The Odyssey
Unit 2 Notes
• Anecdote: a brief story about an interesting,
amusing, or strange event told to illustrate a
point.
• Extended Metaphor: A comparison of two
unlike things that extends for several lines or
stanzas, even throughout the entire poem.
• Hero: A character who exhibits admirable
qualities, such as courage, loyalty, and fairness.
• Author’s Purpose: the author’s reason for
writing. Some are to entertain, some are to
inform, and some are to persuade.
Unit 2 Notes (Cont.)
.• Figurative Language: Language that means
more than it literally says. It is often used to
create vivid impressions by comparing things
that are not similar.
• Tone: The attitude toward the subject that an
author conveys in a piece of writing.
• Epic: A long poem about the adventures of
gods or heroes.
• Epic Hero: Larger than life figure from history.
The hero undertakes a dangerous voyage,
demonstrating traits that are valued by the
society in which the epic originates, such as
courage, loyalty and honor.
Technical Background
• The Odyssey contains 24 books
• Epic Poem
– Long, narrative poem
– Starts with an invocation (prayer) to the gods
– Adventure
– Central heroic figure (Odysseus)
– Setting is vast- cover the entire ‘known’ world
– Supernatural forces (gods) involved
– Serious tone
Literary techniques that are used:
• Epithet: repeated description of a person
– 'Achilles son of Peleus'
• Similes: Comparison of two unlike things using,
‘like’ or ‘as’
– Weak as the doe that beds down her fawns
• Metaphors: comparison of two unlike things
• Personification: giving humanlike
characteristics to non-human things/animals.
• Imagery: figurative language that gives a vivid
description of something by appealing to one of
the five senses.
Greek Model Heroes
• Use both the mind and body
well
• Well known, high social
position
• Actions of hero help decide
the fate of a nation/group of
people
• Struggle to overcome human
weakness
Historical Background
 The Odyssey begins In Media Res =
in the middle of things
• Iliad is the prequel to The Odyssey
– Trojan War
– Many events that happen in The Odyssey are a result
of the Trojan War
• World’s first beauty contest
– Paris, a prince of Troy, was to pick the most
beautiful woman/goddess
– Contestants were:
• Aphrodite (Goddess of Love)
• Hera (Zeus’s wife)
• Athena (Goddess of wisdom and war)
• To win, Aphrodite offers Helen as a bribe
• Helen is already married!
• Paris steals Helen
– Her husband, Menelaus, wants her back
– Trojan War begins
– Helen of Troy (epithet)
“The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships”
• Odysseus
– Friends with Menelaus
– Obligated to help his friend
– He leaves his wife, Penelope and
his infant son, Telemachus
Helen was
kidnapped by
Prince Paris
of Troy. This
upsets Menelaus.
Agamemnon,
Menalaus’
brother and
King of
Mycenae
Menelaus,
King of Sparta
and was
married to
Helen
Ancient Greece
Trojan War
• Against the city of Troy by the Achaeans
(Greeks)
• Lasts 10 years
• Neither side is gaining advantage
– Gods blamed for taking sides
• Beware of the Greeks Bearing Gifts!
• Odysseus has a plan
– Use ships to build a horse
– Pretend to leave it for the Trojans as a tribute
Trojan Horse
• Pretend to ‘leave’ town but some of the men are
inside the horse hiding
• Trojans believe the Greeks left, bring the horse
inside, party for their victory, then sleep
• Greeks get out of the horse, sneak the other Greeks
into the city, sack and burn it
• Odysseus' cleverness and ego get him into trouble
with the gods
• Gods (Poseidon) become angry at Odysseus’ pride
(hubris) and curse him to wander
• The Odyssey is about Odysseus’ 10 year return trip