Transcript Odysseus

Odysseus and the Trojan War
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A War fought between the Acahen (Greek)
invaders and the defenders of Troy (a seaport
at the tip of Asia Minor around 1200-1300 BC)
Homer (poet) wrote two poems about this war.
The Iliad which describes the end of the war.
The Odyssey which describes the journeys of
one of the Greek heroes Odysseus.
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It was a ten year struggle between the Greeks
and the Trojans.
The cause of the war, according to mythology,
was said to be because of a beauty contest
between three goddesses. This is how it went.
Eris the goddess of disagreement was angry.
She had not been invite d to the wedding of
King Pelius and the sea nymph Thetis so she
decided to cause some trouble.
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She threw a golden apple into the banquet hall.
On it was written, “ for the fairest”.
Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera each thought the
apple was sent for them.
Zeus knew that someone must decide who the
apple should really be for but he didn’t want to
get in the middle of it.
So instead he picked handsome man named
Paris to act as a judge.
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Zeus told the three goddesses to go to Mount
Ida where Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, is a
shepherd.
Zeus told them that he would choose the fairest
of them all. The three goddesses flew to
Mount Ida and each tried to bribe Paris.
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Hera bribes him with power and wealth.
Athena told him that she would give him glory
and fame in battle.
Aphrodite told him that she would give him
the most beautiful girl in the world.
Paris had no trouble deciding , he said that the
golden apple would go to Aphrodite.
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Paris asked who the most beautiful woman of
the world was and she replied, “Helen.”
Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda and
in this point of time she was the happy wife of
Menelaus, King of Sparta.
Aphrodite told Paris that she would make her
fall in love with him.
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Aphrodite called her son Eros to shoot an
arrow of love into Helen’s heart. She fell
deeply in love with Paris and ran off with him
to Troy.
The King of Sparta rounded up an army and
was determined to bring her home at any cost.
They sailed to Troy with an army and one
thousand ships. Among the soldiers was
Odysseus, and the King of Ithaca.
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The city of Troy has high strong walls around it.
They fought many battles outside the walls but
neither side could win.
After ten years, Odysseus said to the Greeks, “We
must trick the Trojans into opening the gates so we
can enter and destroy the city.”
Odysseus directed the construction of an enormous,
hollow, wooden horse. It had a trap door on the
underside and an inscription dedicated to Athena.
Then he told them to sail the ships away from the
port so that Troy thinks the Greek army went
home.
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The next morning one of the Trojan guards
sighted the huge wooden horse. He also saw
no ships so announced that Greeks abandoned
their camp and sailed away.
They were so excited because they thought
they won the war.
They felt that the wooden horse was a gift
meant for Athena.
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Lacoon, a prophet , told them to be cautious of
Greeks leaving gifts.
Just then, the Greeks found Sinon the Greek
who was part of the plan. He told the story that
he was instructed to tell. He said, “The Greeks
were going to kill me as a sacrifice to Athena so
I escaped.” The Trojans believed him.
Lacoon kept telling the Trojans not to believe
them.
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The Trojans felt that Athena would bless them
with peace. They went to bed and slept
soundly.
Meanwhile, the Greek soldiers with inside the
wooden horse; they attacked and most of the
Trojan heroes lost their lives.
Aphrodite saved Helen and led her to her
husband, Menelaus.
They sailed for Greece, very happy that the
long war was over.
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The Greek warriors forgot to give thanks to the
Gods for their victory. Athena asked Poseidon
to send a violent plague .
The dreadful storm sank many of the ships.
Odysseus’ ship was saved but was driven off
course for nine days. On the tenth day, land
was spotted.
Scouts were sent out to explore the land and
they never returned.
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Odysseus went out looking for them and found
them eating a tiny little fruit which caused
them to lose all memory.
Odysseus grabbed the fruit out of their hand.
They were eating the fruit of the lotus plant
which caused memory loss. Those who eat will
also long to stay on the island forever.
Odysseus used force to drag them back to the
ship.
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After many days at sea, they spotted land
again. They stopped to fill up on water and
food. This happened to be the land of the
Cyclopes.
