Background ppt on the Odyssey

Homer told a great story about Odysseus.

The Odyssey is part 2 of one of the greatest stories ever told. In order to REALLY understand the Odyssey, one must know some background information

Homer was a blind poet and storyteller who lived around the time of 720 B.C. Homer is considered the inventor of the long or extended simile. He specialized in using flashback, cliffhangers and fully developed characters. Aristotle called The Iliad the first great tragedy.

Long long ago, there was a mortal named Peleus. The gods loved him so much that they decided to allow him to marry a beautiful goddess named Thetis. These two will have a son named Achilles. He becomes one of the great heroes in Greek legend. In fact, he plays a huge role in the Trojan war (The Iliad).

After these two get married, they have a son, Achilles. In order to protect him, Thetis dips him in the River Styx making in invulnerable. One little problem…

Discord was MAD because she was not invited to the wedding. She plotted her revenge…

Discord threw a golden apple into the reception. It bounced right into the middle of all the guests. The tag on the golden apple read…

“For the fairest”

Discord was happy because she caused a huge fight. She loves it when people disagree and fight (that is why she wasn’t invited to the wedding.)

Athena, Hera and Aphrodite all claimed the

golden apple Hera

Athena

Aphrodite

Hera is the queen of the gods, Zeus’ wife and protector of married women

Athena is goddess of wisdom and just wars. She is daughter of Zeus and one of the 3 virgin goddesses

Aphrodite is goddess of love and beauty.

All three wanted the golden apple and the title…

“The Fairest”

They decided that the only way to settle the argument was to have a beauty contest. Can you imagine?

They wanted Zeus, king of the gods, to judge the beauty contest.

Hera Aphrodite

Athena

Zeus said,

“NO WAY!!!!!!!!” How can you vote against the goddess of love and beauty in a beauty contest? How much trouble do you think Zeus would be in if he voted against his own wife?

How could Zeus vote against his favorite child?

Zeus was smart. He refused to judge the contest. He didn’t want any of the goddesses mad at him. Zeus said let Paris do it. Paris was a lowly shepherd who had amazing taste in beauty.

So, there was the hotty Paris, sitting on the side of a hill just watching his sheep when…

Three amazingly beautiful goddesses appeared to Paris. He was shocked and amazed. All he could do was drool and stare.

Since fair-play and honesty wasn’t common among the immortals, Aphrodite, Athena and Hera all bribed Paris to try and get him to pick them as the winner of the beauty contest.

Aphrodite offered Paris the most beautiful woman in the world

Hera offered him power and cities.

Athena offered him glory and victory in battle.

Paris considered himself more of a lover than a fighter.

As a result, Paris awarded Aphrodite the winner of the golden apple.

Paris was awarded the most beautiful woman in the world. Aphrodite neglected to mention that Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was already married. Oh well, minor details for a goddess.

Paris hopped in his boat and headed off to Sparta to get Helen.

Greeks

Trojans

The Greeks and the Trojans were enemies. They were both rich citystates with mighty rulers.

Helen

Greeks

Paris

Trojans

Helen

Helen was married to one of the Greek rulers. He was the king of Sparta. Menelaus was a mighty ruler who loved to wage war. He was not the brightest man in the world but he was very rich.

Menelaus was always looking for reasons to go to war. Paris would soon give him a great excuse for attacking the rich city of Troy.

How did Helen end up with Menelaus? When, Helen was very young and just starting to become very beautiful, her father came up with a plan to protect her.

Helen

There were so many men who wanted to marry Helen that her father made each man swear an oath to protect Helen and whomever she would marry. Once Menelaus was chosen as Helen’s husband, the rest of the men of Greece were obligated to protect the marriage.

When Paris arrived in Sparta he told Menelaous that he was there on a mission of peace. Menelaous believed him and invited Paris to stay in his home.

Soon after, Menelaous was called away on business. He left his wife, the most beautiful woman in the world, alone at home with a young good-looking stranger from a far off land. Like I said, Menelaous was not the brightest man alive.

Helen was an innocent victim who was kidnapped by Paris

Helen was a slut who ran off with Paris because he was young, good-looking and smarter than her husband.

Regardless, Helen went home with Paris. Paris lived in Troy with his family. Speaking of Paris’ family… There is a whole other story that needs to be told about Paris and his homeland

Long ago, King Priam and Queen Heckuba were happily ruling Troy. They had a very large family and yet another baby on the way. This would be Queen Heckuba’s 49th child. An old man prophesied that the child Heckuba was carrying would be the downfall of Troy.

You guessed it! The baby that was going to be the downfall of Troy was Paris. Priam and Heckuba couldn’t kill their child but they didn’t want to lose their beloved city.

Priam gave little baby Paris to one of his servants and told him to go up to the mountains and leave the baby. That way, he wasn’t technically killing his son. After all, if the gods wanted to save the child they could. Guess what?

Good thing for Paris, the servant couldn’t do it. The servant, gave the baby to a shepherd friend. The shepherd raised Paris as his son (which explains why Paris was watching sheep when the 3 goddesses appeared to him). King Priam thought his city was safe.

