Information for The Odyssey
Composed around 700 BC, The Odyssey is one of the earliest epics still in existence and, in many ways, sets the pattern
for the genre, neatly fitting the definition of a primary epic (that is, one that grows out of oral tradition).
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Epic Epithet
Epic Simile
Invocation
In medias res
o Other literary device unique to Homer
 catalogs and digressions
 lists of heroes or villains
 unusual amount of repetition
Epic Epithet
A term used to characterize a person or thing, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the
Great. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as The Great Emancipator for
Abraham Lincoln.
Examples from The Odyessy:
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“rosy-fingered Dawn.” Morning’s first light is compared to rosy fingers spreading across the land
Athena, sometimes called Pallas Athena or simply Pallas
o aka: “sparkling-eyed” (l.53).
Circe
o aka:“the nymph with lovely braids”
Ino
o aka: “Cadmus’ daughter with lovely ankles”
the beautiful daughter of Alcinous and Arete
o aka: “white-armed Nausicaa”
The Epic Simile
One of the devices used most effectively by Homer is the epic simile, which extends the comparison to expansive
proportions. One relatively short example in The Odyssey appears when Odysseus and his men blind the Cyclops: “as a
blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze / in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam / and its temper hardens—
that’s the iron’s strength— / so the eye of the Cyclops sizzled round that stake!”
In medias res is Latin for "into the middle of things." It usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning
of a story, but somewhere in the middle — usually at some crucial point in the action. The term comes from the ancient
Roman poet Horace, who advised the aspiring epic poet to go straight to the heart of the story instead of beginning at the
beginning.
Invocation:
Prayer or speech by the author to some spirit or other for inspiration. The Greeks would speak of the
Muses, the daughters of Zeus responsible for inspiring artists in their work. The Muse of Epic Poetry is Calliope.
Odyssey Part I Assignment
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Handout
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Review Prepositional phrases, pp. 547 Writing and Grammar.
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Read, “The Adventures of Odysseus” pages 983-985
Answer the following questions:
 How is Odysseus an epic hero? (Definition is page 979)
 Quote the first five words and the last five words of the invocation using quotation marks,
ellipses (...) and the page number in parenthesis.
 Explain how The Odyssey begins in medias res (beginning in the middle of the story and
flashing back to the beginning.)
Assignment for The Odyssey, Part I, pages 986-1017 “The Cyclops,” “The Land of the Dead,” “The Sirens,”
“Scylla and Charybdis,” and “The Cattle of the Sun God,”
In a journal form, identify and record twenty prepositional phrases, five total epic epithet/appositive phrases,
and five total epic similes or other forms of figurative language. Record the line numbers from the phrases and
figurative language. It must be written legibly or it will not count.
Examples from “The Adventures of Odysseus”
Epic epithets/appositives (nouns directly follow other nouns, and rename them)
line 18: Laertes son, Odysseus
line 32: Circe of Aeaea, the enchantress
line 70: Zeus the lord of cloud
line 97: the honeyed plant, the lotus
Remember, appositives are NOUNS describing other nouns. An appositive phrase must have a noun that
renames the noun next to it, although it is modified by other words.
Noun question: Can I have (a/an) __________________.
Simile:
 “They came with dawn over that terrain like the leaves and blades of spring.”
Epic similes are longer and contain the word ‘just so’
Personifications:
line 22: Mount Neions’s wind-blown robe of
leaves
line 79: Dawn came with ringlets shining