The Odyssey PowerPoint - Glassboro Public Schools
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Transcript The Odyssey PowerPoint - Glassboro Public Schools
The Epic
THE ODYSSEY
THE ODYSSEY OBJECTIVES
WHAT IS THE FOCUS FOR TODAY?
Introduce themes in The Odyssey
Provide background information on the author,
Homer, and ancient Greece.
Identify important literary vocabulary
Identify skills important to the study of
literature
WHAT IS AN ODYSSEY?
Od*ys*sey
n.pl.
od*ys*seys
An extended adventure or voyage.
An intellectual or spiritual quest of the mind; an
odyssey of self-discovery.
Odysseus’ Epic Journey= The Odyssey
THE ROUTE OF ODYSSEUS
MEET THE AUTHOR: HOMER
ONE OF THE EARLIEST KNOWN POETS
Homer was a Greek Poet in the 7th Century B.C.
who wrote epics like The IIiad and The Odyssey.
He was said to have been blind.
First person to write down oral traditions.
THEMES IN THE ODYSSEY
Pride is both a strength and a weakness
Love is eternal
Courage
The fate of a nation
Beauty and Temptation
Loyalty
Life and Death
HOW IS THE TEXT ORGANIZED?
Part One :
- The Wanderings of Odysseus
Odysseus
leads a crew of soldiers on a long
oversea Journey, replete with danger, trying to get
home to his wife and son in Ithaca.
We will complete a brochure project for this journey.
Worth 200 points
HOW THE TEXT IS ORGANIZED
Part Two
- The Homecoming
Odysseus
makes it back home and has to rebuild
his domestic, family life.
DEFINITIONS YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW BY
NOW
Plot: The series of events in a story, NOT WHAT
IT”S ABOUT.
Setting: When and where a story takes place.
Exposition: character, setting, conflict is
introduced.
Rising Action: conflict deepens
Climax: highest point of suspense
Falling Action: conflict comes to an end
Resolution: the character expresses gain of
knowledge and betterment of character.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EPIC
In literature, an epic is a long narrative poem. It
recounts the adventures of an epic hero.
An epic hero is a larger-than-life figure who
undertakes great journeys and performs deeds
requiring remarkable strength and cunning.
EPIC AT A GLANCE
Epic Hero
Possess super human strength, craftiness, and
confidence
Is helped and harmed by interfering gods
Embodies ideals and values that a culture
considers admirable
Emerges victorious from perilous situations
EPIC AT A GLANCE
Epic Plot
Involves a long journey, full of complications,
such as:
Strange creatures
Divine intervention
Large-scale events
Treacherous weather
EPIC AT A GLANCE
Epic Setting
Includes fantastic or exotic lands
Involves more than one nation
ARCHETYPES
All epics include archetypes- characters,
situations, and images that are recognizable in
many times and cultures:
Sea monster
Wicked temptress
Buried treasure
Suitors contest
Epic hero
Loyal servant
EPIC THEMES
Reflect such universal concerns as
Courage
The
fate of a nation
Beauty
Loyalty
Life and death
THE LANGUAGE OF HOMER
A simile is a comparison between two unlike things,
using the word like or as. Homer often develops a simile
at great length, so that it goes on for several liens. This
is known as an epic simile.
Example:
His rage
held hard in leash, submitted to his mind,
while he himself rocked, rolling from side to side, as a cook
turns a sausage, big with blood
And fat, at a scorching blaze, without a pause,
To broil it quick: so he rolled left and right…
THE LANGUAGE OF HOMER
An epithet is a brief descriptive phrase used to
characterize a particular person or thing.
When a poet needed to fill out a line, he’d add
an epithet with the right meter and number of
syllables.
Odysseus is known by various epithets,
including “son of Laertes” and “raider of cities”
THE LANGUAGE OF HOMER
An allusion is a reference to a famous person,
place, or event. To help his audience picture
what he described, a poet might have made an
allusion to something they already knew. For
instance, when Odysseus’ son first sees the
palace of Menelaus, he says, “This is the way
the court of Zeus must be.” Every Greek would
have understood this allusion to the ruler of the
gods.
THE LANGUAGE OF HOMER
Allusion is not to be confused with illusion.
Illusion: something that deceives by using false
or misleading impression of reality.
READING THE EPIC
Narrative:
Who
is telling the story at any given point?
Consider how the different narrators deepen your
understanding.
Visualize the action and the settings by using
details in the text.
Track the events and conflicts and try to predict the
outcomes.
READING THE EPIC
Poetry:
Try reading the lines aloud, as the epic was originally
performed.
Read the lines for their sense, just as you would read prose.
Follow the punctuation, and remember that the end of a line
does not always mean the end of a thought.
Listen for sound devices such as alliteration, assonance,
consonance, and rhyme and notice how they reinforce
meaning.
Consider how the imagery and figurative languageespecially the epic similes- help you understand characters
and events.
READING THE EPIC
A reflection of its time:
Pay attention to the character traits of Odysseus,
the epic hero, by looking closely at how he
behaves and how he is described. What do these
traits tell you (the reader) about the values of the
time?
Remember that in Homer’s time most Greeks
believed that the gods took an active interest in
human affairs and themselves behaved much like
humans. How are these religious beliefs apparent
in the epic?