Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?
Do Now: THINK/PAIR/SHARE
For the following quotation:
"The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference."
- Henry Miller
Interpret it in your own words
Then Agree or disagree with the sentiment being expressed and explain why or why not.
The class was given time to analyze and form an opinion on this quote. At first glance, it occured to most of us that being “involved in action” and to “act” were the same thing. But after discussing, we realized that it is the tone of these words that distinguishes them. To be “involved in action” is to follow the lead of the hero. To “act” is to take initiative, to be the person to address the matter, regardless of the consequences, and therefore lead the ordinary men. Some students agreed with this statement, as it utilizes the idea of the leader and the follower to distinguish a hero from an ordinary man. Other students, however, disagreed with this statement with the understanding that every person who contributes is a hero.
We then, as a class, read “The Apple Of Discord”.
The story began by introducing the characters Herbuca and Priam, who were expecting a baby. However, it was said that their baby, Paris, would lead to the downfall of Troy, so he was abandoned and left to perish in the wilderness. The boy survived the night and Agelaus, the chief herdsmen, took this as a sign that Paris was meant to live. Paris fought with Ares and promised that the winner would receive a golden crown. After Ares won and Paris kept his word, it was decided that Paris was a dignified man with a fair sense of judgement. This reputation would later come into play.
Zeus planned a wedding feast for Thetis and Peleus. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited because she brought trouble and misery. Upon finding out about the feast, she stormed in and threw a golden apple, with the words inscribed, “for the fairest” into the wedding hall. Every goddess ran towards it and fought for it. The three goddesses that were left, Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, turned to Zeus and asked “Which of us is the fairest?”
He called upon Paris to decide, due to his good sense of judgement. All goddesses made offers to him, but Aphrodites enticed him the most. She offered for the most beautiful mortal woman to fall in love with him. He took this offer and stole the wife of King Melenus. After finding that his wife was missing, he called upon everyone to do whatever it takes to find the queen. Troy was destroyed, marking the beginning of the Trojan war.
We were then asked to consider the following questions
How do the gods and goddesses in the story display human qualities?
What is the role of prophecy and fate in “The Golden Apple of Discord” ?
How does xenia play a role in King Menelaus’ treatment of Paris?
How is this ironic?
We decided that the following gods and goddesses displayed human qualities
Athena, Hera, Aphrodite: displayed selfishness by wanting the golden apple for themselves only, as well as unfairness by bribing Paris to sabotage the fellow goddesses.
Zeus: self preservation by stepping out of the situation, knowing he would be blamed, and calling upon Paris to make this choice.
Eris: jealousy and immorality by causing a fight amongst the goddesses to get revenge.
We discussed that prophecy is a prediction whereas fate is inevitable, and the prediction that Paris would bring about the fall of Troy was both. It was predicted that Paris would ruin the city, and even though his parents left him to perish, he still brought about the downfall of troy.
Xenia:
Xenia is the concept of hospitality and sets social standards for how a hose and guest should act. A guest should be able to ask for hospitality from anyone, but should not be a burden. A host should provide food, drink, comfort and protection to their host, and should ask for a name or business until all is provided. It was believed that Zeus may disguise himself as a guest to test a person's morality as a host.
After watching the video (The Trojan War : Part One : The Apple of Discord [6:37]), and What is XENIA? Greek Myth Comix explaining Homeric literature [4:41)we concluded that xenia plays a role in King Menelaus' treatment of Paris because he gladly took Paris in as a guest, doing so to play the appropriate role of a host. This is ironic because Paris ended up stealing Melenaus’ wife and certainly did not play the role of a guest.
All of Helen's suitors took an oath to protect her, so after she went missing, the Greeks attacked Troy.
We reviewed some facts on the trojan war: (notes)
Odysseus (main character in the Odyssey) was one of the heroes of the Trojan War
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.
Odysseus knew from a prophecy that if he went to Troy it would take him a very long time to return home, but as one of Helen’s previous suitors he had sworn an oath to protect her
Known not only for his strength but also for his cunning (he is a trickster)
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
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
Greeks constructed a giant wooden statue of a horse (a symbol of Troy) which they present to the city as a “gift”
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.
Thanks to Odysseus the Greeks are victorious in the war
As a class, we discussed the multiple meanings of a trojan horse
-A trojan horse can be a virus that is disguised as legit software but is actually detrimental to a computer
-A person can be called a trojan horse if they are not what they seem to be.
This relates to the actual trojan horse because they all illustrate something thatis not what it seems to be, the way a wooden horse (as a way to surrender) is in fact an attack
The iliad and the odyssey were used in schools to teach virtues and faults, such as xenia and disrespect towards the gods, respectively.
Here, we discussed that the Greeks disrespected the gods by ruining the temples which were dedicated to them during the trojan war.
These books were sacred and recited orally.
Notes:
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.
The first lines of an ancient epic poem typically offer a “capsule summary” (a shortened version of a written work) of the subject of the poem.
The first lines of the Iliad and the Odyssey conform to this pattern.
We find the poet's own statement about the subject of the Iliad in the original Greek poem's very first word: Anger. The song of the Iliad is about the anger, the doomed and ruinous anger, of the hero Achilles. So also in the Odyssey, the first word, Man, tells the subject of the poem.
If we look at the translated examples below, we can see in the paraphrased beginnings of both the Iliad and the Odyssey that the rules of the poet's craft extend beyond the naming of the main subject with the first word. In the original Greek of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, the first word announcing the subject - Anger, Man - is followed by a specially chosen adjective setting the mood - doomed anger, many-sided man - to be followed in turn by a relative clause that frames the story by outlining the plot - the doomed anger that caused countless losses and woes, the many-sided man who wandered countless ways.
Reflection:
I learned about the significance of the Trojan war in ancient greek history and greek mythology, as well as the basic style of “The Iliad” which will ultimately help me prepare for the reading of “The Odyssey”. The cause of the Trojan War was justified by the story of a young man, Paris, and his interactions with the gods. After Paris accepted Aphrodites offer and stole King Mellenaus’ wife, the Greeks attacked Troy. Here, we discovered that greek gods had many human-like qualities, such as vengeance, jealousy, self preservation, and selfishness. Eris displayed vengeance and jealousy by causing chaos out of envy for not being invited. Zeus displayed self preservation by backing down from a decision that could potentially ruin relationships, and instead, placing someone else in this position, knowing that they could not deny a command from him. Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite displayed selfishness by wanting the apple only for themselves, and not considering giving it to another fellow goddess or, if possible, split it up. We also learned about xenia, which was a greek concept that expressed the importance of hospitality. King Melelaus was a fair host to Paris, but Paris, of course, did not return the deed. Odysseus was Helens suiter and was therefore sworn to protect her. He came up with the idea of the trojan horse, which would be offered to the trojans as a sign of surrender and peace. In truth, greek soldiers were hidden inside who destroyed the land of Troy. After reading fragments of the Iliad and the Odyssey, I had a sufficient understanding of how these stories were written with regards to syntax and structure. For example, in the Iliad, it was very frequent that the author stated a subject, such a “rage”, followed by adjectives, such as “murderous” and “doomed” to set the mood. I learned this because it was necessary to have a deep and concise understanding of how Greeks justified significant events in history, that is, by using myths and religion. I can use what I learned from this lesson by applying it to our upcoming reading of the odyssey, as well as my World History class.
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