The Odyssey and Epic Literature Flashcards
Grade 9 · English · Flashcards
Key terms, characters, places, and literary devices from Homer's Odyssey and the epic tradition.
Flashcards
- Homer
- Ancient Greek poet traditionally credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, foundational texts of Western literature.
- Epic poetry
- A long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds, written in elevated language, using conventions like in medias res, invocation of the Muse, and epic similes.
- Odysseus (Ulysses)
- The cunning hero-king of Ithaca; protagonist of the Odyssey, known for intelligence and endurance as much as physical strength.
- Penelope
- Odysseus's faithful wife who devises clever schemes to delay the suitors for twenty years while awaiting her husband's return.
- Telemachus
- Son of Odysseus; his parallel coming-of-age journey, called the Telemachiad, forms the first four books of the Odyssey.
- Cyclops (Polyphemus)
- A one-eyed giant and son of Poseidon whom Odysseus blinds; killing Polyphemus earns Odysseus Poseidon's lasting wrath.
- Circe
- A powerful sorceress who turns Odysseus's men into pigs; she later helps him and gives him advice on reaching the underworld.
- Scylla and Charybdis
- Two deadly sea hazards—a six-headed monster and a deadly whirlpool—representing a 'choice between two evils' (the origin of that idiom).
- Athena
- Goddess of wisdom and Odysseus's divine patron; she advocates for him with Zeus and disguises herself to aid both Odysseus and Telemachus.
- Poseidon
- God of the sea who relentlessly obstructs Odysseus's voyage as revenge for the blinding of his son Polyphemus.
- The Underworld (Hades)
- Realm of the dead that Odysseus visits to receive prophecy from the ghost of the blind seer Tiresias.
- Hubris
- Excessive pride that offends the gods; Odysseus shows hubris when he taunts Polyphemus by revealing his real name, triggering Poseidon's curse.
- Kleos
- Ancient Greek concept of glory or fame achieved through heroic deeds; an epic hero's greatest aspiration and legacy.
- Dramatic irony
- When the audience knows something a character does not; used extensively when Odysseus returns in disguise and only the reader knows his identity.
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