Homer

1. Homer Cole Griffin

2. The Homeric Question • Concerns the debate over Homer and the works of Homer • Who was Homer? • Under what conditions were the works of Homer composed?

3. General Information on Homer Lived sometime during 6-8th century BC Often portrayed as one male, although no conclusive proof Considered a major influence on western literature

4. Writing Style • Heroic epics in poem form • Dactylic hexameter • Rhythmic scheme used in all works • Homeric Epithets • Homer’s specific style of descriptive terms • i.e. goddess grey-eyed Athena • Homeric Greek • Form of ancient Greek, composed of Ionic Greek and many other dialects

5. Works of Homer • The Iliad • The Odyssey • Works related to Homer, but not necessarily written by • Batrachomyomachia • Cypria • Epigoni • Homeric Hymns  • Little Iliad  • Margites • Nostoi • Capture of Oechalia • Phocais • Thebaid

6. The Iliad Considered to be a prequel to the Odyssey Takes place at the very end of the Trojan War, about 1100 BC Achaeans vs. Trojans

7. Brief Summary of the Iliad Agamemnon and Achilles of the Achaeans capture two maidens; Chryseis for Agamemnon and Briseis for Achilles Chryseis’s father, a priest of Apollo, causes a plague on the Achaeans; causes Achaeans to do poorly in battle Agamemnon is infuriated with Chryseis, wants Briseisfrom Achilles; Achilles is offended, and being the best warrior of the Achaeans, he refuses to fight, and has his mother, Thetis the sea-nymph, get the gods’ help for the Trojans Achaeans begin to fail terribly, Achilles agrees to assist Achaeans by sending his friend Patroclus to battle Patroclus is slain by Hector, this infuriates Achilles, who agrees to fight for the Achaeans once again Achilles forces the Trojans back into the walls of Troy, then slays Hector for revenge The epic ends with a heroic funeral for Hector, Achilles reflecting upon his faults, and a temporary stop to the war

8. The Odyssey About Odysseus's prolonged voyage home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy Simultaneously happening while his wife, Penelope, is in the process of finding a new husband to claim the throne

9. Brief Summary of the Odyssey • Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus has still not returned to Ithaca. It is assumed he is dead, and many suitors attempt to marry his wife, Penelope, and claim the throne. Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, ventures to Pylos and Sparta, as guided by Athena. • Calypso, who has fallen in love with Odysseus, traps him on her island. Hermes must convince her to allow Odysseus to leave. Once Odysseus has left the island of Calypso, he encounters the Locust Eaters. Once escaped from there, he meets the cyclopsPolyphemus, and tricks him. Polyphemus has his father, Poseidon; god of the ocean, curse Odysseus. • The curse prolongs Odysseus’s return, and makes him encounter many more issues, such as his consultations with Circe, the deadly Sirens, Tiresias, and the monster Scylla. • Odysseus finally ventures to Scheria, land of the Phaeacians, where they aid him to return to Ithaca. Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar upon his return, and he recieves aid from an old swineheard. Telemachus returns to Ithaca, to discover the disguised Odysseus. They devise a plan to conquer the kingdom back. Penelope holds a contest to see if anyone can string Odysseus's bow and shoot it through 12 axes. None of the suitors can do it, but Odysseus disguised as a beggar completes the task, slays all of the suitors with some help, and claims his kingdom back.