HOMER'S ODYSSEY
The Whole Story in 2 Minutes
CHECKPOINT: ODYSSEYS YOU KNOW
List as many Movies, Books or Videos you think feature an odyssey.
For Example: Harry Potter, etc.
What do they have in common?
odyssey (n.)
c. 1600, "Odyssey," title given to one of the two great epic poems of ancient Greece, from Latin Odyssea, from Greek Odysseia, the ancient name of the Homeric poem telling tales of the ten-year wanderings of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, seeking home after the fall of Troy. Figurative sense of "long, adventurous journey" is recorded by 1889.
A Fun Retelling of the Plot
CONTEXTUALIZING
COURSE HERO LINKS
CLICK BELOW TO DIVE DEEPER
TIPS TO THE TEXT
LINKING TO TODAY'S CONTEXT
THE RHAPSOD/WHOSE LINE IS IT ANY WAY?
The Homeric poet performed much like an improvisational actor today, “off the cuff.” To suit the moment with the audience. He did not repeat a memorized fixed sequence of events; instead, each performance sprang spontaneously by interweaving modular components of a story he has told over and over again. An example today of these skills can be found in Whose Line Is It Anyway.
This synthesis of composition throughout the performance is somewhat unfamiliar today where creation and delivery are generally two distinct phases of professional modern-day music, speeches, and broadcasts, or video streaming, television, and theatrical plays.
Watch this TEDEd video to learn more!
How did the ancient Greeks perceive
the world around them? Watch this video to learn more
UNDERSTANDING THOSE GREEK GODS
In its day, The Odyssey taught audiences about their own religion and customs, the importance of family loyalty, and military accomplishments, as well as practices of people outside their world (like the Cyclops). From Homer's poems, ancient audiences were reminded what it meant to be a citizen. According to this video the Greek Gods such as Zeus, Poseidon and Athena helped or hindered man in their lives.
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What influences in the world help or hinder the people around you as they move through their lives?
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Do today’s beliefs differ from the beliefs of the Ancient Greek’s? How?
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Discuss who or what guides your journey through the world?
WE MEET ODYSSEUS'S SON, TELEMACHUS, FIRST
At the start of the story, we meet Telemachus, Odysseus’s son first. Because Odysseus has been away in the Trojan War fighting monsters and such; and though Telemachus hears about his father’s heroic journey, he still lacks a father figure at home. For the Greeks, upholding generational qualities such as ability to speak or fight well sons were named after their father’s heroic traits. Telemachus name means “he who fights from “afar.”
Yet, Telemachus starts the play complaining and unable to act on behalf of his family or more specifically, rid the kingdom of his mother’s “suitors” or “colonizers.” It is then that Athena assumes the costume of a “mentor” and pushes him into a journey that will change him from a whining boy into a young man.
Click on the photos above to learn about Telemachus' Journey and Growth in the Odyssey.
Photos from Ms. Miller, MA & MAEd
After looking at these diagrams of Telemachus’s journey as a class:
• Can you identify contemporary movies or stories where a son must right a wrong for his family and in doing so grows into a better version of himself?
• Who is your mentor that helps you move from inaction to action?
• If you could make up a second name for yourself that expresses your heroic qualities, what would it be?
