Transcript The Odyssey Background Information

The Odyssey
Background Information
IN THE BEGINNING…
Titans
Enormous
Beings
Incredible
Strength
Cronus & Rhea
The Oracle
Zeus
THE
FUTURE
A Family
Tree

The 12 Olympians (+2)
 Zeus: Supreme Ruler;
thunderbolt; Jupiter
 Hera: Z’s wife & Goddess of Marriage; Juno
 Poseidon: God of the
Seas; trident; Neptune
 Demeter: Goddess of
the Harvest & Seasons;
Ceres
 Hades: God of the
Under-world;
Persephone; Pluto
 Hestia: Goddess of
Family Peace; Vesta
 Athena: Goddess of
Wisdom; Minerva
Aphrodite: Goddess
of Love & Beauty; Eros;
Venus
Artemis: Goddess of
the Hunt & Virginity;
Diana
Apollo: God of
Music, Archery &
Medicine:
Dionysus: God of
Wine; Bacchus
Hephaestus: God of
Craftsmen; Vulcan
Hermes: Messenger
God; Mercury
Ares: God of War;
Mars
The Muses: Daughters of Zeus &
Mnemosyne (memory)
 History
 Astronomy
 Tragedy
 Comedy
Song
Lyrics
Dance
Poetry
Homer
Homer was a blind
minstrel who came from
the Greek Island, Chios.
Traveling entertainment
Told stories—some
long, others short,
usually in the evenings.
Epic Poems
Epics are long narrative poems that tell
of the adventures of heroes who embody
the values of their particular civilizations.
Homer’s Iliad is the model for War Epic
Homer’s The Odyssey is the model for
the long journey home.
Example: Huckleberry Finn & The Hobbit
Heroes
 In Homer’s day,
HEROES were thought
of as a special class of
Aristocrats.
 Heroes were somewhere
in between the gods and
ordinary humans.
 The might experience
pain & death, but they
were always sure of
themselves & never gave
up on their “mission.”
A Hero in Trouble:
Odysseus
The Hero’s Journey—Joseph Campbell
1. Departure
“Call to Adventure”
Refusal of the “Call to Adventure”
Supernatural aid
2. Initiation
Road of Trials
Meeting with the gods—”Belly of the Whale”
Woman as temptress
3. Return
Refusal to return
Rescue
Master of two worlds
Odysseus’s Journey
Home
After the Trojan War, Odysseus begins
his journey home to Ithaca.
The Lotus Eaters
The Cyclops—Son of Poseidon
Aeolus—God of the Winds
Laestrygonians—giant cannibals
Circe—witch goddess; turns men to pigs
Erebus—Land of the Dead
Sirens—1/2 woman; ½ bird
Scylla—sea monster with 6 heads
Charybdis—deadly whirlpool (3 x daily)
Helios—Sun God; “don’t eat cattle”
Calypso—beautiful goddess –kept
Odysseus for nearly 7 years
Phaecians—Alcinous & Nausicaa
Home to Ithaca
Reunited with family
Ithaca—the people at home
Penelope—O’s beautiful & faithful wife
Telemachus—O’s & P’s son
Laertes—O’s father
Eumaeus—old swineherder & friend of O
Eurycleia—O’s old nurse, T’s
governess
Antinous & Eurymachus— suitors of
Penelope