An Epic Tale
What makes a hero? Write down the names
of two or three people, real or fictional,
whom you consider heroic. Then take a
few minutes to list character traits that
you think a hero of any time and place
should have. Revisit and add to your
thoughts and notes as you read the
Odyssey.
Homer: To Good to be True?
 Known to us as the poet famous for his two Greek
epics: Iliad and Odyssey

Greeks believed him to be a blind minstrel Chios

Model for bards or rhapsodes – singers of tales historians, entertainers, myth-makers
Historian?
 Homer’s epics have been traced to actual
historical events and locations from as early as
1200 B.C.
The Iliad: tells the story of a ten year war fought on
the plains outside the walls of Troy (Ilion) –
A.K.A The Trojan War
The Trojan War
 people of Troy vs. an alliance of Greek kings
(each Greek island had its own king)
 Helen – the world’s most beautiful woman who
abandoned her husband, Menelaus, to marry a
prince of Troy.
Model for war epics
 The
Odyssey: tells the story of Odysseus’s
journey home to his wife Penelope after
the Trojan War
 Model
for epic journey in classical
literature and in contemporary Western
Culture:
The Hobbit, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Harry
Potter, The Lion King, and Forrest Gump
Epic: long narrative poem that tells of the adventures of heroes
who in some way embody the values of their civilizations.
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Part of an oral tradition
Poets used a repertoire of formulas for describing
characters and events
Long narratives – like this – were told over the course of
several days, and (we assume) were often summarized in
sections in order to complete the story before the bard had
to move along.
Myth: traditional story that is



rooted in a particular culture
basically religious – involve the influence of gods on human
affairs
usually serves to explain a belief, ritual, or mysterious
natural phenomenon
Iliad and Odyssey were used in schools to
teach Greek virtues and establish the
conventions of the epic form for later
epics such as:
• Virgil’s Aeneid (Rome)
• The Song of Roland (France)
• Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (Italy)
• Mahabharata and Ramayana (India)
Iliad –
 Odysseus dodges the draft
• Wife, Penelope
• Son, Telemachus
• Didn’t want to leave them to fight for an
adulteress (Helen)
 Odysseus
wins the war with the Trojan
Horse Trick
 Odyssey
– traces Odysseus’s outward
journey home and his inward quest to
find his identity, his place in the world
 Post-war
world
• Feeling of disillusionment and melancholy
• What is Odysseus when his war record and
heroism no longer determine his place?
Return Home: He
can only full
return home
when he reveals
himself to his
wife
Reconciliation
with Parental
Figure:
Odysseus is
reunited with
his son
Unusual
Birth
Achievement of
Goal: Odyssey
makes it home
Trials
Call to
Adventure:
Odysseus fights in
the Trojan War
Refusal of the Call:
Odysseus pretends
to be insane to avoid
going to war.
Supernatural
Helper: Athena
Crossing the
Threshold:
entrance into the
world of the gods
Talisman or
special
weapon:
Odysseus’s wit
Discuss two instances from popular books
or movies that allude to one of Homer’s
epics.