Unit 7

Oral
Tradition and
Poetry: Epic
or Heroic
Poem
The :
Odyssey
M.A. Ricardo Valladares
THE ODYSSEY
BY HOMER
 Class objectives

● Talk about the author.

● Interpret and analyze the Oddyssey.
What do you know about
Homer?
 Homer
• Credited with writing the Iliad and the
Odyssey.
• Homer is said to have lived between 900
and 700 B.C.
• Homer’s epics are all that remains of a
series of poems that told the whole story
of the Trojan War.
• In later centuries, the Iliad and the
Odyssey were memorized by professional
reciters, who performed them at
religious festivals throughout Greece.
BRAINSTORMING…
WRITE NAMES of
heroes in stories and their
deeds…
Pre
Reading What is an Epic
questions – Poem?
pair work
What are the
characteristics of an
Epic hero?
 Epic

● Epics are long narrative poems that tell of the adventures

of heroes.
● They are told to teach the virtues and values of a culture.
● The Iliad and the Odyssey were told by Homer to teach
about the culture of the Greeks
Characteristics of an epic:
● The hero, generally male, is of noble birth or high position
● The hero’s character traits reflect important ideals of his society
● The hero performs courageous deeds that reflect the values of the times
● His actions determine the fate of many
Characteristics of an epic continued:
● The setting is vast
● Written in formal diction with a serious tone
● Characters have long, formal speeches
● Hero’s journey (slides to follow)
● Poem reflects timeless values (courage, etc)
● Treats universal themes (good vs. evil, etc.)
Beowulf
Key Elements and
Hero’s Journey

• The plot is complicated by

supernatural beings or
events.
• The actions of the hero
often determine the fate of
a nation or group of people
• The poem reflects values
such as courage and honor.
The hero takes a
journey to foreign
lands.
3 phases of the hero
journey:
• Separation – a break
away from local social
order, the beginning of a
quest.
• Initiation – a long deep
retreat inward with a
series of chaotic
encounters which provide
new insight.
• Return – reintegration
into society, coming back
as as a more evolved
The general points of the cycle include:
• a test (to test worthiness to complete said
quest)
• a main antagonist, often supernatural
• a magical/unreal world, unable to be visited by
a normal human, that the hero visits (e.g. the
underworld or the world of the gods)
• a resurrection
(either from being dead or from a dead-like
state of mind, or a hero who was thought to be
dead who was rediscovered)
While the poem is Old
English, it focuses on the
Geats (a people who lived
in the southern part of
Sweden) and Danes.
The action of Beowulf is not
straightforward.
The narrator foreshadows actions
that will occur later, talking about
events that are yet to come.
Characters talk about things that
have already happened in the
poem and recall incidents and
characters outside the poem's
main narrative.
Themes
&
Look for the struggles of …
Conflict • good against evil
• strength against weakness
• light against dark
Identify a
hero or
heroine from
a film or
story and
explain how
their journey
fits the three
phases – be
sure to give
examples.
1.  What is a hero? Explain your definition and give
examples.
2. What is courage? How would most people today define
courage? 
3. What is an epic?
4.  Define and give an example of a kenning. Write an
original kenning about someone you know.
5.  Today we have our own monsters, who or what are they
and what do they represent?
6. List three modern fictional heroes  and explain how their
journeys fit the epic hero cycle. How are they separated?
What is their initiation? How have they been changed?
Read through the descriptions of the hero and villain
archetypes. 
1. Decide on five of the archetypes that fit your personality best
and draw and label a pie chart representing these archetypes
proportionately.            
          
2. Write in paragraph format about how the three most
dominant archetypes show up in your personality. Be specific
by giving multiple examples.
 Mythological Analysis

• A student of Freud who differed in views of human nature.

• Jung believed that human nature was more than a collection of repressed
desires and fears.
• He was influenced by religion, art and mythology.
• Jung divided the mind into the ego, the personal unconscious and the
collective unconscious.

is the reservoir of all human

experience. According to Jung all
people were connected at this level .
 Mythological Analysis

• Archetypes comes from the Greek word archetypos, meaning “first

of its kind.”
• They are universal images/concepts/ ideas that come from shared
common experiences, which transcend time, place and culture.
• The value in using archetypal characters in fiction derives from
the fact that we unconsciously already recognize the archetype,
and thus the motivations, behind the character's behavior.

examples
The Oddyssey (24 books)
 The Odyssey

It begins with the invocation - A

formal plea for help.
 Generally…
The poet summarizes all the
struggles of the hero Oddysseus in
his way back home after the Greeks
have defeated Troy.
Let’s Watch a video about it…

25
READING
TIME…
Who was Oddyseous?
 BREAK-OUT ROOMS
● Who was Oddyseous?
● What is your perception about Oddysseus? Write some of his characteristics…
 In the same groups,
pick any hero or public
personality and write a
short epic to share with
the class
Characteristics of an Epic
● 1) Plot centers around a Hero of Unbelievable Stature.  The epic hero completes what everyone only
attempts.  In ancient epics, the hero often is either partially divine or at least protected by a god or
God.
● 2) Involves deeds of superhuman strength and valor. Accomplish feats no real human could.
● 3) Vast Setting. The action spans not only geographical but also often cosmological space: across
land, sea, into the underworld, or thru space or time etc.
● 4) Involves supernatural and-or otherworldly forces. Gods, demons, angels, time/space travel,
cheating death etc.
● 5) Sustained elevation of style. Overwritten. Overly formal, highly stylized (poetry, lyricism (singing),
exaggeration)
● 6) Poet remains objective and omniscient.  The narrator sees and knows all and presents all
perspectives.

30
Protagonist of the story, unable to reach
home right after the Trojan War; “wise
beyond all mortal men”
A BIT MORE information about
Odysseus…
● He was one of the spartan soldiers who fought on Menelaus’ side. The
trojan horse was his idea.
● After the Trojan war, the Spartans felt victorious and boasted of how
awesome they were.
● His trip hope takes 20 years.
Odysseus’ trip home
 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – group work
1. Odysseus is an epic hero, as such, he must have qualities that were
admired by the ancient Greeks. What were these qualities?
2. An epic poem combines realistic details with the fantastic. Which
events in the poem seem to be realistic, and which are fantastic?
3. Mention some of the themes you can identify in the Odyssey and
comment about at least two, provide examples from the text.
 Themes
● Friendship
● Courage
● Envy
● Enmity
● Fantasy
● Betrayal