ODYSSEY STUDY QUESTIONS1
Books 1-6
- Identify the following
characters. What family relationships (e.g., "husband and wife") and
political
relationships (e.g., "king and subjects" or "allies in war") exist
among these characters? Antinoös, Athene,
Kalypso, Eurymachos, Helen, Hermes, Menelaos, Nausikaa, Odysseus,
Orestes, Penelope, Poseidon, Proteus,
Telemachos, and Zeus.
- What characters in question 1 are
gods? How are the gods different from humans in the Odyssey?
- Look up the word 'epithet' in a good English dictionary. What kinds of
epithets are applied to characters in
book 1?
- Look up the word 'theodicy'. At what points do
people blame the gods for their problems? How does the Odyssey answer these charges? What are the
similarities between this beginning and the beginning of
Job? What are the differences between the explanations of the causes of
suffering in Job and the Odyssey?
Books 7-12
- Arrange the events of books 1-24
in
chronological order, moving from the fall of Troy to Odysseus'
homecoming.
- Identify Achilles, Aeolus,
Agamemnon, Circê, Lotus Eaters, Persephone, Polyphemus,
Teiresias, Scylla &
Charybdis, Sirens.
Books 13-24
- What is the significance of the
contest with the great bow?
- Identify Eurycleia, Laertes,
Mentor, Penelope's web.
- Referring to the theodicy
question above, describe the similarities and differences between the
ending of the Odyssey and the ending of Job.
- How does Odysseus prove his
identity to Penelope? To Eurycliea? Laertes?
- Look up the phrase deus ex machina. What does
it mean? Where do you find an example of this
literary devise?
1These
questions are taken or adapted from Fisher 120-124.
INTRODUCTION TO
THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY
Date. These epics
are the oldest surviving works of Western literature. They were
composed in the 8th century B.C.
(750 for the Iliad, 720 for the Odyssey). They took their present form when
Greeks learned to write using
the N. Phonecian alphabet. Before that, the Greeks communicated it by
oral tradition before that. The Greeks
modified N. Phonecian alphabet. related to Heb. alphabet.
550-520 B.C. Peisistratus, dictator
of
Athens, had the official text determined.
Author. Homer. We
have little reliable information about him other than that he was blind
and may have been from
island of Chios. He probably made money singing at festivals. Milman
Perry in the 1920s speculated that
Homer composed orally. He would not have memorized the epics word for
word, but would have generated
the story at short notice. It was therefore different every time Homer
sang it. Perry got a Turkish singer to
sing about 10,000 lines by lavishly praising him.
Homer used traditional material. A
scribe probably wrote while Homer dictated, letting him plan as he
waited
for the scribe to catch up.
Religion & Myth.
The Greeks worshipped two types of gods: Olympian and Chthonic. The
twelve Olympian
gods were Zeus,
Hera, Poseidon,
Demeter, Apollo,
Artemis, Ares,
Aphrodite, Hermes,
Athena,
Hephaestus, Hestia
(Guthrie 111).
Children of Kronos & Rhea
- Zeus was
the head god, the
god of thunder & lightning. He drew lots with Hades & Poseidon,
his brothers, to choose
territory. He got heaven & the universe; Poseidon got the sea; and
Hades got underworld. They shared dominion over
Mt. Olympus and the surface of the world.
- Hera was Zeus' sister &
wife. She was very jealous of Zeus's affairs. As his wife, she reigned
as the queen of heaven. Hera was the patron of marriage.
- Poseidon. God of the sea.
- Demeter.
Zeus' sister.
Mother of Persephone. Goddess of agriculture.
- Hestia. Zeus' sister.
Goddess of family life & city hearth.
Children of Zeus and/or Hera
- Athena. The goddess of
wisdom & crafts, both women's crafts (sewing) & men's (tool
use, war strategy). She was
born from Zeus' head after he swallowed Metis (mind). He swallowed
Mentis after learning of a prophecy that if she had
a son, he would displace Zeus (Hesiod 143-147).
- Hephaestus (= Vulcan) was
born from Hera alone. He was the god of fire & metallurgy. He was
also lame. He
made thunderbolts for Zeus, and arms for gods & heroes. He Forged
under Mt. Olympus & Mt. Etna, and the Cyclopes
worked for him.
- Ares
(= Mars). son of Zeus
& Hera. god of war. His war frenzy contrasts with Athena's rational
approach to war.
Children of Zeus & Leto
- Apollo. God of prophecy,
purification, healing, sunlight, music
- Artemis. Sister of Apollo.
Goddess of moonlight, hunting, animals. Originally a fertility goddess,
she became a
virgin goddess in Greece but remained a fertility goddess in Ephesus.
Son of Zeus & Maia
(daughter to Atlas, she was one of the stars
in the Pleiades constellation (Hesiod 67, 149, 363)
- Hermes (=
Mercury).
