1. 30% of the words in a ordinary dictionary
comes from the ancient Greek
language.
Ancient Greeks were the first to use
vowels.
Our alphabet came from the Greek
language.
For example: the word “alphabet” came
from ancient Greek words “alpha”
“beta”.
2. Ancient Greek literature had four major
writings; epic traditions, lyric poetry,
tragedy and comedy.
An example of the epic traditions are the
Iliad and the Odyssey.
Lyric poems got its name from a group of
individuals singing while playing the lyre.
Tragedies and comedies were dramas and
used to honour Greek god Dionysus.
3.
4. An ancient Greek called Homer is famous
for his two writings Odyssey and Iliad.
Homer was a blind man and people
would gather around too hear him sing 10
epic songs.
Homer live around the 8th
century and
made imagination based stories.
Another contributor was Theocritus.
5. Theocritus was the creator of pastoral
poetry.
He wrote mane mime plays.
Alexandria was a book and poem maker.
Goethe was a Greek man who made
classical and romantic poems.
“Clearness of vision, cheerfulness of
acceptance, easy grace of expression, are
qualities which delight us” quoted Goethe
6.
7. English grammar, punctuation and
paragraphing came from the ancient
Greek literature.
Greek literature influenced us most during
the 18th
century.
Roman, Latin and English literature was
most influenced by ancient Greek
literature.
Greeks made mane genres such as
tragedy, comedy, poetry and historic
writing.
8. The ancient Greek alphabet was the first
to have vowels.
The vowels made the language easier to
learn and speak.
Their poetry made us think more and clear
our minds.
Ancient Greek poetry was referred to
medicine for the mind.
Greek words express ideas very well.
9.
10. are long narrative poems that tell of the
adventures of heroes who in some way
embody the values of their civilization.
The Epic Tradition
Epics and other tales were probably told
by wandering bards or minstrels called
“rhapsodes”. Rhapsodes were….
Epics were originally told aloud because
…..
11. True identity is unknown
“The Iliad and The Odyssey”
Homer passed his stories on via travelling
story-tellers called “Rhapsodes”
Believed that homer lived around 850
B.C. in Greece
Homer = “Homeros” meaning “BLIND”
12. a great epic written by the great poet
Homer
It is the second of Homer’s two great
epic poems.
an epic about humans on the journey of
life overcoming temptations along the
way.
It is divided into 24 books.
The Odyssey is named for Odysseus.
13. Odysseus is the King of Ithaca, and island
off the coast of Greece.
The Odyssey begins in “medias res”…
According to the myth, Odysseus did not
want to fight at Troy.
He did not want to leave his wife,
Penelope, and his baby son,
Telemachus.
Odysseus is an example of an epic hero
14. a larger-than-life hero who embodies the
values of a particular society.
Characteristics of an epic hero:
1. An epic hero is superhuman. He is braver, stronger, smarter, and
cleverer than an ordinary person is.
2. The epic hero is on a quest for something of great value to him or
his people.
3. The villains that try to keep the hero from his quest are usually
uglier, more evil, and more cunning than anyone we know in
ordinary life.
4. The epic hero is often of mixed divine and human birth and so
possesses human weaknesses.
5. The divine world (the gods) interferes with the human world.
15.
16. Laertes and Anticleia were the parents
of Odysseus
He was married to Penelope
Telemachus
"Odysseus the Cunning"
21. Odysseus ordered his men to raids the
main city Ismarus, attack their people,
and steal their possessions.
Cicones’ wine
Odysseus loses 72 men from each of his
twelve ships.
23. Odysseus sends three of his men out to
search for food and information about
this island.
Lotus fruit – you will forget everything but
only you want is to stay and enjoy the
honey-sweet taste of it.
Odysseus drags the men back to their
ships against their will, and with help from
his crewmates the twelve ships set sail
once again.
25. Cave
Polyphemus– the leader of one-eyed
giant Cyclops.
traps Odysseus and his men inside of the
cave.
the Cyclops eats the six of Odysseus’
men.
Odysseus gets the Cyclops drunk with
strong Ciconian wine. Odysseus tells the
Cyclops his name is “Nobody”.
28. Aeolus, master of the winds.
Odysseus and his men stay for one
month.
Aeolus gives Odysseus a Bag of
Winds tied with a silver cord. It contains
all the storm winds.
While Odysseus is sleeping, his men
suspect treasure inside the bag and they
open it. The winds escape and blow the
ship back to Aeolus’ island.
Odysseus begs for another bag of winds.
Aeolus refuses
30. Odysseus and his men reach Telepylus,
city of the giant Laestrygonians.
sends three men for information.
meet the daughter of King Antiphates,
leader of the Laestrygonians, near the
spring Artacia.
