Homer’s Odyssey:

an epic poem

HOMER was a semi-legendary Greek poet from Ionia who the Greeks ascribed with the composition of their greatest epics : the Iliad and the Odyssey. The date of these works is disputed by modern scholars, but they

are usually placed in the 8th or 7th century BC.

“If we don’t preserve a world in which we can read Homer, then the world is not worth preserving”

hostage

Setting

Zeus: Zeus (zo.os) His Birth

In Greek Mythology, the principal god of the Greek pantheon, ruler of the heavens, and father of other gods and mortal heroes.

Homer's Iliad calls him “Zeus who thunders on high” and Milton's Paradise Lost, “the Thunderer”

Athena:A·the·na

In Greek Mythology, the goddess of wisdom, the practical arts, and warfare, and the protectress of cities, especially Athens.

Poisedon

In Greek Mythology, the god of the waters, earthquakes, and horses, and brother of Zeus.

There are two books:The Iliad and The Odyssey

• The Iliad tells the story of the last year of the siege of Troy in the Trojan War (1194 to 1184 BC). IS TROY REAL?

• The Odyssey is about Odysseus’ trip home from the war and the adventures along the way

The War: Sparta vs. Troy

How did the war end?The city of Troy was well fortified and the

Greek soldiers who fought on behalf of Menelaus could not get inside….

The Trojan HorseThis was Odysseus’ idea…

The war ends and the men head home

The voyage home (The Odyssey)

• Achaeans = Greeks (Odysseus’ men)

YouTube!

• The Gods of Ancient Greek Mythology

• The Goddesses of Ancient Greek Mythology