What time period is the Odyssey?
The Odyssey was a late 8th century BCE literary piece by Homer (a poet of ancient Greek era). The epic poem features the adventures of Odysseus of Ithaca who struggled to find his way back home after the Trojan War. For many centuries, the Odyssey has been rated as one of the best time-tested literature remnants from the Classical world.
What is the story of Odysseus Odyssey?
Odyssey, epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War. On his return, he is recognized only by his faithful dog and a nurse.
Where does the Odyssey take place and where is it set?
The majority of the Odyssey takes place on and around the Aegean Sea before concluding in Odysseus’s kingdom of Ithaca. How was the Odyssey originally performed? The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down.
How many years did Odysseus travel?
Follow the Odyssey, his ten-year journey with perils at sea and vengeful deities as told through art. With the city of Troy lying in ruin, the Greeks took to their ships, heading home. Odysseus, the craftiest of the Greeks, who had the favor of Athena and had planned the Trojan Horse, sailed for his home in Ithaca.
When did Homers Odyssey take place?
The Odyssey was originally composed in Homeric Greek in around the 8th or 7th century BCE and, by the mid-6th century BCE, had become part of the Greek literary canon....OdysseyWrittenc. 8th century BCELanguageHomeric GreekGenre(s)Epic poetryPublished in English16146 more rows
When and where is the odyssey set?
Set in ancient Greece, The Odyssey is about the hero Odysseus' long-awaited return from the Trojan War to his homeland, Ithaca, after ten years of wandering.
What was the setting of the Odyssey?
Much of the action in the Odyssey takes place on the sea, where Odysseus must battle against the storms of the sea god, Poseidon, but the last third of the story is set in the town and countryside of Ithaka. The setting is a geographical potpourri of what was important, mythologically, in Homer's time period.
Is Homer's Odyssey a true story?
Homer's "Odyssey" recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus during his journey home from the Trojan War. Though some parts may be based on real events, the encounters with monsters, giants and magicians are considered to be complete fiction.
Did the Odyssey actually happen?
While there is no conclusive evidence supporting the historicity of the Odyssey's story and its characters, it has been proposed that geographic elements of Homer's poem were real and have persisted into the present.
What is setting in a story?
setting, in literature, the location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place.
How long did the Odyssey last?
The Odyssey of Homer is a Greek epic poem that tells of the return journey of Odysseus to the island of Ithaca from the war at Troy, which Homer addressed in The Iliad. In the Greek tradition, the war lasted for ten years.
How long was Odysseus gone?
twenty yearsINTRODUCTION: As the epic opens, Odysseus has been gone from his home in Ithaca for twenty years. For the first ten years, he was fighting in the Trojan War, a conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans that began when Helen, a Spartan queen married to King Menelaus, was kidnapped by a young Trojan prince named Paris.
What is the setting in Book 1 of the Odyssey?
Summary: Book 1 The story begins ten years after the end of the Trojan War, the subject of the Iliad. All of the Greek heroes except Odysseus have returned home. Odysseus languishes on the remote island Ogygia with the goddess Calypso, who has fallen in love with him and refuses to let him leave.
Does the Odyssey take place before the Trojan War?
After the Trojan War, Odysseus embarked on a ten-year journey to reach his home, Ithaca; his adventures are recounted – mostly in flashbacks – in Homer's monumental epic “Odyssey.” Chronologically, this is the order in which they happen.
Why is setting important in the Odyssey?
In Homer's Odyssey, setting determines many of Odysseus' challenges and becomes a significant part of the tale as the characters and events. While the story involves a journey that lasted over 10 years, the tale is told during the last 6 weeks of Odysseus' journey.
When did the Trojan War take place?
Trojan War, legendary conflict between the early Greeks and the people of Troy in western Anatolia, dated by later Greek authors to the 12th or 13th century bce.
What is the Odyssey?
The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca...
Where does the Odyssey take place?