Between awarding Aphrodite the golden apple and picking up his prize, Paris participated in a great tournament.

When no wars were going on the men would earn honor and glory by competing in tournaments. (They were like mini Olympics.)

King Priam of the great city-state of Troy invites all the strong men to compete against my strong and princely sons in a tournament.

Hey, what’s up with that country boy, Paris, beating my kids in all the races? Something isn’t right!

It’s all beginning to make sense. The reason he can win against my sons is that he is one of my sons. King Priam and his wife welcomed Paris home with open arms. I guess they forgot about the whole downfall of Troy thing.

When Paris and Helen reached Troy, they were meet with grumbles. King Priam and all of Paris’ brothers complained that Paris had made a great big mistake by bringing Helen home to Troy.

When Menelaus got home…

No Paris

Duh, What happened?

No Wife No Treasure Empty House

Menelaus got mad

He was so mad that steam came out of his ears.

Meneleus called all the Greeks together who had taken the oath to protect Helen’s marriage. Many of the Greeks didn’t want to go to war. But, then Meneleus reminded the men of how much money $$$$$ and treasure could be theirs if they conquered Troy. Not to mention all the gorgeous women…

All the best of the best heroes and warriors gathered together. They were ready for WAR.

Agamemnon and Meneleus were the leaders of the army.

Before the all the Greeks could gather and leave for Troy a tragedy happened.

One of the Greek, who was waiting to leave for Troy, shot a pregnant bunny. This made Artemis really really mad. She is the goddess of the moon, hunt and protector of animals.

Artemis stopped the wind.

The men waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited…

She would not allow any Greek to leave for Troy until they sacrificed to her.

Artemis required Agamemnon to sacrifice one of his daughters, Iphigenia. Unless, Agamemnon complied, Artemis would prevent the war by stopping the wind.

Agamemnon and Clytemnestra Clytemnestra and Helen Menalaus and Helen Agamemnon and Menalaus

In other words, two gorgeous sisters married two powerful men that happened to be brothers

Agamemnon was feeling the pressure. All the guys were sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting. As you can imagine, there were some pretty grumpy guys.

Agamemnon sent word to his wife Clytemnestra. Send our daughter, Iphigenia, to the Greek camp.

Achilles, the greatest warrior, wants to marry her before he leaves for Troy.

Clytemnestra and her daughter, Iphigenia, were very excited. They got all dressed up and rushed to the Greek camp.

When she got there… No wedding No flowers No happy day

Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to Artemis.

The Wind

Blew

The Greeks sailed for Troy

Clytemnestra cried, mourned and hated her husband. But that’s another story…

The Greeks went to war. They pillaged. They burned towns. They stole treasure. They stole women (war prizes). And this was all just on the way to Troy. They weren’t even serious yet.

The Iliad is the story of the last few months of the Trojan War

Did I mention, the war lasted 10 very long years?

The Iliad is the story of the last few months of the Trojan War. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus’ journey home from the war. It takes poor Odysseus 10 years to get home.

Poor Odysseus, that is 20 long years away from home and family. Ithaca- Odysseus’ beloved island home

Penelope, Odysseus’ faithful wife

Did we mention that Odysseus faked insanity trying to get out of going away to the Trojan war? When the Greeks arrived to pick up Odysseus to go

acting crazy

to war, he was . In fact, he was plowing a field and planting rocks. In order to test his sanity, the Greeks laid Odysseus’ son in front of the plow. When he swerved around the baby, they knew it was a trick.

Why on earth would a macho Greek leader want to stay home from war?

Paradise home, beautiful young wife and a new baby (Telemachus)

Odysseus bids farewell to his wife Penelope and infant son Telemachus, as his faithful dog Argos lies nearby.

Too bad, so sad for Odysseus… He had to say goodbye to his wife and son

Clever Tricky Smart Witty God-like wisdom

Greeks

Trojans

King Priam ruled Agamemnon and Troy. Troy was Meneleous (Helen’s under attack angry husband) were because of Paris the leaders of the “stealing” Helen. army. The biggest Their biggest baddest baddest warrior was Hector. warrior was Achilles.

On the way to Troy the Greeks did a lot of damage. They gathered many goodies. The Greeks had a weird tradition that they called “war prizes.” They would capture a town and steal its beautiful women. The women would be handed out as war prizes to the leaders and great heroes.

Agamemnon was awarded a very beautiful girl. She was Apollo’s priest’s daughter. Agamemnon was a happy man. He thought his war prize was more beautiful and that he would love her more than his very own wife (Clytemnestra). She is already mad about the death of her daughter. Can you imagine how mad she would be if she heard this?

The priest begged Agamemnon to release his daughter. He even offered many gifts.

NO NO

The priest was sad and mad. He prayed to Apollo and asked for HELP.

Apollo caused the Greeks to get sick. Many strong heroes died. It was very sad for the Greeks.

The Greeks held a meeting and decided to send a messenger to Apollo to find out what they could do to make him happy The messenger came back but won’t tell…

I know why Apollo is mad but if I tell, I’m a dead man. Someone here will kill me.

