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Homer’s World

RL 6 Analyze a particular point of view or

homer’s
cultural experience reflected in a work of world
literature. RL 7 Analyze the representation of
a subject or key scene in two different artistic

world
mediums. RL 9 Analyze how an author draws on
and transforms source materials in a specific work.

RL 6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural


The acropolis of Athens, Greece, was the high point of the city experience reflected in a work of world literature.
and a place to worship the goddess Athena, the city’s patroness. RL 7 Analyze the representation of a subject or key
R E A D I N G STR ATEG Y scene in two different artistic mediums. RL 9 Analyze how an author draws
Examining the Homeric Epics on and transforms source material in a specific work.
set a purpose for Composed in Greece around 750–725 b.c., the Iliad After Hector’s death, the Greeks brought the war to
reading and the Odyssey are perhaps the greatest masterpieces an end thanks to the cleverness of Odysseus, ruler of
Point out to students that their reason for of the epic form, narrative poetry about a hero’s the island of Ithaca. To break the ten-year stalemate,
adventures. Both stories were first told orally, perhaps Odysseus thought of a scheme to make the Trojans
reading “Homer’s World” is to enable them even sung, and it may not have been until several think that the Greeks had finally given up. He ordered
to read the Odyssey with increased under- generations later that these traditional stories were set a giant wooden horse to be built and left at the gates of
standing and enjoyment. Ask students to down in writing. The poems are traditionally credited Troy. The Trojans, waking to find it there—without a
look over the article quickly, and suggest to a blind poet named Homer. Although there have Greek in sight—assumed that the enemy had fled and
been many translations of the poems into English, left them a peace offering. They took the horse inside
how it might prepare them for reading Robert Fitzgerald’s verse renderings are considered the city, only to discover, too late, that it was filled with
the Odyssey. List their ideas on the board. among the best at capturing the poems’ high drama Greek soldiers and that Troy was doomed.
After reading, encourage them to add to and intense emotions. Three important elements of the
plot of each epic are the Trojan War, the heroism of
this list.
Odysseus, and the interference of the gods.
The Trojan War This legendary war seems to have
occurred sometime around 1200 b.c. The earliest
literary accounts of it, found in the Iliad and the
background Odyssey, are elaborated in later classical literature.
Ancient Troy Troy, also known as Ilium, was an According to legend, the Trojan War began after Paris,
a Trojan prince, kidnapped the beautiful Helen from her
ancient seaport on the Aegean Sea in present- husband, Menelaus (mDnQE-lAPEs), the king of Sparta.
day Turkey. In the 1870s and 1880s, Heinrich Menelaus recruited kings and soldiers from all over
Schliemann, a wealthy German businessman, Greece to help him avenge his honor and recover his
wife. The Greeks held Troy under siege for ten years.
excavated the site of ancient Troy. His findings
The Iliad takes place during the tenth year of this
suggest that the story of the Trojan War may war. It tells the story of the Greek warrior Achilles and
be based on fact. his quarrel with Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon, ending Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo’s The Procession of the Trojan
with the death and funeral of Paris’ brother Hector. Horse into Troy, painted in 1773

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READING SKILL

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Ask students what they can infer about


Odysseus’ character from information
in the section The Trojan War. Possible
answer: Odysseus was a clever, intelligent
leader, skilled at outwitting his enemies.

