Aim: How can an understanding of Greek myths and heroes prepare us for our examination of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey?
Do Now: THINK/PAIR/SHARE
With a partner, brainstorm and list qualities that you feel belong to a “hero”. Then create a unified, working definition of “hero” to share with the class.
Our class proceeds to make a list of traits that we think belongs to a hero. Some of the traits that we suggested were:
Flawed, Reckless, Cunning, Courageous, Brave, Empathetic, Resilience, Determined, Decisive, and Sacrificial.
We then gave the definition of “hero” as: A person who you look up to, A person that usually overcomes challenges, or A person that does good for others at the sacrifice of themselves.
WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
What (if anything) do you already know about Greek heroes and Greek mythology?
For our class discussion, we discussed about Greek heroes and gods, such as Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. We also spoke about the war between titans and the gods, and Severus, who is a three headed dog that belongs to Hades.
We then moved on to the next slide, which presented some of the important gods and goddesses that was important for our lesson:
Zeus
The God of the sky, lightening and thunder
King of the gods on Mount Olympus
Hades
God of the underworld/Lord of the Dead
His wife is Persephone
Athena
Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, courage, battle etc.
Poseidon
God of the sea and earthquakes
We then discussed the gods and the people’s beliefs of the gods. They believed in multiple gods, which is a type of religious belief called polytheism.
Then, moving onto the next slide about Oral Traditions, the Ancient Greeks passed on knowledge through spoken stories. This was a form of entertainment, and it was passed down from generation to generation.
Next, we moved onto Epic Poetry of Ancient Greek. Two epics, Homer’s Iliad and The Odyssey. These were considered to be classics of the term “epics”.
What is an Epic?
An epic is a long, narrative poem about a national or legendary hero.
As previously stated, Ancient Greece produced two epics:
The Iliad and The Odyssey (900-700 B.C.)
Both written by Homer
Moving on, we discussed the rules and characteristics of an Epic Poem. These poems usually has flashbacks (scenes where the heroes recount an old adventure or scene of earlier events), has a vast number of nations and the underworld, long speeches, the involvement of the gods, and features heroes that represents the values of current society.
CLASS DISCUSSION
Why would an author/storyteller choose to use these elements?
Our class discussed how an author or storyteller would use these tactics to draw the attention of the reader and adds more mystery to the Epic to keep readers interested.
These are some of the qualities of the heroes within Poems:
Superhuman qualities (stronger/braver than others)
Still human, so has a flaw/weakness
Must conquer many difficult tasks
On a quest for something of great value (to him or his people)
Villain(s) try to keep the hero from his quest
Physically beautiful
On the next slide, we talked about the history of the word “hero”, and the amount of history it has and its true meaning.
The Ancient Meaning: “They were superhumans, almost gods, and the actions they took were mostly in the best interest of humankind.”
Dictionary: “a being of godlike prowess and beneficence” or “a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage or ability”
The Encyclopaedia Britannica of 1911: “generally to all who were distinguished from their fellows by superior moral, physical or intellectual qualities.”
Historians and Scholars argued over the usage and definition of the word “hero”, with it heavily being tainted from its original meaning in Ancient Greece. With now the overuse of the term “hero”, it’s starting to lose meaning and value.
TEAM COLLABORATION
Draw your own conclusion on this argument. Do you agree or disagree with the concept that the word “hero” has become overused? Why or why not?
When we create heroes in fiction, we almost can't help but give them superhuman powers because what a hero does to be a hero is something which seems like people should be incapable of doing. It is something truly “other”.
Compare some of today’s superheroes with the original definition of “hêrôs”.
Do you think, as a modern society, we are searching for a “superhuman” hero similar to the Ancient Greeks, despite our overuse of the term? Why or why not?
We split off into breakout rooms (in accordance with our teams) and discussed the meaning and overuse of “hero”, and the stereotype of heroes and their powers within fictional works in comparison with the original definition.
Returning from our breakout session, we discussed that the use of “hero” is definitely prominent, and the meaning and value of the word really degrading due to the overwhelming amount of use of the term. Another group stated how a true hero would be selfless and only do good (or what they think that is good), and it does not matter if they do it for attention or money.
We moved onto comparing modern day and depicted heroes, how modern heroes don’t have superpowers anymore. However, you could still be a hero if you do not have superpowers.
The discussion ends there, as we then use the remainder of our period to ask questions and work on our Poem Anthology Project.
Reflection:
For this lesson, I learned about the meaning, backstory, and deteriorating value behind the word: “hero”. We learned the history through its original source, which was greek mythology. We then moved on to then the modern problem of the original meaning of the word, to then the diminishing value that the word brings. There were a lot of discussions about this specific lesson, which really made us participate and discuss with our classmates.
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