“I’m too scared. Someone must promise to protect me.” Achilles said, “Don’t worry little buddy. No one here will lay a hand on you.”

The messenger told the Greeks that Apollo was mad at them because of how Agamemnon had treated his priest. Until things were made right with the priest, by returning his daughter, the Greeks would continue to die.

The Greeks said….

NO NO

Achilles said, “Yes, you must return the girl to her father.” Agamemnon pouted and said, “Fine, then I’m taking your war prize to replace mine.”

I wouldn’t do that if I were you said Achilles. After all, I’m the biggest baddest warrior you have. Without me you are nothing. The Trojans would have beaten you along time ago. “Why Agamemnon are you whining about this? You always get the most treasure. You know, I do all the work and you get all the glory. If you take away my war prize, I just might pack up and go home. You’ll wish you had treated me better

when the Trojans are knocking at your door.”

Achilles cried because Agamemnon took his woman. He was so upset that he refused to fight. Just like he said.

Ha ha!

Agamemnon was very mature about the whole thing. He said, “Ha ha, she’s mine. We don’t need you to fight. We’ll be just fine.”

Yeah Agamemnon, this will work without Achilles

The Greeks say...

The Greeks started getting their butts kicked. Without Achilles they just weren’t that tough. Hector, the biggest badest Trojan, started inflicting serious pain on the Greeks

Achilles was sad to see his friends all getting hurt and dying. He loves and lived to fight and was seriously bummed out that he was not able to participate and earn glory and honor through his deeds in battle. Honor was very very important to the Greeks.

Achilles would not fight because of the dishonor Agamemnon caused him. He felt he had to prove a point.

When the Trojans pushed the fighting back almost to the ships… I wish Achilles was in the fight

Achilles was so very sad. He walked along the beach and called to his mommy (goddess Thetis) He asked her what he should do. The big guy, Zeus, owed her a favor. She found out Achilles’ fate.

Zeus said… Achilles has two possible fates. If he fights at Troy, then he will earn honor and immortality. He will be a hero and be remembered forever. If he does not fight at Troy, then Achilles will live a long good life but die and not be remembered.

Pat

Patroclous was Achilles best friend. Patroclous begged his friend to let him wear the scary armor of Achilles. If the Trojans thought Achilles was back in the battle then maybe they would back off.

Pat

t

“Okay Pat, you can wear my armor and kick some Trojan butt. However, I do not want you to push them all the way back to the city. That would rob me of honor.” Achilles was worried that his friend would encounter the great Trojan hero, Hector.

Pat went out wearing Achilles’ armor. The Trojan warriors freaked out and ran toward the city. Pat and the Greek army followed. They killed many Trojans. I’m Achilles, really.

Caught up in the moment, Pat chases the Trojans to the city walls. Achilles told him not to go that far. He forgot.

Hector Killed

Pat Pat

Achilles crying over Pat

Achilles is the strongest man alive. In fact, he is the son of a goddess. He is macho, strong, stubborn and angry about the death of his best friend. He wants to go kill some Trojans but he had no armor. Pat lost the armor to Hector. As a prize of war Hector kept the very valuable armor for himself

“Mom, I need your help!”

Thetis had Hephestus, the god of iron-working, make Achilles’ new armor. It was awesome and fearful. Achilles did not waste any time at all. He went into battle and killed tons and tons of Trojans. The ones who escaped, ran into the gates of the city. All but one… Historic armor

Hector was left alone to face the furious Achilles.

Achilles, after a long battle, killed the mighty warrior Hector.

Achilles was able to kill Hector because he knew where the weakness was in his armor. How did he know? Remember, the armor that Hector was wearing used to be his! Talk about your twisted irony.

It was ugly!!!

Achilles was so upset over the death of his friend, Pat, that he hooked Hector up to the back of his chariot and dragged him around the city.

For 10 years they fought. Sometimes the Greeks would be winning and sometimes the Trojans. Sometimes the gods and goddess would get involved and help and sometimes they wouldn’t.

Hey guys, I have an idea!

Troy is a huge city with powerful walls. We haven’t be able to break down or get inside the walls. So, here is my idea. Let’s pack everything up and make it look like we gave up and went home. We’ll hide the ships just around the coast. We will leave one guy and an “offering” to the gods.

Our “offering” will be their downfall. They will open the gates to check everything out. The guy that we leave behind will tell them that the big statue is an offering to the gods and they better be nice to it. When they take it into the city…

Our “smarty pants” Odysseus came up with the idea of the Trojan Horse. His idea has been copied zillions of times

Hiding in the belly of the horse was the best of the best Greek warriors. When the Trojans brought the horse into the city, they brought in big trouble. The saying, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” came from this story.

Thinking they had won the war, the Trojans had a huge party. They ate, drank and were merry.

When all the Trojans slept, the Greeks snuck out and opened the gates. The Greek army was waiting. The Nice work Odysseus!

Greeks killed the Trojans and won the war.

Greeks The Greeks divided up the spoils and headed for home.