1188 unit 11 : the odyssey


The Heroic Story of Odysseus The Odyssey deals with human ways, often engaging in their own trivial
Odysseus’ adventures as he makes his way home from quarrels and petty jealousies. For example, Athena, the
Troy and with events that take place on Ithaca just goddess of war and practical wisdom, supported the
before and after his return. The first excerpts that you Greek cause in the Trojan War and championed READING SKILL
will read depict some of the wanderings of Odysseus Odysseus, while Aphrodite (BfQrE-dFPtC), the goddess of
after his departure from Troy with a fleet of 12 ships love, sided with Paris and his fellow Trojans. The story main idea
carrying about 720 men. This time his opponents are of Odysseus’ return from Troy contains some notable
not military ones. Instead, he encounters various instances of divine interference. Odysseus has Athena Remind students that writers sometimes
monsters who try to devour him and enchanting on his side, but he has displeased the gods who were on state the main idea of a paragraph or
women who try to keep him from his wife, Penelope. the side of Troy. Furthermore, as you will see, he angers longer piece of writing in a topic sentence.
The final excerpts describe Odysseus’ homecoming and another god during one of his first adventures and still
his reunion with Penelope and his son, Telemachus. In another later on. As a result, he is forced to suffer many Ask students which sentence in The Heroic
addition to great strength and courage, what sets hardships before he manages to return home. Story of Odysseus states its main idea.
Odysseus apart from others is a special quality that has To Homer’s audience, the Odyssey, with its Possible answer: The first sentence states
been called his craft or guile: the ingenious tricks he interfering gods and goddesses and its strange lands the main idea. Which sentence states the
uses to get himself out of difficult situations. and creatures, must have seemed as full of mystery
and danger as science fiction and fantasy adventures main idea of The Intervention of the Gods
The Intervention of the Gods and Goddesses
seem to people today. Just as we can imagine aliens in and Goddesses? Possible answer: The
Adding another dimension to the human struggles
the next galaxy or creatures created in a laboratory, the first sentence states the main idea. Have
recounted in Homer’s epics are the mythic elements—
ancient Greeks could imagine monsters living just
the conflicts among the gods and goddesses on Mount students reread each section with its main
beyond the boundaries of their known world. It was
Olympus (E-lGmPpEs). In Homer’s time, most Greeks idea in mind.
not necessary for them to believe that creatures such
believed that their gods not only took an active interest
as one-eyed giants did exist, but only that they might.
in human affairs but also behaved in recognizably

background
Greek Mythology Our knowledge of Greek
mythology begins with Homer’s epics, the
oldest written record of ancient Greece. Greek
mythology does not comprise a religious docu-
ment, like the Bible or Quran, for example.
Some Greek myths explain a natural feature or
occurrence, such as the existence of a constel-
lation or the eruption of a volcano. Others are
pure entertainment.
Eros Aphrodite Apollo Athena Muses
God of love Goddess of God of music, Goddess of war, Daughters of Zeus (three
(also known love and poetry, and wisdom, and shown here), often viewed as
as Cupid) mother of Eros prophecy cleverness sources of divine inspiration Analyze Visuals
The image is an oil painting on plaster. It rep-
Detail of a frieze representing a procession of mythological divinities. Oil on plaster. Chateux de
Malmaison et Bois-Preau, Rueil-Malmaison, France. Photo © Gerard Blot/Art Resource, New York. resents a procession of mythological figures.
Ask students how the figures on this wall
painting differ from Homer’s depiction of the
Greek gods and goddesses. Possible answer:
homer’s world 1189 The frieze is an idealized vision of the mytho-
logical figures, showing their beauty and grace.
By contrast, Homer depicted the pettiness and
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jealous, and vain.

