Acrisius

king of Argos, father of Danae, grandfather of

Perseus
Danae
Daughter of Acrisius, mother of Perseus
Priest
Apollo's oracle at Delphi
Zeus
king of gods, father of Perseus

Perseus
son of Danae and Zeus
Dictys
fisherman who saves Danae and Perseus
Polydectes
king of small island, brother of Dictys
Medusa
One of the gorgon sisters
Hermes
Messenger of Zeus to help Perseus
Gray Women
Three women who share one eye
Parts of
Speech
The Adventures of Odyssey
Background of the Story
The main sequence of The Odyssey took place in
Peloponnesus which is now called the Ionian islands.
The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus and
his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus
ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War.

In
his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his
wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group
of unruly suitors, who compete for Penelope's hand in
marriage.
Like Homers other epic, the Illiad, The Odyssey begins in medias res, or in the
middle of things. Homer begins midway through Odysseuss wanderings.
The Adventures in
Odyssey in
Chronological Order
Troy


Odysseuss began his adventure when he
fought alongside the Greeks in the Trojan war.
They won the battle with the use of the Trojan
horse. However, the Greeks angered the gods
and so they washed them away.
Island of Cicones
Odysseus landed on the Island of Cicones after
the Trojan war. They raided the island and
took all of its luxuries. Despite Odysseus
orders to take everything they need and leave
quickly, his men refused to and remained on
the island. As they were enjoying themselves,
An army of Cicones attacked them. They
bravely fought the battle even on the verge of
losing the it.
Island of Lotus Eaters
After the Island of Cicones, they landed on the
Island of the Lotus Eaters.
A Lotus is a plant which forces the eater to lose
all grip of reality. Once its eaten, the person
knows nothing nor cares for anything other than
eating the plant.
Odysseus sent two men to scout the area. When
they didnt come back, he sent in to find them.
He then found the two men hopelessly addicted
to eating the lotus plant. He tied the two men up
and forced them to the ship and then sailed away.
Island of the Cyclopes
Oddyseus landed on the Island of Cyclopes out
of desperation for food and water. They
explored the cave and found a cache of wine
and cheese.
Despite his mens pleading, Odysseus decided
to stay, awaiting for the owners return.
Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, then enters the
cave and wasnt happy about the intruders.
Odysseus formulated a plan, intoxicating
Polyphemus then blinding him to escape. This
caused Poseidon to be angrier at Odysseus.
Aeolia
Odysseus next lands on Aeolia, home
of Aeolus the god of winds.
Aeolus stored all of the bad winds in a
bag and gave it to Odysseus to make
their journey home safe.
With Ithaca in sight, his men decided to
open the bag. This caused the winds to
blow them back to Aeolia. Aeolus then
sends them on their way with the fear
that their journey is cursed by the
gods.
Island of the Laestragonians
Odysseus next stop was the island of
Laestragonians. Most of his men were
ravaged by the cannibals living in the
islands. Everything was eaten but one ship
of Odysseuss men.
Aeaea
Odyssey lands on Aeaea, home of Circe, an
enchantress. She turned the men who were
sent by Odysseus into swines.
While looking for his men, Odysseus was
confronted by Hermes. Hermes told him
about Circes and gave him the plant called
Moly which is the only chance of survival
against Circes spells.
Odysseus stayed at Aeaea for a year because
he was promised for an information on how
to go home.
Finally, Circe told him to go to Tiresias, a
prophet located in the underworld.
Underworld
Odysseus goes to land of the dead to seek
Tiresias.
Tiresias the tells Odysseus to sail towards
Scylla and Carybdis, but to take the route of
Scylla, only six men will be lost as opposed to
all of them.
The Sirens
After seeking for Tiresias,
Odysseuss men went to the Sirens.
The Sirens sing songs to passing
ships that no man can resist. Circe
gave Odysseus bees wax to stop the
sound but she advised him that it
was best if they use it while tied to
a mast. He gave his men the wax
and when theyre out of range,
Odysseus commanded them to
remove it from their ears.
Scylla
Odysseus sail on to Scylla, as
Tiersias suggested. Along the
way, they saw a whirlpool
along with an eerie cave. As
instructed Odysseus sailed
towards the cave.
Scylla, the-six headed monster,
devoured six of Odysseuss
men leaving the others safe.
Thirnacia
Odysseuss next stop was the island of the sun
gods cattle. A storm was raging when they
landed, thus imprisoning them on the island with
no food.
Odysseus went out to pray for the rain to stop,
while his men went and killed a cattle for food
despite Odysseuss orders not to touch any of it.
Helios was greatly angered by this and asked Zeus
to punish them.
Zeus does so by destroying Odysseuss ship and
killing his men, leaving Odysseus alive.
Ogygia
Odysseus continued his journey and
eventually landed on Ogyggia, home of
Calypso. Calypso is a nymph and a temptress
who detained and imprisoned him for seven
years.
Calypso offered Odysseus immortality but he
refused it. Hermes visited Calypso telling her
Zeus commands that Odysseus should be
freed and be allowed to return home.
Phaeacia
As Odysseus journeyed home, Poseidon, still
angry at him, destroyed his small boat. He was
soon washed up on the shore of Phaeacia.
Alcinous, the king of Phaeacia heard his story
and gave him ships and a safe passage back to
Ithaca, his home.
Ithaca
Soon, Odysseus was back to Ithaca. Athena disguised
him as a beggar to test his peoples loyalty.
He then reveals his identity to Telemachus, his son,
and the worked together to reclaim Odysseuss title as
the king.
Penelope, his wife, challenged her suitors. If any of
them can shoot a bow through the axe-handles like
Odysseus used to do, she will marry him.
No one can do the challenge, until Odysseus,
disguised as the beggar got a chance.
He was greatly ridiculed, but Odysseus shot it
perfectly. That was when Athena changed his
appearance and the began their attack. After that,
Odysseus soon reclaims his title.