The majority of the Odyssey takes place on and around the Aegean Sea before concluding in Odysseus’s kingdom of Ithaca.
How was the Odyssey originally performed?
The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. I...
What are the most popular English-language translations of the Odyssey from the 20th century?
Among the most notable English-language translations of the Odyssey produced in the 20th century were those by Robert Fitzgerald (1961), Richmond L...
Did the Odyssey actually happen?
While there is no conclusive evidence supporting the historicity of the Odyssey’s story and its characters, it has been proposed that geographic el...
Where was Homer's Odyssey engraved?
Homer, engraving by Hieronymus Wierix, 16th century; in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Until the 15th century all volumes of the Odyssey in circulation were in handwritten Greek. In 1488 the first printed version (still in Greek) was produced in Florence.
What was the Odyssey intended for?
The Odyssey was intended for oral performance. The poem was likely transmitted through generations of oral poets well before it was written down. It’s been suggested that oral poets performed epics such as the Odyssey in song form.
How many books are there in the Odyssey?
The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War.
Where does Odysseus land?
He suffers a shipwreck and lands on the shore of Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians. In Books IX–XII Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of his harrowing journey as he has tried to find his way home. Finally, Books XIII–XXIV, the second half of the poem, find Odysseus back in Ithaca, facing unexpected obstacles and danger.
Where does the story of Telemachus take place?
The reader begins in the middle of the tale, learning about previous events only through Odysseus’s retelling. The first four books set the scene in Ithaca. Telemachus is searching for news of his father, who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. Telemachus seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in ...
How many rolls did Homer have?
Given its extraordinary length, the poem may have actually occupied 24 individual rolls. Homer’s role in the writing of the poem and whether he was literate have been a source for rich scholarly debate, commonly referred to as the “Homeric Question.”. Homer.
Is Odysseus' father still alive?
Telemachus seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus, and discovers that his father is, indeed, still alive. The second four books (V–VIII) introduce the main character, Odysseus, as he is being released from captivity by the nymph Calypso on the island of Ogygia.
What is the Odyssey?
The Odyssey was a late 8th century BCE literary piece by Homer ( a poet of ancient Greek era). The epic poem features the adventures of Odysseus of Ithaca who struggled to find his way back home after the Trojan War. For many centuries, the Odyssey has been rated as one of the best time-tested literature remnants from the Classical world.
Where is Odysseus being held?
This cast the scene to Calypso’s Ogygia Island – the suspected location of where Odysseus is being held. It is believed that he spent about 7 years. Finally, the Greek gods Hermes & Zeus were able to persuade Calypso to set Odysseus free.
What city did Odysseus go to after Troy fell?
The poem throws light on Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the city of Troy had fallen.
How many axes did Odysseus use to fire his bow?
Being a wise lady, she decided to organize a bow and arrow contest and challenged her suitors to use Odysseus’ popular bow to fire through an array of 12 axes. This was a difficult mission that no one had ever accomplished, except the mighty Odysseus. When it reached the stranger (Odysseus’) turn, his shot went through the array of axes. The rest of the suitors had failed the test.
What did Odysseus' return to the King mean?
The return of the real King and hero meant that power struggle and commotion were likely to ensue. Moreover, Odysseus had to be careful not to get identified by his fake friends and enemies. So the father and son hatched plans to murder the suitors, in order to regain their royal powers.
What is the meaning of the Odyssey?
The term “Odyssey” has become an alternative word for long adventurous journeys (voyage). When talking about the greatest stories, Odyssey always makes the list. Ever since the Renaissance flame sparked, the poem has had a huge impact on European literature.
Who was the Greek goddess that helped Odysseus find his father?
Telemachus got encouragement from Athena (the Greek goddess who was supportive of Odysseus) and set out to hunt for his missing father. In his search, Telemachus paid visits to the homes of Odysseus’ former companions, namely; Helen, Menelaus, and Nestor. These friends of Odysseus had returned to their various homes after the Trojan War. Since they partook in the war, Telemachus believed that they had clues concerning his father’s whereabouts.