homer’s world 1189


Homer: The Epic Poet
READING SKILL Shadowy Figure Although the ancient Greeks credited throughout English literature, from Chaucer in the
a man named Homer with composing the Iliad and the Middle Ages to Shakespeare in the Renaissance to
make inferences Odyssey, scholars have long debated whether Homer Keats in the Romantic era, have found inspiration in
really existed. There are many theories about who Homer’s epics. Moreover, by helping to shape classical
Why have the Iliad and the Odyssey influ-
Homer may have been and when and where he may Greek culture, the epics contributed to the
enced so many writers? Possible answer: have lived. According to ancient accounts, he lived development of many later Western ideas and values.
Their influence suggests that these epics are sometime between 900 and 700 b.c., possibly on the
A Living Tradition Artists of all kinds continue to
entertaining and express powerful ideas island of Chios in the eastern Aegean Sea, and he was
draw on Homer’s work. In 1922, the Irish writer
blind. Most modern scholars agree that the Homeric
and universal themes. James Joyce published his groundbreaking novel
poems are the work of one or two exceptionally talented
Ulysses (“Ulysses” is a Latin form of Odysseus’ name),
bards—singers who made up their verses as they sang.
in which he turned a day in the life of an ordinary
Oral History Homer’s epics are all that remains of a man into an Odyssean journey. In 2000, the Coen
series of poems that told the whole story of the Trojan brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? told the
background War. In later centuries, the Iliad and the Odyssey were story of a Depression-era Ulysses, an escaped convict
memorized by professional reciters, who performed returning home to prevent his wife from marrying
The World of the Odyssey Although Homer them at religious festivals throughout Greece. They another man. The 2004 movie Troy is a more
probably composed the Odyssey in the 8th were also the first works read by Greek schoolchildren. straightfoward adaptation of Homer’s Iliad.
century B.C., scholars believe that the epic By 300 b.c. many slightly different versions of the
poems existed, and scholars began to work at restoring
recreates Greece’s Bronze Age, an era that had Author Online
them to their original form.
ended some 500 years earlier. During that era, Go to thinkcentral.com. KEYWORD: HML9-1190
Models for the Ages Homer’s epics became models
warrior chieftains, much like Odysseus, lived for many later writers, including the Roman poet
in elaborate palaces and conducted colonizing Virgil, who wrote his own epic in Latin. Poets
expeditions to expand trade and territory.

READING SKILL

main idea
What is the main idea of the section
Homer: The Epic Poet? Possible answer:
The Iliad and the Odyssey have enjoyed
popularity and exerted influence for
thousands of years.