Only Odysseus and the men on his own
ship survive and his other eleven ships
are destroyed and their men captured
or drowned.
32. Two groups
Eurylochus
Circe, the witch Goddess
Some of odysseus’ men became a beasts because
of circe magic
Odysseus meets the god Hermes who gives
him moly
Moly protects Odysseus from the deadly magic of
circe
Circe turns Odysseus’ men back into humans.
Circe told Odysseus of a way to reach home
through Teiresias (Holy man of Thebes).
Odysseus and his crew stay on her island for one
year.
34. Odysseus travels to the Land of the
Dead to seek advice from the ghost
of Teiresias, the blind prophet.
Tiresias tells Odysseus of the following:
1. to stay away from the cattle of Helios,
sun god
2. to make a sacrifice to Poseidon, and
3. that he will have a peaceful old age.
Odysseus also talks to his mother
Anticleia, who had died from the grief of
missing her son.
Odysseus’ mother and Teiresias each tell Odysseus that he would reach
Ithaca and what to expect when he gets home.
36. When Odysseus visits the Land of the Dead he is
surprised to see Elpenor —the youngest member of
his crew.
Elpenor tells Odysseus that he died after getting
drunk and falling off the edge of Circe's roof
because he didn’t use the ladder. Elpenor begs
Odysseus to go back to Circe’s island and give his
body a proper burial. Odysseus honors the request.
Odysseus and his men return briefly to the island of
circe, find Elpenor’s body and, with sorrowful tears,
hold a proper funeral for their comrade. First they
burn his body and his armor. Then they pile a grave
mound over the body and armor. Finally, they
plant Elpenor’s oar on top of the mound. All of this,
just as Elpenor had requested.
38. Odysseus and his men reach the island of
the Sirens - sweet-singing, bird-like enchanters
whose songs lure sailors to their island.
Unsuspecting men who get too close to their
voices die on their island among the bones of other
dead sailors.
On the advice of Circe, Odysseus blocks his men’s
ears with wax and ordered his men to tie him to the
mast because he alone will listen to the Sirens.
Once they are safely past the Sirens, Odysseus’
men remove the wax from their ears, untie
Odysseus, and continue their journey.
40. On one side are the deadly Wandering Rocks and
on the other are Scylla – the six-headed monster,
and Charybdis – the whirlpool.
Circe has warned Odysseus that he will lose six men
to Scylla – there is no way to avoid that. But if he
tries to fight Scylla, he will lose many more.
Ignoring Circe’s advice, Odysseus prepares to fight
Scylla. Terrified, Odysseus and his crew try to pass.
Six of his men are grabbed by the six heads of
Scylla and eaten. Odysseus and his crew are
devastated.
For Odysseus, hearing his men scream his name
and watching their hands reach out to him while
being eaten would be the worst sight on his sea
journey.
43. Circe and Teiresias warn Odysseus about the
island of Helios, the sun god, and not to eat his
sacred oxen.
Unfavorable winds trap the men on the island for
one month and they eat up all their own food.
Odysseus prays to the gods for help, then they falls
asleep. Fearing starvation, his men – led
by Eurylochus - break their oath and eat the cattle.
Lampetië, daughter of Helios, reports the killing.
Helios tells Zeus to throws a bolt of lightning at the
ship, and turns it to splinters when the men are
back at sea.
only Odysseus survives
45. Odysseus finds this island after drifting in
the sea. It is an island of women, with a
nymph named Calypso, with whom
Odysseus has a seven-year affair with.
After the seven years, Hermes convinces
Calypso to let Odysseus build a new ship
so he could sail home.
47. Princess Nausicaa found Odysseus and
Phaecians accept odysseus.
Odysseus explains his ten-year journey to
Phaecians during a feast.
King Alcinous of Phaecian helped
odysseus to go back to Ithaca.
49. The arrival of Odysseus on Ithaca went
unnoticed
He pretended to be a beggar
Penelope would marry anyone of them
who could string Odysseus' bow and
shoot an arrow through twelve axe-
handles joined together.
Odysseus as beggar picked up the bow,
stringing it with ease and in one fluid
motion letting fly an arrow that pierced
all the twelve axe-handles. After that,
there was chaos.
50. Revealing his true identity, Odysseus began
massacring the suitors
Penelope set up to test if that beggar is Odysseus .
Penelope ordered the palace servants to remove
the bed from her bed-chamber to the hall outside.
On hearing this, Odysseus bristled with anger and
opposed the idea, saying that this bed had been
fashioned out of a living oak by his own hand and
none, save a god, none in the whole world could
move it. Penelope rushed to Odysseus and hugged
him, with big tears in her eyes, for she was
reassured that this man was her beloved husband
returned to her. Only Odysseus knew the secret
about their bed and his words were the proof she
needed to believe him.