The Odyssey: An Epic Journey of Heroism, Gods, and Divine Interventions

1. The Odyssey Literary Terms English 9 Perry High School

2. Epic Poetry • Definition: a lengthy narrative poem that usually contains the heroic deeds and events significant to a particular culture or society. • Example: Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, The Iliad, Beowulf, Paradise Lost

3. Epic Poetry Characteristics: • Begins “in medias res” (in the middle of things) • Has a vast setting • Lengthy stories “sung” to the audience • Features heroes that embody the values and morals of the civilization • Contains divine interventions (gods) • Protagonist goes on a long journey Beowulf

4. Semi-divine ancestry Characteristics of an Epic Hero Superhuman strength Desire for fame/glory Successful in battle Unnatural birth/death Epic Hero Courageous Goes on a quest/journey

5. Epic Hero • Courageous/Brave • Is Successful in dangerous situations • Superhuman strength • Semi-Divine ancestry • Desirefor fame and glory • Unnatural birth/death • On a quest for something of great value Hercules

6. Epithet • Epithet-a brief descriptive phrase used to characterize a person or thing. • Examples-Superman is “The Man of Steel” and Batman is the “Caped Crusader”

7. Epic Simile • Simile- a comparison between two things, using “like” or “as.” EX: “Life is like a box of chocolates.” • Epic Simile- a simile of great length • Example:Odysseus compares the dying Cyclops to a sizzling sausage in the following: “… he himself rocked, rolling form 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 …”

8. Theme • A universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. • Themes are universal ideas that can apply to everyone, everywhere. • Examples: Love can conquer hate. Unregulated ambition can ruin things. People cannot defy their destinies. No one can steal your pride from you.

9. Personification • Giving human characteristics to something that is not a human • Example: In the Odyssey, dawn is called “rosy-fingered” and “child of the morning.”

10. Symbolism • The practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea. • Example: In Disney’s Tangled, Rapunzel’s lavender dress symbolizes that she is royalty as only nobles were allow to wear the color. (It’s lighter color symbolizes that she is not quite a princess yet.)

11. Figurative Language • Using language to convey something that is different from the literal dictionary definition of the word. • Figurative language uses similes,metaphors,hyperbole, and personification to describe something often through comparison with something different. • Example: Grasshoppers are fiddlers who play their legs. (personification)

12. Situational Irony • A situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. • Example: The entire plot of the movie is very ironic.  Monster’s Inc. is a corporation run by monsters, their job being to scare children, when in reality they are the ones that are constantly afraid of the children.

13. Dramatic Irony • A literary device by which the audience knows more than the characters on stage or on the screen. • Example:Toy Story is a film about toys coming alive like humans. But in the film, the toy resembling a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear believes he’s an actual space hero destined to save the world from intergalactic threats. He tries to prove himself to the people around him, but is left crushed when he realizes how he is nothing more than a toy.

14. Imagery • Descriptive or figurative language used to create word pictures. • These pictures are created by details of sight, sound, taste,touch, andsmell. Example: “The eyes behind his glasses are bright green” and they always see fear and nightmares of Hogwarts. He has a unique appearance, because it is “a thin scar through his hair, shaped like a bolt of lightning” (J.K. Rowling, The Prisoner of Azkaban).