A scene from the 2004 movie Troy


Troy; a bust of Homer

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Homer’s World

People and Places of the Odyssey Land of the W


N
E
Laestrygones
You will find it helpful to become familiar with important people S
Analyze Visuals
Aeaea (Circe) Phaeacians’
and places in the Odyssey before you begin reading. The map Island Troy
Sirens’ Island
identifies real places mentioned in the poem, such as Troy, Sparta, Aeolus’ Island
Mt. Olympus Ask students what information the map
Ithaca
and Ithaca. It also shows where later readers have thought that Cyclopes’ Land
shows that is not in the text under People and
some of the imaginary lands visited by Odysseus could have been Thrinacia Scylla and Charybdis
Sparta
located, after applying Mediterranean geography to Homer’s Ogygia
Places of the Odyssey? Possible answer: The
descriptions. Following is a list of important characters. All Greek (Calypso) map shows that the seas around Greece are
names used in Robert Fitzgerald’s translation have been changed Mediterranean Sea dotted with islands and that Greece is close to
from their original spelling to a more familiar, Latinized spelling.
Troy. The map also helps the reader to under-
stand why the sea profoundly influenced life in
important characters in the odyssey (in order of mention) Greece.
book 1 Cyclopes (sF-klIPpCz)—a race of book 12
Helios (hCPlC-JsQ)—the sun god, one-eyed giants; an individual Sirens (sFPrEnz)—creatures, part
who raises his cattle on the island member of the race is a Cyclops woman and part bird, whose
of Thrinacia (thrG-nAPshE) (sFPklJps) songs lure sailors to their death R E A D I N G STATEG Y
Zeus (zLs)—the ruler of the Apollo (E-pJlPI)—the god of Scylla (sGlPE)—a six-headed sea
Greek gods and goddesses; father music, poetry, prophecy, and monster who devours sailors
monitor reading
of Athena and Apollo medicine Charybdis (kE-rGbPdGs)— Suggest that students bookmark Impor-
Telemachus (tE-lDmPE-kEs)— Poseidon (pI-sFdPn)—the god of a dangerous whirlpool personified tant Characters in the Odyssey to use as a
Odysseus’ son the seas, earthquakes, and horses; as a female sea monster reference as they read.
Penelope (pE-nDlPE-pC)— father of the Cyclops who battles book 16
Odysseus’ wife Odysseus Athena (E-thCPnE)—the goddess
book 5 book 10 of war, wisdom, and cleverness;
Hermes (hûrPmCz)—the god Aeolus (CPE-lEs)—the guardian goddess of crafts
of invention, commerce, and of the winds Eumaeus (yL-mCPEs)—a servant altered spellings
cunning; messenger of the gods Laestrygones (lDsQtrG-gIPnCz)— in Odysseus’ household
The following is a list of altered spellings of
Calypso (kE-lGpPsI)—a sea cannibal inhabitants of a distant book 17
goddess who lives on the island land characters’ names taken from Fitzgerald’s
Argos (ärPgJs)—Odysseus’ dog
of Ogygia (I-gGjPyE) Eurylochus (yM-rGlPE-kEs)— Odyssey and used in this selection:
books 21—23
Laertes (lA-ûrPtCz)—Odysseus’ a trusted officer of Odysseus’
Antinous (Bn-tGnPI-Es)—a suitor Original Altered
father Persephone (pEr-sDfPE-nC)— of Penelope’s
book 9 the wife of Hades, ruler of the Antiklos Anticlus
Eurymachus (yM-rGmPE-kEs)—
Alcinous (Bl-sGnPI-Es)—the king underworld
a suitor of Penelope’s Deïphobos Deiphobus
of the Phaeacians (fC-APshEnz) Tiresias (tF-rCPsC-Es) of Thebes
Philoetius (fG-lCPshEs)—a servant
Circe (sûrPsC)—a goddess and (thCbz)—a blind prophet whose
in Odysseus’ household
Andraimon Andraemon
enchantress who lives on the spirit Odysseus visits in the
Amphinomus (Bm-fGnPE-mEs)— Thoas <no change>
island of Aeaea (C-CPE) underworld
a suitor of Penelope’s Olympos Olympus
Cicones (sG-kIPnCz)—allies of the book 11 Eurynome (yM-rGnPE-mC)—
Trojans, who live at Ismarus Elpenor (Dl-pCPnôr)—one of Meneláos Menelaus
a female servant in Odysseus’
(Gs-mBrPEs) Odysseus’ crew, killed in an
household Agamémnon Agamemnon
Lotus Eaters—inhabitants of a accident
Eurycleia (yMrQG-klCPE)—
land Odysseus visits an old female servant, still loyal Akhaians Achaeans
to Odysseus Ithaka Ithaca
Thrinákia Thrinacia
homer’s world 1191
Mount Neion <no change>
Doulíkhion Dulichium
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Samê Same
Zakynthos Zacynthus
Aiaia Aeaea
Malea <no change>
Kythera Cythera
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The Odyssey in Art
READING SKILL Artists have been representing images and events from Landscapes When you look at a Homeric landscape,
the Odyssey since the seventh century b.c., when Greek ask questions like the ones that follow. See if the
make inferences artists painted Odyssean images and scenes as answers help you understand each artist’s purpose.
decoration on ceramic urns and vases. Since then, • Which of the following two landscapes is more
Why did the two artists use seascapes in
artists have continued to tell Odysseus’ story in realistic? How so?
their depictions of the Odyssey? Possible painting, sculpture, and other media. • What material has each artist used? Which do you
answer: A seascape offers an opportunity to Throughout the unit, you will see how numerous prefer, and why?
explore color and light; moreover, the sea is artists have interpreted this epic in a range of styles and
• Look at the composition of each piece. What part
forms. As you look at the art illustrating each episode,
central to the plot and setting of the epic. ask yourself what the artists were trying to show about
of the scene is emphasized in the painting? What is
emphasized in the collage?
each part of the story and what their own attitudes
toward characters and events may have been. • Describe the mood and tone of each piece. Which is
more lush, and which is more spare? Consider the
Looking at Art You’ve seen how understanding a techniques that created these differences.
altered spellings list (cont.): writer’s craft can help you appreciate the beauty and
meaning of a literary text. In the same way, knowing
Original Altered about artists’ techniques can help you understand and
Euanthês Euanthes appreciate their work. The following list of terms and
related questions may help you identify and think
Maron <no change> about the choices each artist made. Consider how
Ísmaros Ismarus these choices have contributed to the meaning and
beauty of each piece.
Kronos Cronus
Term Questions
Erebos Erebus
composition What shape or space is emphasized?
Amphitritê Amphitrite
material Has the artist used paint, clay, pencil,
Phaêthousa Phaethusa ink, or some other material? 200s: Ulysses and the Sirens, Roman. Mosaic, 130 cm x 344 cm.
function Is the piece useful, decorative, or both? Musée du Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia. © Bridgeman Art Library.
Lampetía Lampetia
color Does the piece have a broad palette
Neaira Neaera (range of colors) or a limited one?
Perimêdês Perimedes line Are the lines clean, simple, rough,
ornate, or jagged?
Politês Polites shape Does the piece have large, bold shapes
Pylos <no change> or smaller, more complex ones?
Are they geometric or organic (free-
Hêlios Helios form)?
Telémakhos Telemachus texture In painting, are the brush strokes
distinct or smooth looking?
Penélopê Penelope In sculpture or ceramics, is the surface
polished or rough?
Hermês Hermes
scale Does the piece show large things or
Kalypso Calypso small ones?