Odysseus was going to trade wine for supplies.
They went into a cave to help themselves to
food and drink, not knowing this cave was the
home of Polyphemus, son of Poseidon.
After he ate a couple soldiers, he layed down to
sleep.
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Polyphemus got up and ate two more men, left
the cave, and rolled a large boulder in front of
it.
Odysseus got a large stick sharpened to a point
and a bowl of wine.
When the Cyclopes came home Odysseus
offered him the wine.
Once the giant fell into a deep sleep, they
heated the stick in the fire until it was super
hot.
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They thrust the stick into the giant’s eye. The blind
giant became very angry, he jumped around ,
moved the boulder, and screamed that he would
get them on their way out of the cave.
Odysseus had already planned for this. They tied
together three sheep and hid on the undersides of
them.
As the sheep passed out of the cave, Polyphemus
felt for the men but never thought to look
underneath.
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Odysseus and his men survived.
Polyphemethus was praying to his father to
avenge his enemies.
Next, he was put on the islands of the winds.
King Aelous had control of the four winds.
Aelous was a generous host and when
Odysseus was leaving he gave him a bag tied
with a silver string. The instructions were not
to open the bag.
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Once the crew was away from the island, they
untied the bag because they thought it
contained treasure.
Once the bag was untied, the winds were
released, threw them off course, and they
ended up back on the island of the Winds.
King Aelous was so furious that he refused to
help.
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Odysseus escaped the island but only after savages
ate more of his crew. Odysseus and his boat of
men escaped.
They came to the next island in which the sorceress
Circe ruled.
Odysseus’ men did not know that Circe was a
witch. He offered them all kind of food and drink
and they obliged. Odysseus was not with them.
One man from the crew was very suspicious so he
did not go in. He watched from outside.
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Circe put a curse on the food and drink so that
one by one the men fell asleep. Then he turned
each one into a pig.
Eurlochus saw this and ran back to the ship to
tell Odysseus.
Odysseus went by himself to rescue them. On
the way he met Hermes. Hermes gave
Odysseus a flower that would protect him from
Circe’s magic.
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Odysseus rushed at Circe with a drawn sword and
Circe pleaded for mercy.
She turned the crew back into people.
After a long time of staying with Circe, Odysseus
and what was left of his crew decided to leave for
home.
Circe agreed to let them leave but first she told him
to visit the underworld alone and seek the advice
of a seer named Teiresais. She said that he could
tell him what the rest of his voyage would bring.
She also told them to watch out for the Sirens. Who
would entice the soldiers with their sweet song.
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The seer told him that his men must not harm
the cattle of Helios. He also told him that he
would return home but would have many
enemies there.
As the crew passed the Island of the Sirens, he
gave the crew wax to put into their ears. He
did not use any but asked the crew to tie him to
the mast so he could hear the Siren’s song. The
crew released him after they passed.
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Next, they had to sail through the strait
protected by the sea monsters Scylla and
Charybdis.
He passed by Charybdis but got to close to
Scylla. Her six heads darted out and she ate
one of the crew members. Odysseus sailed
away.
They finally reached the Island of the Sun.
Odyseeus told them that no matter what they
were not eat any of the cattle.
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The winds blew so hard that they were left on
the island for a long time with no food.
The men felt they had no other choice but to
slaughter and cook the cattle.
Helios was enraged and asked Zeus for help.
So, the mighty god struck the ship with a
lightning bolt wrecking the boat and killing
everyone but Odysseus.
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Rescued by Phaeacians, Odysseus boarded one of
their ships and headed for home to Ithaca.
His problems weren’t over yet.
For ten years, Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, didn’t
know whether he was alive or dead. So she took
up with other suitors.
Oddyseus with the help of Athena finally made it
home.
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He disguised himself as a beggar. Penelope did
not recognize the beggar. She announced to all the
men that she would marry the man who could
string Odysseus’ bow and shoot an arrow through
twelve ax handles (archery contest) . None of
them were strong enough to do that.
Then the beggar stepped forward and completed the
task. As the men looked in amazement, Odysseus
threw off his disguise, he killed all the men with
the help of his son, and was home at last.