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21. In the fourth year, she was caught and is
now forced to marry.
22. The beggar tells Penelope that O. Will
be home soon.
The Challenge
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23. This day is critical for Penelope as she
will find out who she marries.
24. The person who can string the bow and
shoot it through 12 axe handle sockets will
marry her.
25. Suitors call the beggar form of Odysseus
a “nosing rat” and “bow lover.”
26. Odysseus changes their attitude by
accomplishing the task.
The Challenge
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27. The beggar wins the contest.
28. Odysseus says that he is who he says
he is, and he has done what he has said he
would do (win the challenge).
Odysseus’s Revenge
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29. Odysseus shoots Antinous in the throat
and kills him.
30. The others are outraged and say that
“the beggar” will pay for it.
31. Odysseus tells him who he is.
32. The suitors pale when they find out who
he is.
33. Odysseus rejects their excuses and says
there will be blood.
Odysseus’s Revenge
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34. Eurymachus encourages the suitors to
fight.
35. Eurymachus is shot in the liver.
36. Amphiminous is killed next.
37. Telemachus makes a quick exit to get
weapons.
38. All of the suitors are killed by Odysseus,
Telemachus, Eumaeus (swine herder) and
cow herder
Penelope’s Test
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39. Her heart is iron (metaphor)
40. Penelope asks the servant to put his bed
in the hallway (to test O.).
41. Penelope’s test is the tree (olive tree)
which makes up the bed post.
42. Athena brings peace to his world. The
relatives of the suitors do not come back to
fight Odysseus.