Danielle Earley's

Unit:  The Voyage Home

Comparison between a text book and an Epic Poem

Comparing Two Genres

The Epic poem : The Odyssey


The Website Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

The text book and The Web site

The epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer and the Introduction to the Chapter
One Website Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

Who is the author?

David Adams Leeming author of Introduction. Homer recorder of The Odyssey.Tony Arkwright, Justin Eichenlaub, and John Ramsey are the web authors.

Style of writing

Informational writing and Narrative poetryInformational Writing

Presentation

Poems in past presented by an oral storyteller.  Now excerpts and Introduction written for text book.Written in html for the internet

Internal Links

Divisions in text bookUnder Contents on Home Page
 The Odyssey An IntroductionLinks to information on the Iliad
 Part One: The WanderingsLinks to information on the Odyssey
 Calypso, The Sweet NymphLinks to Etexts
 "I am Alerts' Son…."Links to Homer's Greece
 The Lotus EatersLinks to Comparitive Mythology
 The CyclopsLinks to Mailing List
 The Witch CirceLinks to References
 The Land of the DeadLinks to Feedback
 The Sirens: Scylla and charbydis
 The Cattle of the Sun God
 Part Two Coming Home
 The Meeting of Father and Son
 The Beggar and the faithful dog
 The Test of the Great Bow
 Death at the Palace
 Odysseus and Palace

Information about Homer

Homer credited for gathering the stories the Odyssey and the Iliad together.Homer recorded two poems the Odyssey and the Iliad.
 Who was Homer? No one knows who homer was. He is believed to be a blind minstrel who cam to Chios. Who was Homer?  Two theories found on this page. http;//library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/Hist/slide4.htm
 He could be fiction and just be a model for a class of wandering barbs called rhapsodies. Tradition says Homer lived same era as Trojan war, in Ionic settlement, such as Chios or Smyrna.

Rhapsodies were myth-makers of time and there was no written history in Homer's day. Homer was believed to make his living as a court singer or storyteller.
  There is no evidence at all but we can hypothesize
 
Archelogical data shows possible dates of creation to be 8th C or 9th C BC

Information regarding the epics

Stories can be traced to historical struggles for control of the waterway leading from the Aegean sea to the sea of Marmara and the Black seaStudents will need to find their own relevant facts when they explore the website.  I have begun the list for them but they must fill in the remaining blocks.
What was the Iliad about?
The Iliad tells of the ten year war outside the walls of Troy.
The Iliad centers around Achilles who is battling his internal battles over the issues of war.
 The ruins of troy still found in western TurkeyMain form of battle was one on one challenges.
 One cause of the war could be jealousy. Helen abandoned her husband Menelaus, for the prince of troy Paris
What was the Odyssey about?
The Odyssey is about a Greek soilder Odysseus who is trying to get home after the war.The website provides for the Odyssey a synopsis of each book with sound clips saying the characters names and identities.
What is an epic?
Epics are long narrative poems that tell of adventures of heroes who in some way embody values of their civilizations.Homer used the style of "in media res" where he tells his story from the middle of the action.
What is a hero?
A hero in homer's day was a special class of aristocrats. Who placed between gods and ordinary humans.Odysseus is a Greek hero known for muscle and an inquiring mind.  He has prowress and bravery.
 Odysseus is a hero in trouble.Odysseus weaknesses are his pride which he has to much of, he braggs about his exploits which lead to his demise.
 Odysseus did not want to go to war and pretended to go mad in order to draft dodge. They tested his sanity by throwing his son before a plow and he had to stop the plow. Odysseus is a ladies man and this keeps him many years from returning.  Circe added on one extra year, and Calypso added on seven years.
 Odysseus thought of the famous wooden horse trick. The web site provides two character arcs.  One is written by Justin Eichenlaub and the other by Tony Arkwright.   This is a five page analysis of Odysseus.
Map of the journey
Book supplies map on title page of chapter that shows Odyssues route to get home.
Website provides a visual map with each step of the journey and a synopsis in the section called Travels of Odysseus.
What was it like to live during the time of Odysseus?
Violent culture had little reserve. Most men acted like pirates and raided towns.
How does the story begin?
Story begins with Telemachus quest for his father after 20 years which is the end.
 Then story goes to Odysseus after twenty years
What is a myth?
Myths are stories that are fantasy to express ideas about life can not be expressed in realistic terms.
 Relationships between humans and Gods both have similar attributes good and bad
What is a literary charateristic of the Odyssey?
Homeric similes are elaborate comparisons.

Evaluation after and during the epic.

Provides 3 pages of activities to do to integrate each section of the OdysseyProvides a sheet of questions on the Odyssey
  Provides a 75 page review section of the Odyssey

Written Text Provided.

Parts of epic poem listed above in contents.A complete translation of the Odyssey and the Iliad by Samuel Butler

Miscellanious features of the text.

Provides definitions of words on right side of textLink to the University of Saskatchewan
 Writing focusProject Gutterman (book offered for purchase on Greek Gods)
 Provides other poems translated by different authors. Provides links to other poems considered epics
 Pictures of Art and Homer Picture of Art and Homer
 a list of people and places in the Odyssey A list of people and places in the Odyssey

Bibliography

I used this textbook for my comparisonI used this website for my comparison
 Daniel, Kathleen. Elements of Literature. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2000.Arkwright, Tony; Eichenlaub, Justin;
and Ramsey, John. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . (Online) Available http://search.britannica.com/frm_redir.jsp?query=the+odyssey&redir
=http://www.velocity.net/~jutman/homer.htm

Last Updated on 2/18/01
Web Author: Danielle Earley
Email: [email protected]
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