Messenger of the gods. Wings on head & feet. Patron of speed &
wits, not strength (Guthrie
91). Currently delivers flowers for FTD.
Daugher of Ouranos (Heaven)
- Aphrodite (=
Venus).
Goddess
of love & beauty. Married to Hephaestus, had affair w/ Ares. Led
Paris to take Helen
(Hesiod p. 491). Only Artemis, Athena, & Hestia are immune to her
(Hesiod xxxviii). Cronus castrated Uranus (heaven)
while Uranus was mating with Gaia (earth). Cronus threw down Uranus'
testicles; some of which landed in sea, causing
foam. Aphrodite emerged from the foam. Predated other Olympic gods. However, in some versions of the myth, she is
daughter of Zeus (Odyssey 8. 305).
Unity. Most now
think one person composed most of Iliad & one person composed
Odyssey. We do not know if it
was the same author who wrote both. If so, there was probably a 30-year
gap between Iliad & Odyssey.
Length. Iliad 12,000 lines. Odyssey 15,000 lines. The division into 24
books was done later, perhaps at
Alexandria.
Genre. Epic poem. A
long, nationalistic poem in dactylic hexameter. A hexameter has six
metrical feet. Dactylic
hexameter consists of six dactyls or spondees. A dactyl is a long
syllable followed by two short syllables. A
spondee is two long syllables. An epic helps form the identity of a
people.
Scene. The Iliad focuses on an event toward the
end of the 10 year Trojan war, but works in references to past &
future. Trojan War. Paris Alexandros sparked the war when he took
Helen, who was the wife of his host,
Menelaos. Menelaos' brother, Agamemnon, led the Greek coalition against
Troy. The Odyssey picks up
10 years later, when Odysseus is about to return home; it then gives a
flashback to the events of the ten-year
trip.
The Trojan Cycle was
a series of epic
poems that covered the other events in the Trojan War.
- Cyprian Lays by Stasinus of Cyprus
or Hegesinus of Salamis. It related the first causes of the war. Zeus
wanted to
relieve overburdened earth, and Eris threw the apple of discord,
leading abduction of Helen. Goes through the quarrel
of Achilles & Agamemnon.
- Iliad.
The quarrel of Achilles &
Agamemnon through the death of Hector.
- Aethiopis by Arctinus of
Miletus
(776 B.C.). The Amazon Penthesilea comes after Hector's death to help
Trojans. Ethiopian Memnon falls. Paris's arrow kills Achilles. Odysseus
& Aias fight for Achilles weapons.
- Little Iliad by Lesches
(660 B.C.).
Elaborates the Sack.
Odysseus gets Achilles arms. Aias' (Ajax's) madness. Making wooden
horse.
- Sack of Troy by Arctinus. The wooden
horse, Achaeans return from Tendos, sack Troy, divide spoils, burn
city.
- Returns by Agias or Hegias of
Troezen. Dispute between Agamemnon & Menelaus, Menelaus' departure
from Troy. Death of Agamemnon. Orestes' vengeance on Aegisthus.
Menelaus' arrival back home.
- Odyssey by Homer. The return of Odysseus to
his home after the Trojan war. 1st travel-adventure story.\
- Telegony by Eugammon of
Cyrene (568
B.C.) Odysseus adventures in Thesprotis after killing Suitors then
returns to
Ithaca. Killed by Telegonus, his son by Circe. Telemachus marries
Circe; Telegonus marries Penelope; they all appear
on the Geraldo show.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fisher, Elizabeth A. "The Study
Question: An Avenue to Understanding Homer." Approaches to Teaching Homer's
Iliad and Odyssey.
Ed. Kostas Myrsiades. Approaches to Teaching World Literature 13. New
York: MLA, 1987.
Guthrie, W. K. C. The Greeks and Their Gods. Corr. ed.
Boston: Beacon, 1954.
Hadas, Moses. Humanism: The Greek Ideal and Its Survival.
New York: Harper, 1960.
Hesiod. Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica.
New & rev. ed. Trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White. The Loeb
Classical Library. 1936. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard U. Pr.,
1959.
Nagler, Michael N. "Homeric Epic and
the Social Order." Approaches
to Teaching Homer's Iliad and
Odyssey. Ed.
Kostas Myrsiades. Approaches to Teaching World Literature 13. New York:
MLA, 1987. 57-62.
Nagy, Gregory. The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the
Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. Baltimore: John Hopkins U. Pr., 1979.
Papovich, J. Frank. "Focusing on
Homeric Values." Approaches
to Teaching Homer's Iliad and
Odyssey. Ed.
Kostas Myrsiades. Approaches to Teaching World Literature 13. New York:
MLA, 1987. 47-56.
Rexine, John. "The Concept of the
Hero." Approaches to
Teaching Homer's Iliad and
Odyssey. Ed. Kostas
Myrsiades. Approaches to Teaching World Literature 13. New York: MLA,
1987. 71-76.