Laërtês Laertes representation Are the images realistic, stylized, or


abstract?
Alkínoös Alcinous About 1650: Ulysses Returns Chryseis to Her Father, Claude
Kirkê Circe Lorrain. Oil painting.

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READING SKILL

main idea
What is the main idea of the section
The Odyssey in Art? Possible answer: The
Odyssey has inspired artists from the
seventh century B.C. through modern times.

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Homer’s World

Portraiture As you look at a portrait, ask yourself what Narrative Art Most of the artwork in this selection
the image suggests about the character or characters tells a story in one way or another. Consider how the
Analyze Visuals
being depicted. Try to identify the techniques that artist’s choices of what to include and emphasize affect Ask students to choose which artistic render-
helped the artist create that impression. your sense of the events portrayed in each work.
ing best illustrates the characters from the
• What does the position of the characters tell you Compare and contrast how these events are presented
about the scene rendered in terra cotta? in visual form with how they are presented in the text. Odyssey. Students’ answers will vary but should
• Consider the difference in dimension between the • One of the following pieces is a decorative scene cite specific elements from the piece.
two pieces; one is flat, while the other is in relief. painted on a useful object, and the other is a book
How does that difference affect the feel of each piece? illustration. How does each piece’s function affect
• The pastel drawing is a highly abstract figure, as its style?
opposed to a realistic one. What do you think of it? • Compare the backgrounds on which the two scenes READING SKILL
Why might an artist choose such an abstract style? are painted. How does each background affect the
way you view and understand the scene? make inferences
• Which scene makes more sense to you? Explain. What can you learn about ancient Greece
by studying the plaque and urn from that
period? Possible answer: The plaque and
urn reveal information about the clothing,
hairstyles, and tools of the ancient Greeks.
They also demonstrate the high level of skill
in different art forms.

About 460–450 b.c.: Terra


R E A D I N G STR ATEG Y
cotta plaque showing the
return of Odysseus About 450–440 b.c.: Clay urn showing Odysseus slaying
Penelope’s suitors set a purpose for
About 1915: Illustration
reading
from Tales of the Gods Ask students how “Homer’s World” helped
and Heroes by Sir
G. W. Cox, Innes Fripp. them accomplish their purpose of getting
Hermes, messenger of ready to read the Odyssey. Possible answer:
Zeus, urges the nymph
Calypso to release Students may say that “Homer’s World”
Odysseus. provided historical and geographical back-
1931–1932: Ulysses, ground, that it gave them an overview of
Georges Braque. Pastel
drawing.
the characters, that it provided images that
will help them visualize events and charac-
ters, and that it stimulated their interest in
reading the story.

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