Aim: How can a concise understanding of both an epic poem and the Iliad enhance our reading of the Odyssey?
Do Now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION
For the following quotation:
"The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference."
- Henry Miller
We began class with a whole class discussion. We read the following quote shown above and we talked about how we perceived the quote and whether we agreed with it or not. In this class discussion, several students shared their thoughts on what the quote meant.
During our Whole Class Discussion, we covered a variety of evaluations on the quote. My interpretation on this quote is that an ordinary man is someone who is tangled up or witnesses a bad situation, but the hero is the one who steps in to resolve the conflict. The hero acts by going in to help without hesitating. I agree with the sentiment that’s being expressed because stepping in and trying to resolve something is very different than someone who is possibly causing the problem and doing nothing to solve it.
Oscar: “I think that the quote means a common man is involved in a big event but he isn’t like the game changer. I agree with this quote because a lot of stories like greek mythology are based on this statement.”
Bernice: “I think the quote is talking about how an ordinary person is involved in a larger movement rather than taking charge and action for himself. In this case, I would think that the ordinary man is a supporter while the hero is a leader.”
Eric: “My interpretation of the quote is that the ordinary man is involved in it but can’t really do much about it, but the hero actually takes action while the ordinary man tries to intervene.”
Raymond: “I imagined like in a made up situation in a fight, and I would think the ordinary man is a bystander, and the hero is someone who would break up the fight.”
After this discussion, I came to realize how a two sentence quote could be interpreted in so many different ways. This class discussion was a great way to start our lesson because we got to brainstorm ideas of heroes since in the future lessons, we will be learning a lot about heroes like Odysseus.
“Apple of Discord”
After the whole class discussion, we read a short text called “Apple of Discord. The link provided opens to the short text that we read in class: Apple of Discord” pdf. When we finished reading the short text, we watched a video to help us better understand and clarify any confusion we had on the overall story. The video talked about the prophecy of the Trojan War and the story behind how the Trojan war broke out. “The Apple of Discord” introduced us to the prophecies, fate, and other Greek stories, which laid the foundation of our future readings of The Odyssey. Here’s the link to the video: The Trojan War : Part One : The Apple of Discord [6:37]
Summary:
When Queen Hecuba of Troy was pregnant, she had a dream that she gave birth to a flaming torch. This was a bad sign, so Aesacus was called to explain what it meant. The prophecy was said to be that “the baby would be the downfall of Troy.” Both Queen Hecuba and King Priam knew that in order to save Troy, they would have to get rid of the baby. Since both the Queen and King couldn’t bring themselves to destroy the baby, a herdsman named Agelaus was sent to kill Baby Paris. Agelaus left Paris on Mount Ida knowing that a baby won’t be able to survive there, since he also couldn’t bring himself to kill Paris. But during the night, a bear kept Paris safe. Agelaus went back to Mount Ida only to see that Paris was still alive so he took it as a sign for Paris to be kept alive. He brought Paris home and raised him. When Paris grew up, he became a judge for extraordinary contests because of his fairness. Zeus then called upon him to judge for a contest between three goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris would be choosing who should get the golden apple thrown by Eris during a wedding feast. Each goddess offered bribes. Hera offered power, Athena offered wisdom, and Aphrodite offered love. Paris gave the apple to Hera, so he was granted love from the most beautiful mortal woman. Paris raided King Menelaus’ house and stole Helen (the most beautiful mortal woman). Since Paris stole Helen, the people in Sparta who took an oath to protect Helen’s marriage to King Menelaus, went to destroy Troy to get their queen back. In the end, the prophecy of Paris came true, he was the downfall of Troy.
Discussion:
Throughout the article, we noticed that the gods and goddesses had several human characteristics and qualities that resonate and speak to us. The article had several examples where the gods and goddesses showed their human side. For instance, Lapyan shared that these gods and goddesses could get angry, argue and they have material desires just like humans. Wilson added that the Goddesses all fought with each other which shows that they could get angry, selfish, and greedy for anything, which is also like humans. Joanne also added on by sharing an idea that I hadn’t thought of, she shared that Zeus couldn’t solve his problems, so he gave Paris the decision, which showed that greek gods are not perfect. I agreed with all of my classmates because these gods and goddesses all show their human qualities when they are dealing with different situations like when the three goddesses argued over an apple and Zeus pushing the problem for someone else to deal with, this just shows that they are imperfect like what Joanne had said.
Prophecy and fate played a huge role in “The Golden Apple of Discord.” Wilson had brought up that Paris was prophesied to be the end of Troy at first, and since his parents couldn’t bring themself to kill him, it was fate for him to end up destroying Troy, which then led to the Trojan War because since it was fated, it was unavoidable because no matter what happened, nothing could’ve been changed. To put it in other words, King Priam and Queen Hecuba got the prophecy that their son was going to destroy Troy and in an effort to get rid of the prophecy they tried to do something to prevent it from happening, which was to give the son to a herdsman for him to kill Paris. The Herdsman also couldn’t kill the baby so he left it for nature to get rid of the baby, but fate stepped in by sending a bear to protect the baby. Fate also stepped in when Zeus chose Paris as the judge for the three goddesses, which led to him stealing a Queen and causing the Trojan war. I agree with everything we had discussed about fate and prophecy in the story because the fall of Troy was unavoidable and it was destined to happen, and the prediction of Paris being the downfall of Troy was just the beginning of all the events that happened next.