Synopsis
The Odyssey begins after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad ), from which Odysseus, king of Ithaca, has still not returned due to angering Poseidon, the god of the sea.
Structure
The Odyssey is 12,109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, also called Homeric hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks and storytelling.
Geography
The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey (excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of his wanderings) have been said to take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands.
Influences
Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the Odyssey. Martin West notes substantial parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth, and on their journeys go to the land of the dead.
Themes and patterns
Homecoming (Ancient Greek: νόστος, nostos) is a central theme of the Odyssey. Anna Bonafazi of the University of Cologne writes that, in Homer, nostos is "return home from Troy, by sea".
Textual history
The date of the poem is a matter of serious disagreement among classicists. In the middle of the 8th century BCE, the inhabitants of Greece began to adopt a modified version of the Phoenician alphabet to write down their own language.
Influence
The influence of the Homeric texts can be difficult to summarise because of how greatly they have impacted the popular imagination and cultural values. The Odyssey and the Iliad formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society.
What is the setting of the Odyssey?
The Odyssey repeatedly contrasts two kinds of setting: domestic and wild. The poem’s characters often find themselves in luxurious domestic settings, the palaces of kings and goddesses. In these locations Odysseus and Telemachus negotiate the subtleties of the guest-host relationship, and often the sheer wealth and luxury ...
When was the Odyssey written?
The Mediterranean Coast during the Bronze Age (approximately the 12th century B.C.E.) The Odyssey was composed around the year 700 B.C.E. The poem is set about 500 years earlier, around 1200 B.C.E., a period known as the Bronze Age.
What is Odysseus's story about?
When Odysseus tells stories of piracy and slave-trading, he is describing the reality that faced seafarers on the Aegean right up to the nineteenth century. Above all, the values which motivate the poem’s characters, like respect for the guest-host relationship, would also have motivated the poem’s earliest readers.
When was Homer's Odyssey in Music performed?
Homer’s Odyssey in Music. Written for the concert Mythology: Homer’s Odyssey in Music, performed on Nov 10, 1995 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Today’s revival of Odysseus by Max Bruch (1838-1920) brings back a work whose popularity was once extraordinary. The work was premiered in 1873.
When was Odysseus by Max Bruch performed?
Today’s revival of Odysseus by Max Bruch (1838-1920) brings back a work whose popularity was once extraordinary. The work was premiered in 1873. By the end of 1875 it had received over forty-two performances, an incredible statistic given the character of late nineteenth-century concert life. In 1893, when Max Bruch was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University, the celebratory concert opened with an excerpt from this work. It was the only one of Bruch’s works represented at a concert chosen to honor the composer.
Was Odysseus a critique?
But it is not at all clear what this kind of critique tells us today, more than a century after the work’s premiere and several generations after the “new objectivity” of the 1920s. We forget that the 1870s under Wilhelm I should not be confused with the world of his totally reprehensible grandson Wilhelm II at the fin de siècle. Perhaps if Wilhelm I’s son, the more liberal and decent Friedrich IIIl, had not been confined by incompetent medical care to a brief reign in 1888, European history might have taken a better turn. The culture of the late nineteenth-century middle class in Europe and England was not only about educated hypocrisy and superficiality. Bruch’s Odysseus was in a form that made it an all-too-easy target of contempt and cynicism.
Was Odysseus popular in the 1920s?
As Bruch’s modern biographer, Christopher Fifield, notes, the popularity of Odysseus lasted until the First World War. It did not survive the understandable and extensive anti-German campaign in England (where Bruch had worked and developed a significant following) during and after the war years. Furthermore, in Germany in the context of the Weimar Republic, the work was perhaps too reminiscent of the imperialist enthusiasms of the 1870s; too straightforward and sentimental; too detached from modernism. Not surprisingly, the archenemy of musical modernism during the 1920s, Hans Pfitzner, was one of Bruch’s leading posthumous advocates. In this sense, Bruch had the misfortune of living too long. In postwar Germany he became a visible and convenient contemporary symbol of an older generation’s error-filled ways.
