What is an Odyssey?

a long and eventful or adventurous journey or experience​

​Who is Odysseus?

• Legendary hero in Greek mythology

• King of the island of Ithaca

• Main protagonist of Homer's epic, The Odyssey 

• The son of Laertes and Anticlea

• Well-known among the Greeks as a good speaker, and a smart trickster​

​An Epic Hero ...

Is an unmatched warrior

Receives guidance- usually gets help from a a god or goddess

Fights superhuman enemies

Is humble

Is a cultural legend

​Trojan War

​Story told in The Iliad by Homer

Menelaus (Greek) is married to Helen, the most beautiful woman on the planet

Helen runs away with Paris (Trojan) to Troy

Menelaus gets Agamemnon, the king of Greece, to start a war with Troy

They fight for 10 years

​Odysseus uses the Trojan Horse to win the war

​Greek Religion

• ​The Ancient Greeks (from a long time ago) were polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods and goddesses

• ​A god is male, and a goddess is female

• ​Each god has control over something

• The gods interact with humans

• ​The gods cause a lot of problems for humans

• ​Sometimes they help humans, but sometimes they harm (hurt) them

• ​It was easy to make a god angry

​Greek Gods in this story

• ​Zeus: Greek god of the sky and king of Olympus

• ​Athena: Zeus's daughter; goddess of war and wisdom

• ​Hermes: Zeus's son; messenger god

• ​Poseidon: Zeus's brother; god of the seas

• ​Aeolus: god of the wind

​Greek Values

• ​The gods and goddesses could disguise themselves as animals or humans

• ​Because of this, the Greek people were always worried a new person (visitor) could be a god or goddess in disguise

• ​Greek people treated visitors very kindly, because they did not want to anger the gods

• Greek people gave visitors gifts and presents

• ​Greek people were very impressed by intelligence and skills

• ​Odysseus was well-known and respected for his intelligence and skills