Xenia plays a role in Menelaus’ treatment of Paris since the practice of xenia was what had allowed Paris to steal Helen. From Wilson’s perspective, he responded to this discussion by saying “because they had to perform xenia, it means that the King had to treat his guests really well, so basically he had to treat Paris really well like inviting him to do all sorts of things, but then it's ironic because Paris just ends up robbing him of his wife and escaping away.” To add on to Wilson’s response, from my perspective, Greeks were bound to practice xenia or else they’ll get punished by Zeus for not treating guests well. When Paris was in Sparta, he was treated very well and wonderfully, but in the end it was very ironic how Paris betrayed King Menelaus and stole his wife.
TEAM DISCUSSION
Instead of doing a team discussion in breakout rooms, we did a whole class discussion.
We discussed that both promise and oath gives off different connotative feelings. For instance, Mohammed shared that “when he hears the word promise, he’s like unsure, but when he hears an oath it seems more secure.” Sahil added on by saying “Oath has a more serious connotation because it’s more set in stone.” We talked about how promises are made to be broken and by saying that it shows the strength of the word. Promises are made in good faith and we hope someone will keep it, but an oath is more strong. We brought up examples of how oaths are used in courts and how doctors take oaths to always help others no matter what, in all these situations, “oath” is used over the word “promise.” To add on, promise isn’t very secure, but an oath kind of guarantees something. After this discussion, I came to realize how there could be such a big difference in the words we use even if they have a similar meaning.
We continued to spirit read the next couple slides. Here are some of the key takeaways of each slide:
We were introduced to a new term “xenia.” This new term would help us better understand Greek customs in the past. Xenia was practiced by the Ancient Greeks, it was the concept of hospitality, generosity, and courtesy shown to guests(which could be people who were far from home). The rituals of hospitality created a reciprocal relationship between the guests and hosts. There had been stories that brought attention to the mortals since the guest who shows up at your door could be a disguised god or goddess, this encouraged the Greeks to practice xenia.
To further our understanding of Xenia, we watched a YouTube video in class.
What is XENIA? Greek Myth Comix explaining Homeric literature [4:41] (We only watched up to 1:32)
The Ancient Greeks practiced xenia which is a ritual of guest-friendship. What stood out to me in the video was that anyone who asks for hospitality will be granted it by the host. The Guests and Hosts all have to follow a set of rules. For instance, the host has to provide all sorts of resources for the guests like food, water, protection, and a bed, and they aren’t allowed to question them until the guest is settled in. The guest could ask anyone for help, but they can’t be a burden by staying too long. This sounds very strange because today we won’t let strangers come into our houses let alone stay the night. The reasons why Greeks would do this was because they believed that there was a possibility that it could be a god or goddess in disguise. Zeus is sometimes called Zeus Xenios because there has been myths where Zeus would be disguised as a “nobody” who needs help. In order to avoid the punishments for bad xenia from Zeus, treating guests became a religious obligation.
The Trojan War
King Menelaus treated Paris very well, but little did he know, Prince Paris of Troy travelled all the way to Sparta to steal Helen(King Menelaus’s wife). Helen left King Menelaus of Sparta for the Prince Paris of Troy and they sneaked back to Troy in a ship, which started a lot of conflict. All of Helen’s suitors took an oath to protect Helen and King Menelaus’ marriage no matter what, this led to the Greeks attacking Troy.
Odysseus in the Trojan War
Odysseus is the main character in the Odyssey and was one of the heroes of the Trojan War. Since Odysseus was one of the many suitors who had vowed to protect Helen, he sailed to Troy with the rest of Helen’s suitors to get her back. Even though he knew that it would be a long trip, he kept his oath because there was no way in backing off from an oath. Odysseus led the Greeks to victory because of his cunning tricks. He was known as a trickster.
Odysseus was the one who let out the idea of constructing the Trojan Horse since it was very difficult to enter Troy. As a result of the Trojan Horse, the Greeks had won this war. Learning about Odysseus is very important since we could understand his role in the Trojan War better.
Odysseus had a family back at home in Ithaca, his wife “Penelope” and his son “Telemachus.” He had originally tried to get out of going to the war by pretending he was crazy. After 10 years of war, he was able to come up with the strategy of using the Trojan Horse, this plan successfully led to Troy's collapse. The Odyssey talks about Oddyseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan war. There was also another hero in the Trojan war, Achilles, who died in the final year of the war. Achilles was the reason that the Greeks were able to last and survive as long as they did because he was indestructible all but one place.
