+ All Categories
Home > Documents > H OMER ’ S O DYSSEY Definitions Background Important Characters.

H OMER ’ S O DYSSEY Definitions Background Important Characters.

Date post: 26-Dec-2015
Category:
Upload: ashley-harmon
View: 219 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend
Popular Tags:
35
HOMER’S ODYSSEY Definitions Background Important Characters
Transcript

HOMER’S ODYSSEYDefinitions

Background

Important Characters

EPIC –a long story told in elevated language (usually poetry)

relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society

EPIC POETRY Most epics include elements

of myth, legend, folk tale, and history.

They also include elements of supernatural forces at work.

The tone of the epic is serious and it uses grand language.

Often the hero’s quest takes place in a vast setting, often including heaven, hell, or the land of the dead.

EPIC POETRYHomer’s Iliad and

Odyssey are the best-known epics in Western civilization.

Another well-known epic is Virgil’s Aeneid which is based on events that happen during and after the Trojan War (just like the Iliad and the Odyssey).

EPIC HERODefinition of epic hero

- a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society.

An epic hero is superhuman; physically impressive.

He is braver, stronger, smarter, and more clever than an ordinary person is.

EPIC HERO The epic hero is on a quest for

something of great value to him or his people.

The villains who try to keep the hero from his quest are usually uglier, more evil, and more cunning than anyone we know in ordinary life.

The epic hero is often of mixed divine and human birth and so possesses human weaknesses.

EPIC HEROThe gods of the divine world interfere with the human world.

At the end of the quest, the hero is glorified.

HOMERIC SIMILE Compares heroic or epic events to

simple, everyday events Uses like or as "Fear fell upon Hector as he beheld him, and he dared

not stay longer where he was but fled in dismay from before the gates, while Achilles darted after him at his utmost speed. As a mountain falcon, swiftest of all birds, swoops down upon some cowering dove- the dove flies before him but the falcon with a shrill scream follows close after, resolved to have her- even so did Achilles make straight for Hector with all his might, while Hector fled under the Trojan wall as fast as his limbs could take him." - The Iliad

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Aphrodite – Goddess of Love

Ares – God of War

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Calypso – nymph goddess who keeps Odysseus for years while he is trying to return home to his faithful wife, Penelope

Cheiron – The Centaur Demeter/Ceres – Goddess of the

Harvest Eris – twin sister of Ares, goddess

of discord

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Eris helped to cause the Trojan War by tossing her apple of discord into the guests at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Three of these guests then competed to win the golden apple.

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Gorgon – Snake-headed Medusa Hades – God of the Underworld Heracles – the ultimate hero

(Hercules)

Hestia – goddess of the hearth

The Muses – the nine sisters who inspire all artists, especially poets, philosophers, and musicians. The Muses were the daughters of Zeus

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Apollo – god of youthful masculinity and poetry, music, prophecy, medicine, and archery

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Athena – favorite daughter of Zeus ; the great goddess of wisdom and the arts of war and peace. She favored the Greeks during the Trojan War. She is often called Pallas Athena

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Cronus – Titan (giant god) who ruled the universe until Zeus overthrew him

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Helios – sun god. Helios keeps his golden cattle on the island of Thrinakia

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Hephaestus – god of metal-working

Hermes – messenger god

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

Poseidon – god of the sea; brother of Zeus. Called earth-shaker because he is believed to cause earthquakes. Poseidon is an enemy of Odysseus.

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS) Artemis – Goddess

of the hunt, wild animals, the wilderness, childbirth, and virginity.

also called Diana – of R & J’s Rosaline who had “Dian’s wit”

Supporter of Troy and worshipped in Troy

Twin sister of Apollo Said to have been

born first and helped her mother Leto deliver her own twin brother, Apollo

Zeus – the most powerful god, whose home is on Olympus

GODS AND GODDESSES (THE IMMORTALS)

THE BAD GIRLS

Scylla – female monster with six serpent heads, each head having a triple row of fangs (thought to be a dangerous rock in the Strait of Messina)

THE BAD GIRLS

Charybdis – female monster who sucks in water three times a day to form a deadly whirlpool (thought to be a real whirlpool in the Strait of Messina)

THE BAD GIRLS Circe – witch

goddess who turns Odysseus’ men into swine (pigs)

THE BAD GIRLS Sirens – sea nymphs

whose beautiful and mysterious music lures sailors to steer their ships toward the rocks

THE BAD GUYS Cyclops – aka Polyphemus – blinded

by Odysseus; the son of the sea god Poseidon. Cyclopes are a race of brutish one-eyed giants who live solitary lives as shepherds, supposedly on the island of Sicily

PLACES IN THE ODYSSEY Aeaea – home of witch-goddess Circe

PLACES IN THE ODYSSEY Erebus – dark

area of the underworld where the dead reside

PLACES IN THE ODYSSEY Phaeacia – island kingdom

ruled by King Alcinous. The Phaeacians are shipbuilders and traders

PLACES IN THE ODYSSEY Thrinakia –

island where the sun god Helios keeps his cattle

MORTALS IN THE ODYSSEY Alcinous – king of

Phaeacia. Odysseus tells the story of his adventures to Alcinous’ court

Cicones – people living on the southwestern coast of Thrace, who battled Odysseus and his men on their journey home

Eurylochus – one of Odysseus’ loyal crew

MORTALS IN THE ODYSSEY Lotus Eaters –

people who feed Odysseus’ men lotus plants to make them forget returning to Ithaca

Teiresias – famous blind prophet from the city of Thebes. Odysseus meets him in the Land of the Dead

MORTALS IN THE ODYSSEY (IN ITHACA) Antinous – one of Penelope’s leading

suitors; an arrogant and mean young noble from Ithaca

Eurymachus – suitor of Penelope

MORTALS IN THE ODYSSEY (IN ITHACA) Eumaeus – a swineherd (pig farmer), one of Odysseus’

loyal servants Eurycleia – Odysseus’ old nurse and Penelope’s servant Eurynome – Penelope’s housekeeper Philoeteus – cowherd; one of Odysseus’ loyal servants

MORTALS IN THE ODYSSEY (IN ITHACA)

Penelope – Odysseus’ faithful wife Telemachus – Odysseus’ son


Recommended