Where did Odysseus meet the Cyclops?
Taking twelve of his men, they went up to the cave of Polyphemus to greet him. Yet when the giant returned from tending his flocks, the men panicked and hid within his cave. He settled a rock against the cave opening as a door, unknowingly blocking them within. Upon learning of their presence, the Cyclops laughed at Odysseus’s attempts to offer friendship. He immediately killed, dismembered, and ate two of the Greek men.
Where did Odysseus sail?
Odysseus, the craftiest of the Greeks, who had the favor of Athena and had planned the Trojan Horse, sailed for his home in Ithaca. However, he was destined to journey long and suffer many hardships before finally achieving his homecoming. Homer’s great epic poem, The Odyssey tells of the ten years he spent in the attempt.
What happened when Odysseus smelled the roast meat?
When he returned and smelled the roast meat, he knew at once that his men and ships were now condemned. When the winds shifted seven days later they sailed away, but the gods came after them with a vengeance, and a great storm came up. Poseidon roused the sea, and the winds howled against them. Zeus hurled thunderbolts that broke the ships to pieces and threw the men into the raging sea. Only Odysseus survived, washed ashore on the island of Calypso.
What happened to Troy in Odyssey?
Troy was destroyed, but the trials of clever Odysseus had just begun. Follow the Odyssey, his ten-year journey with perils at sea and vengeful deities as told through art. With the city of Troy lying in ruin, the Greeks took to their ships, heading home.
What animals did Odysseus' men encounter?
A group of Odysseus’s men came to her house and found it patrolled by enchanted wolves and lions. Though the men were frightened, the animals welcomed them, rubbing along their legs and fawning upon them. Circe invited the men into the house and plied them with food and drink.
Where did Odysseus first put his ships?
Odysseus and his men, sailing in six ships, first put ashore nearby at Ismarus, the land of the Cirons. There they sacked the city and plundered it. Odysseus wished to turn and put to sea at once, but his men delayed and would not listen.
Who waited by the mouth of the cave to catch Odysseus and his men?
Polyphemus staggered to the entrance and drew back the stone, but waited by the mouth of the cave to catch Odysseus and his men. Odysseus, therefore, lashed together the thick-fleeced rams in groups of three. Each one of the surviving men clung underneath the middle sheep as they ran out of the cave.
What book of the Iliad does the Trojans camp in?
They camp in the field to attack at first light, and their watchfires light the plain like stars. Iliad, Book VIII , lines 245–53, Greek manuscript, late 5th, early 6th centuries AD. ( 9) Meanwhile, the Achaeans are desperate.
When was the Iliad written?
In any case, the terminus ante quem for the dating of the Iliad is 630 BC, as evidenced by reflection in art and literature.
What is the catalog of ships in the Iliad?
The many characters of the Iliad are catalogued; the latter half of Book II, the " Catalogue of Ships ", lists commanders and cohorts; battle scenes feature quickly slain minor characters.
How many times does Nostos appear in the Iliad?
Nostos ( νόστος, "homecoming") occurs seven times in the poem, making it a minor theme in the Iliad itself. Yet the concept of homecoming is much explored in other Ancient Greek literature, especially in the post-war homeward fortunes experienced by the Atreidae (Agamemnon and Menelaus), and Odysseus (see the Odyssey ).
What is the Iliad?
The Iliad ( / ˈɪliəd /; Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, Iliás, Attic Greek: [iː.li.ás]; sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer.
Who wrote the Iliad?
e. The Iliad ( / ˈɪliəd /; Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, Iliás, Attic Greek: [iː.li.ás]; sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter, traditionally attributed to Homer.
Who won the Trojan War?
Indeed, the Trojan War is won by a notorious example of Achaean guile in the Trojan Horse. This is even later referred to by Homer in the Odyssey. The connection, in this case, between guileful tactics of the Achaeans and the Trojans in the Iliad and those of the later Greeks is not a difficult one to find.