The Trojan Horse
The Greeks constructed the Trojan Horse which was a wooden statue of a horse, they gave it to Troy as a “gift,” which made Troy think that the Greeks had surrendered. The reason why the war lasted so long was because the Greeks couldn’t breach the walls of Troy, but this horse managed to trick Troy. Little did they know, there were Greek soldiers that were hiding in the wooden horse. When the horse was brought into the city, the Greeks destroyed Troy. Temples were destroyed, children were slaughtered, and women were enslaved. Because of Odysseus’ plan, the Greeks were successful in the war. The Trojan Horse was what allowed the Greeks to be so victorious, so it is important to understand how it was able to trick Troy.
We discussed how we use the word “Trojan” or “Trojan Horse” in modern day. To my surprise, Trojan is used today as a virus on a computer. For instance, the Trojan Horse is disguised as a beautiful gift, and it’s like a virus on a computer because it could also be disguised as an email and once you click on it, it decimates your computer.
Importance to Homer’s Epics
An epic is a long, narrative poem about a national or legendary hero. Ancient Greece produced two epic poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Iliad was a fundamental model of epic of war. The Odyssey was a fundamental model of epic of a long journey. These Epic poems were taught Greek virtues in schools.
*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"
What IS this story—Odyssey?
The Odyssey is a sequel to the Iliad. The Iliad discusses the days near the end of the Trojan War, which was around the mid 1200s BC. The Odyssey discusses Odysseus’s journey home after 19 years of war. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey were very sacred to the Greeks. These books were originally repeated by memory orally.
It was very interesting to learn about how the Odyssey and Iliad were connected. It turns out that both of these Epic poems talk about the life of Odysseus during and after the Trojan war. It stood out to me that these two poems could be so important to Greeks like the bible to religious people.
To conclude with the lesson, we talked about the ***Three Major Plot Strands*** in the Odyssey.
1. The Telemachy is the story of Odysseus’s wife and son(Telemachus) waiting for Odysseus to return to Ithaca after the Trojan war.
2. The tale of Odysseus’ wanderings 10 years after the Trojan War, which had to do with the adventures and challenges he faced while he tried to return to Ithaca. He encountered monsters and enchanting women.
3. When Odysseus returns to Ithaca and works with his son to defeat their enemies.
The Three major plot strands in the Odyssey shows the three main things that happened in the Odyssey. It is important that we understand what the Odyssey talks about before we even read it so we could have a basic understanding of the plot. This will give us background information so that we wouldn’t be lost when we have to read The Odyssey.
We were asked to read the following information on our own and look at the chart to help explain what is meant by the information given to us.
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.
The top two boxes on the chart above deepened my understanding on how the epic poems offer a capsule memory. For example, in The Iliad, “Anger” was the first word used and it implied that the story is about Anger. In The Odyssey, we could tell that the subject is man.
At the end of the lesson, we were given Enrichments to help us understand more about the background of the story of the Trojan War. Here are the links, it opens up onto YouTube and after watching it, your understanding on the overall topic will be better:
Eris: The Goddess of Discord and Strife - Mythology Dictionary #05 - See U in History (Fixed) [2:28]
How and why the Trojan war started [3:22]
Zeus and the Myth of Hospitality (Philemon and Baucis) Greek Mythology Ep. See U in History [3:54]
Reflection:
Throughout the lesson, I was able to obtain a lot of knowledge about the Trojan war, Xenia, and the Epic poems(The Iliad and The Odyssey). I learned that Xenia was greatly practiced in Ancient Greece. Xenia is the concept of hospitality in which hosts are supposed to treat their guests with protection. I was surprised to learn that the Ancient Greeks practiced this custom because in the modern world, we wouldn’t invite strangers into our homes if they asked for help. The Greeks did this because if a god or goddess was disguised as a guest and they were treated badly, they'd get the wrath of Zeus. In the past, I have heard of the story about the Trojan war several times, but after this lesson, my understanding of the story deepened. I was able to learn more about how the Trojan war began and what exactly happened for the Greeks to be victorious. Learning about Paris, the young Prince of Troy who was prophesied to be the downfall of Troy allowed me to realize that he was connected to the conflict in the Trojan War. Since he stole the Queen of Sparta, the Greeks had started a war with Troy which led to the creation of the Trojan horse. I have read Greek mythology in the past and this was my first time learning about Paris and the Golden Apple. After this lesson, I was also able to learn more about what The Iliad and The Odyssey was about. The Iliad and The Odyssey are both Epic poems about the Trojan war. The Iliad talked about the days towards the end of the Trojan war and The Odyssey talked about the journey returning home after the Trojan War. It shocked me to learn that both of these poems are as important to the Greeks as a bible is to religious people. I learned all of this information because it is important to know some background about The Odyssey so if I have to read it in the future, there won’t be any confusion that stirs in. Since I’ve learned about what The Odyssey is about and more about the Trojan war, reading the Odyssey shouldn’t be difficult because I have already understood the general plot and ideas. The different pieces of information that I learned will be greatly connected to The Odyssey, so it’s necessary that I understand what occurred during the Trojan war since this lesson is setting a foundation for our upcoming lessons. I will get to use what I learned by applying this knowledge to future references and readings of The Odyssey. What I learned and understood from this lesson could greatly enhance my reading on The Odyssey. Generally speaking, I learned a lot from this lesson and learning this would benefit me in the future when we come across The Odyssey.
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