#24 Sachi Robinson - Period 1 - 12/8/2020 - Day A - Freshman 2021

 #24 Sachi Robinson - Period 1 - 12/8/2020 - Day A - Freshman 2021 

Lesson- 2 Odyssey: Apple of Discord and the Trojan War 

Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?

Do Now- 

"The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference."

Analysis of this quote: 

The class brought forward many interpretations of the quote, many agreeing that ordinary heros act with more bravery than the average man and are more successful with their exploits.

Mrs. Peterson brought up a valid point by stating that while an ordinary man would get involved in a situation, a hero would resolve it. 

My personal takeaway from this quote is that a true hero would be the one to rush to fix the problem at hand with no second thought while the average person would just get involved and act as if they're really doing something. The hero must be able to overcome despite the circumstances. 

Questions to be kept in mind while reading the stories:

1) How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?

2) What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?

3) How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris?

A. How is this ironic?

Summary of “Apple of Discord” : 

When the Queen of Troy, Queen Hecuba was pregnant she had a dream that she had given birth to a flaming torch. She told her husband and he was

worried so he asked his son, Aesacus what it meant. Her sons interpretation of this dream was that the child would be the downfall of Troy, and thus must be killed. They were unable to do so after looking into his eyes, and called upon their chief herdsman to do it for them. The herdsman, Agelaus took the baby to Mount Ida to get rid of him, but was unable to do so once he arrived. He left Paris, the baby, there to be killed by the wilderness. When he returned the next day for the body he found Paris alive and well, a bear had taken him in for the night. Agelaus took this as a sign that the child was meant to live and took him home to raise him as his own. Paris grew up beautiful and intelligent, and took pride in his bull. He offered a challenge to other people, that the owner of any bull that beat him would get a gold crown. When Ares heard this he transformed into a bull and won easily. Paris handed over the crown,  exhibiting exactly how fair he was and how true he was to his word 

Zeus was planning a wedding for a sea nymph Thetis and a mortal Peleus. He invited all of the gods and goddesses except for Eris, goddess of discord. They believed she brought too much chaos and misery wherever she went. When she heard this she was very upset and stormed into the Grand Hall with an apple. On it she had written “Kallisti” which means “to the fairest”. This caused a large common tio n between the goddesses, because they all believed they deserved the apple. Eventually, it was down to three goddesses, Athena goddess of wisdom, Aphrodite goddess of beauty and Hera goddess of women and marriage. 

The three goddesses asked Zeus to be the one to hand the apple to the fairest of them all. Zeus knew that no matter which goddess he chose, there would be a large conflict. He decided that Paris should be the one to make the decision as the fairest person in the land. 

When they arrived at Mount Ida, Paris was unable to decline their request so he inspected the goddesses carefully, but then they started offering bribes. Hera offered power and land, Athena offered wisdom to be the finest warrior in the land. Aphrodite was last and using her charms, offered him love, more specifically Helen of Sparta. She was considered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world. Her husband was King Menelaus of Sparta.

But there on Mount Ida, Paris was unable to resist Aphrodite's offer and handed Eris' golden apple to her. He kidnapped Helen and received Aphrodite’s gift. When the king King Menelaus discovered his Helen was gone, he called upon her former suitors to retrieve her. This lead to the start of the Trojan War. 

Important Names from the Story: 

Queen Hecuba 

Aesacus 

Paris 

Ares 

Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Athena 

Helen of Sparta 

Summary of The Trojan War: 

After Paris, Prince of Troy, sailed to Sparta to seize Helen, King Menelaus of Sparta treated him as an honored guest. Aphrodite honored her agreement and made Helen fall in love with him. Paris and Helen snuck off in a ship together to head back to Troy. All of Helen’s suitors had taken an oath to respect and protect Helen's marriage regardless of who was chosen as the husband and were obligated to help Menelaus go to Troy to take her back

Odysseus, the main character in the Odyssey was one of the heroes of the Trojan War. A prophecy had told him that if he went to Troy it would take him a very long time to return home. As one of Helen’s previous suitors though, he had sworn an oath to protect her. It was Odysseus’ idea to construct the Trojan horse and try to break the 10-year stalemate of the war

He helped to lead the Greeks to victory

Odysseus: 

 Wife- Penelope

Son- Telemachus

• Great soldier of the war

• Originally tried to get out of going to the war—pretended he was crazy.

• Came up with the strategy of using the Trojan Horse which would successfully lead to Troy’s collapse.

• The Odyssey is the account of Odysseus’ journey home after the war.

• Another hero that you may have heard of, Achilles, died in the final year of the war.

• Greek forces were victorious

The Trojan Horse:

• Greeks constructed a giant wooden statue of a horse (a symbol of Troy) which they present to the city as a “gift” 

• They take their ships a mile away to look as though they had given up 

• BUT there are Greek soldiers hiding in the horse

• Once inside the city, they wreak havoc by destroying the temples, slaughtering children, and enslaving the women

Troy is utterly destroyed.

The Greeks are victorious in the war thanks to Odysseus. 

Important Names from the Story:  

Odysseus 

Paris 

Helen 

Homers Epics 

The Iliad and the Odyssey were used in schools to teach Greek virtues.

• Values: honor, bravery, hospitality—"xenia", intelligence, respect for the gods, loyalty to home and family

• Major faults: disrespect for the gods' lack of hospitality excessive pride—"hubris"

Iliad is the primary model for the epic of war

Odyssey is the primary model for the epic of the long journey     

The Iliad focuses on the days toward the end of the Trojan War (mid-1200s BC)

The Odyssey focuses on one of the soldiers who fought in the Trojan

War returning home 19 years after the war—Odysseus

The Iliad and the Odyssey together were considered

sacred to the Greeks—much like the Bible to many

people today.

Neither book were originally written down. Both were originally recited orally.

   

 The Odyssey

 A story in Ithaca about Odysseus’ wife and son as they await his return (called the Telemachy)

Tale of Odysseus’ wanderings during the ten years following the Trojan War

Deals with the adventures he has to overcome as he tries to make his way home to Ithaca, Penelope, and Telemachus, whom he has not seen since Telemachus was just born.

He leaves Troy with 12 ships and approximately 720 men.

He does not encounter military opponents, but monsters and

enchanting women who try to keep him from his wife. Merging of the strands when Odysseus returns to Ithaca and joins forces with his son, Telemachus, to destroy their enemies

Vocabulary 

Xenia- the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship. The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest host.

Promise- a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.

Oath- a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future action or behavior.

Enrichment/Links: 

https://youtu.be/euD0fqeI_9o (The Trojan War- Part 1) 

https://youtu.be/oYQRIQtnvII (What is Xenia?) 

https://youtu.be/O9sqOL1JEYw (Eris: The Goddess of Discord and Strife) 

https://youtu.be/v2pCwxCX2as ( How and Why the Trojan War started) 

https://youtu.be/ynh-awirDyE (Zeus and the Myth of Hospitality) 

Reflection: 

“What did I learn? Why did I learn it? How will I use what I learned in the future?”

In this lesson, I learned about The Iliad and The Odyssey and more context information about them. These were important to learn about because they provide more insight and a deeper understanding about the culture and history of Greece. This knowledge will help me when discussing Greek culture in other aspects of my life and in my writing. Learning more about the poetry and intricacies of Greek literature was very helpful.