Quick Facts About The Odyssey
- The poem revolves around the Greek hero Odysseus. In Greek myths, he is the father of Telemachus and son of Laertes & Anticlea.
- Roman mythologists know Odysseus as Ulysses.
- The poem throws light on Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the city of Troy had fallen.
- His adventurous journey lasted for 10 years; and his routes took him to the Ionian Islands, Pel…
- The poem revolves around the Greek hero Odysseus. In Greek myths, he is the father of Telemachus and son of Laertes & Anticlea.
- Roman mythologists know Odysseus as Ulysses.
- The poem throws light on Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the city of Troy had fallen.
- His adventurous journey lasted for 10 years; and his routes took him to the Ionian Islands, Peloponnese, Egypt, Northern Africa, and west of the Mediterranean.
Overview and Meaning of The Odyssey
- About 10 years after Troy had fallen, and 20 years before Odysseus left Ithaca to join the Greeks to fight the Trojans, Penelope (Odysseus’ loyal wife) had faced marriage proposals from hundreds of suitors. They tried to convince Odysseus’ wife into marriage because they presumed her husband was dead. Telemachus got encouragement from Athena(the Greek goddess who was s…
Influences of Homer’s Odyssey
- The term “Odyssey” has become an alternative word for long adventurous journeys (voyage). When talking about the greatest stories, Odyssey always makes the list. Ever since the Renaissance flame sparked, the poem has had a huge impact on European literature.
Overview
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years…
Synopsis
The Odyssey begins after the end of the ten-year Trojan War (the subject of the Iliad), from which Odysseus (also known by the Latin variant Ulysses), king of Ithaca, has still not returned because he angered Poseidon, the god of the sea. Odysseus' son, Telemachus, is about 20 years old and is sharing his absent father's house on the island of Ithaca with his mother Penelope and the suitors of Penelope, a crowd of 108 boisterous young men who each aim to persuade Penelope for her …
Structure
The Odyssey is 12,109 lines composed in dactylic hexameter, also called Homeric hexameter. It opens in medias res, in the middle of the overall story, with prior events described through flashbacks and storytelling. The 24 books correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet; the division was likely made after the poem's composition by someone other than Homer, but is generally accepted.
Geography
The events in the main sequence of the Odyssey (excluding Odysseus' embedded narrative of his wanderings) have been said to take place in the Peloponnese and in what are now called the Ionian Islands. There are difficulties in the apparently simple identification of Ithaca, the homeland of Odysseus, which may or may not be the same island that is now called Ithakē (modern Greek: Ιθάκη). The wanderings of Odysseus as told to the Phaeacians, and the location of the Phaeacia…
Influences
Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the Odyssey. Martin West notes substantial parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Odyssey. Both Odysseus and Gilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth and on their journeys go to the land of the dead. On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to …
Themes and patterns
Homecoming (Ancient Greek: νόστος, nostos) is a central theme of the Odyssey. Anna Bonafazi of the University of Cologne writes that, in Homer, nostos is "return home from Troy, by sea". Agatha Thornton examines nostos in the context of characters other than Odysseus, in order to provide an alternative for what might happen after the end of the Odyssey. For instance, one example is that o…
Textual history
The date of the poem is a matter of some disagreement among classicists. In the middle of the 8th century BCE, the inhabitants of Greece began to adopt a modified version of the Phoenician alphabet to write down their own language. The Homeric poems may have been one of the earliest products of that literacy, and if so, would have been composed some time in the late 8th century BCE. Inscribed on a clay cup found in Ischia, Italy, are the words "Nestor's cup, good to drink from.…
Influence
The influence of the Homeric texts can be difficult to summarise because of how greatly they have impacted the popular imagination and cultural values. The Odyssey and the Iliad formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society. That curriculum was adopted by Western humanists, meaning the text was so much a part of the cultural fabric that it b…