The Odyssey – Intro & Book I
The Odyssey – genre and author
 The Odyssey was written by a guy
named Homer. He was a blind poet.
 Many think that his epics are
actually the combined work of
several poets.
 The Odyssey is an epic poem.
 An epic poem is a long narrative
poem about a hero’s adventures.
 Narrative = tells a story.
When and where?
 The Odyssey
was
composed in
Greece,
around 800
B.C.E.
 How long
ago was it?
The Iliad
 Homer’s other famous epic poem is The
Illiad.
 The Illiad presents an episode from a

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
Trojan War.
The war began after Paris, a prince of
Troy, kidnapped Helen from her husband,
the king of Sparta.
Her husband Menelaus wanted his wife
back.
Odysseus was one of his soldiers, and he
went to Troy to besiege the walled city.
He came up with a master plan – Trojan
horse.
 Troy was conquered!
The Odyssey
 Main character:
Odysseus.
 The Odyssey deals
with Odysseus’
adventures as he
makes his way
home from Troy.
 The story is full of
fantastic elements
– interference of
gods and
goddesses.
The events in The Odyssey…
 … occurred long before
Homer’s lifetime.
 The values and beliefs,
however, were still
important in Homer’s world.
Storytellers
Epics were not written
down and read.
They were told by a
master storyteller and
passed on to other
people verbally.
 What problems do you
see in this method?
Master storyteller
 He was a poet
with a golden
voice who sang
his or her great
tale in verse (in
poetic form).
 Many of the
story’s details
were created as
he or she sang
the story. This
is also called
improvisation.

Lit. terms you need to know
 Epic poem.
 Epic hero.
 Epic simile.
 Epithet.
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Onomatopoeia.
Hyperbole.
Personification.
Alliteration.
Imagery.
Oxymoron.
Epic hero
 Epic hero is a largerthan-life figure, usually
male.
 Epic heroes take part
in long, dangerous
adventures and
accomplish great
things.
 They show a lot of
courage and
superhuman strength.
 Since they are human,
they also show some
human flaws.
Epic simile
 A simile is a comparison between
two things using “like” or “as.”
 Epic simile is an elaborate, very
detailed version of a simile.
 Homer often used several lines for
his epic similes to describe things
in great detail.
 Epic similes described a character’s
thoughts and feelings.
Epithet
 Brief, descriptive phrases that
helped to characterize a person
or thing.
 Adjective + noun.
 Examples: “master mariner,”
“old contender,” “wine-dark
sea.”
 Epithets helped the storytellers
remember the words.
Onomatopoeia
 Definition:
– Words that imitate
sounds.
 Examples:
– boom, meow, crash,
sizzle, crunch and buzz.
Alliteration
 Definition:
 When two or more words in a
poem begin with the same
sound.
 Examples:
“It sounds so sweet…”
Personification
Definition:
– Giving human qualities
to an object or animal.
Oxymoron
 Definition:
– Oxymoron is putting two
contradictory words together.
 Examples:
– hot ice, cold fire, wise fool, sad joy,
military intelligence, eloquent silence.
 Oxymoron poem link.
 Funny oxymorons:
http://www.freemaninstitute.co
m/oxymorons.htm
Hyperbole
 Definition:
 Hyperbole is an extreme (“over
the top”) exaggeration.
 Link to examples.
Epic hero’s qualities
 Think of a superhero that you
know.
 With a partner, brainstorm the
qualities of a hero – both
strengths and weaknesses!
 Create a word web.