Original papyrus with

Homers Odyssey
(285-250 B.C.)

THE ODYSSEY
HIRA PERACHA
JORDANA QI
HEATHER SHAEFFER
PLOT BOOKS 1-4
Poseidon hates Odysseus
Telemachus is Odysseus son
Goddess Athena helps Telemachus
Suitors want to marry Penelope
Penelope and weaving
Telemachus heads off to Pylos
Telemachus hides from Penelope
Menelaus vs. Agamemnon

Penelope Unraveling Her Work At Night,

Dora Wheeler , 1886
PLOT BOOKS 1-4
Telemachus visits Menelaus, who
missed Odysseus a lot
Odysseus a previous hero in the Trojan
War
Telemachus vs. Proteus
The suitors plan to sail and ambush
Telemachus for making their lives
difficult
Penelope finds out about Telemachus
Map of Troy
PLOT BOOKS 5-7

Athena begs Zeus to have mercy on Odysseus

Hermes takes Zeuss message to Calypso
Odysseus leaves Calypsos island
Sea hardships
White armed princess encounters Odysseus
Calypso, Greek vase, 400 B.C.
 PLOT: BOOKS 9-16
Odysseus tells the story of his
adventures on the sea
He has travelled to many different
islands to come to where he is
now
He lost all of his crew in many
different situations
The Phoenicians took him back to
Ithaca, and left him with all of his
treasures
Athena disguises him as an old
man
Odysseus, disguised, stays with The Return of Odysseus, Claude Lorrain,
1644
Eumaeus
Landscape with Polyphemus and Galatea
(Ancient Roman wall painting, 1st century
B.C.)
PLOT: BOOKS 17-20

Odysseus returns to his own castle,

disguised as a beggar.
He is challenged to a fight by a
messenger, ultimately proving his
strength, and tells tales of his travels
to Penelope, still in disguise.
The palace is filled with Penelopes
suitors. Odysseus receives signs
from Athena and Zeus to defeat the
suitors, but waits. ca. 450 B.C.
PLOT: BOOKS 21-24

Return of Odysseus,
Nicholas Monsiau,
Early 1800's

The contest to string Odysseus bow is underway. Odysseus, still in disguise,

wins the contest, leaving all the suitors in horror.
After making sure the women are safe, Odysseus slaughters all of the suitors
and servants disloyal to Penelope and the palace.
Odysseus finally reveals his identity to Penelope. He fights one last battle
against the suitors soldiers, which he wins, and Athena brings peace to Ithaca.
 EPIC QUALITIES
In Medias Res
Gods speak of the great Odysseus (Book 1)
Vast Setting
Begins in Ithaca and continues to Sparta (Books 2-3)
Odysseus journey at sea lasts 10 years
Invocation to a Muse
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story (Book 1)

Not
THAT
Ithaca!
EPIC QUALITIES (CONTD.)

Statement of Theme
Mortality of Humans Your last
hour has come. You die in blood.
(Book 22)
Use of Epithets
Odysseus, the great teller of tales
(Book 9)
the bewitching queen of Aeaea
Odysseus as a Guest of the Nymph Calypso, Hendrick van (Book 9)
Balen, 1616
Calypso the lustrous goddess
(Book 9)
 EVEN MORE EPIC QUALITIES Epic Catalogue
Description of Calypsos island
Long-tongued beachcombing birds, beds
of violets and tender parsley (Book 5)
Epic/Formal Speeches
King Nestor tells Telemachus a story in
length about his time in Troy (Book 3)
Menelaus mourns Odysseus in a deep,
long, and affectionate manner(Book 4)

Divine intervention
Now Zeus who masses the stormclouds hit
the fleet with the North Wind (Book 9)
Athena stroked Odysseus with her wand.
(Book 13)
Poseidon, quaking with anger at you (Book
Some lovely violets and parsley
13)
TIRED OF EPIC QUALITIES YET?

Heroes Embodying Civilizations

Values
Feast TraditionsOdysseus enjoys
the feast and listens to the lyre
that god has made the friend of
feasts (Book 17)
Descent into the Underworld
What brings you here, forsaking
the light of day to see the joyless
kingdom of the dead? (Book 11)

Kingdom of the Dead, Gary Stickel,

(The Homeric Project)
 WHO IS THE TRUE HERO?
Warrior
StrengthOdysseus years
agorose to Philomedes
challenge, wrestled him, pinned
him down with one tremendous
throw (Book 17)
LoyaltyOdysseus has taught his
son loyalty. Telemachus refuses to
pack his mother off against her
will from her own home. (Book
20)
CourageOdysseus quietly thinks
through his decisions until he
bravely defends his kingdom and The Return of Odysseus, Romare Bearden, 1978
kills the suitors in Book 22.
 MORE HEROIC CODE
King
HospitalityOdysseus treats his
hostess, Penelope with grace. Never a
man in the wide world should have
fault to find with you (Book 19). Ulysses Killing the Suitors, 1805
Political SkillThe servants and suitors
were held responsible by Odysseus for
their actions.
They bore the cold weight of the
dead (Book 22)
GenerosityOdysseus saves the two
men who were loyal to him in his
absence.
Phemios
Medon cared for [him] from
boyhood (Book 22)
 LITERARY ELEMENTS

Foreshadowing
Cyclops curses him: Hear me Poseidon,
god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the
earth! If I really am your son and you claim
to be my father come, grant that
Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes son who
makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches
home. Or, if hes fated to see his people
once again and reach his well-built house
and his own native country, let him come
home late and come a broken man all
shipmates lost, alone in a strangers ship
and let him find a world of pain at home!

Odysseus and Companions Escape, 550-450 BC

(Vessel)
LITERARY ELEMENTS (CONTD.)
Repetition
When young Dawn with her rose
red fingers shone once more (Books
5, 7, 9, 10, 17)
Kennings
Poseidon is the Old Man of the Sea
(Book 17).
Odysseus is the man whod borne
long years abroad. (Book 17)
Symbolism
Odysseus literally difficult journey
The west side of the Palace of Minos and the central symbolizes the social difficulties he
courtyard. Piet de Jong. faces in getting back to his own
Photographed by Craig Mauzy in 2006 kingdom.
 HISTORICAL AND LITERARY CONTEXT

Homer lived around 8th century B.C.

However, The Odyssey "was not written
down until almost 500 years later
Written in a manner more similar to
everyday speech
Great for storytelling!
Most likely written for all types of audiences
REFERENCES
Fitzgerald, R. (1962). The odyssey: Homer. Doubleday Publishing Group.
Homer. (1997-2013). Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/288
http://www.agathe.gr/id/agora/image/2008.03.0022
http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tragedy_theater.html
http://faculty.catawba.edu/cmcallis/history/greece/greece1.htm
http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/06/edible-gardens-chicago-botanic-
garden.html
http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/288862
REFERENCES (CONTD.)

http://www.maryshelleyfolkart.com/collections.php
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_homillod.htm
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Be-Ca/Calypso.html
http://www.sites.si.edu/romarebearden/works/returnOfOdysseus.html
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/flaxman-ulysses-killing-the-suitors-
t11217
http://www.travellinkturkey.com/troy.html
http://www.umich.edu/~homeros/Representations%20of%20Homer's%20Ide
as/Marisa-Iliad%20Odyssey/Marisa-Iliad%20Odyssey.htm
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/balen/odysseus.html