How did Greek philosophy influence later thinking?
What types of literature did the Greeks create?

Main Idea
The ancient Greeks made great achievements in philosophy,
literature, art, and architecture that influenced the development
of later cultures and ideas.
Greek Achievements
By working through series of
questions, Socrates thought
people could discover basic
nature of life
Method of learning through
questions called the Socratic
method


Socratic Method
Socrates believed philosophers
could learn what made good
people, societies by asking
questions
Started with basic questions,
like What is truth?
Socrates followed up with more
questions
Socrates interested in broad
concepts of human lifetruth,
justice, virtue


Asking Questions
Philosophy of Socrates
Theory of Government
Philosophers most qualified to make good decisions
Did not support Athenian democracy in which all men could take part
Plato wanted to make philosophers education more formal
Founded the Academy, which in Platos lifetime became most
important site for Greek philosophers to do their work
Plato
One of Socrates students, became great philosopher in own right
Left behind great number of writings that record ideas on wide variety
of topics, from nature of truth to ideal form of government
The Republic argues that government should be led by philosophers
The Third Philosopher
Aristotle was among students who studied at the Academy
More concerned with nature of world that surrounded him
Tried to apply philosophical principles to every kind of knowledge
Inferring New Facts
Aristotle also helped develop field of logic, process of making inferences
Example: birds have feathers, lay eggs; owls have feathers, lay eggs;
therefore, owl must be a type of bird
Emphasis on Reason and Logic
Emphasis on reason, logic
Reason, clear and ordered thinking; use reason to learn about world
Observe carefully, think rationally about what one has seen
Aristotle
These two works became basis for the Greek education system.
Other Greek literature remains, with a great many works still popular
today. Greeks excelled in poetryboth epics and other formshistory,
and drama.
Most famous works are some of
earliest
Epic poems of great events and
heroes
The Iliad and the Odyssey,
attributed to poet Homer, tell
stories of Trojan War
Homers Epics
Greek Literature
Iliad tells story of last year of
war, two heroesAchilles and
Hector
Odyssey tells story of heroes
from the war, with Odysseus
who was forced to wander the
sea
Iliad and Odyssey
Other Forms of Poetry
Greeks wrote many types of poetry besides epics
Hesiod wrote descriptive poetry about works of gods, lives of
peasants
Greeks also created lyric poetry
Named after the lyre, musical instrument often played to accompany
reading of poems
Lyric poems do not tell stories, but deal with emotions, desires
Lyric poets
Sappho, one of few Greek women to gain fame as writer; dealt with
daily life, marriage, love
Pindar, late 500s, early 400s; poems commemorated public events, like
Olympic Games
While the Greeks wrote histories to preserve the past, they created a
new form of writing for entertainmentdrama, the art of playwriting.

Earliest dramas part of
festivals
Dionysus, god of wine and
celebration
Group of actors called a chorus
Recited stories
Athenian Roots

Dramas became more
complex
Individual actors took on roles
of specific characters in stories
Two distinct forms of dramas
developed, tragedy and
comedy
Development
Drama
Distinct Forms
Many comedies were satires,
plays written to expose flaws
of society
Aristophanes greatest
Greek comedy writer
Plays poke fun at aspects of
Athenian society, from
government to treatment of
women
Comedies
Focused on hardships faced
by Greek heroes
Three great writers
Aeschylus, Greek myths
Sophocles, suffering
people brought on selves
Euripides, tragedy
brought on by chance,
behavior


Tragedies
Among fields for which Greeks best known
Greek authors wrote about and analyzed own past
First major Greek historian, Herodotus
Lived in Greece during wars with Persia; described battles and public
debates in The Histories
Thucydides lived during
Peloponnesian War, wrote about it
Included primary sources, like
speeches he heard delivered
Looked at sources critically, ignored
unreliable, irrelevant ones
Primary Sources
Another early historian, Xenophon
fought in Persia after Persian Wars
Concentrated less on sources,
debates, more on describing
famous men; had less critical style
Work has helped us learn what life
was like in 300s BC Greece
Describing Famous Men
History
Beauty
Athenians enjoyed beauty, both
written and visual
Expressed love of written
beauty through literature; visual
beauty through architecture, art
Enhancements
To enhance appearance of
buildings, added fine works of
art, painted and sculpted
Grandest buildings built on
acropolis, at citys center
Architecture
Athenians wanted their city to
be most beautiful in Greece
Built magnificent temples,
theatres, public buildings

Parthenon
Most magnificent on acropolis
Massive temple to Athena
Begun by Pericles, 447 BC
Took 14 years to build
Greek Architecture and Art
Human Forms
Greek sculptors among finest world has ever known
Particularly adept at sculpting human form; studied people at rest, moving
Tried to re-create what they saw, paid particular attention to muscles
Roman Copies
Few original works remain; most copies made a few hundred years later
Roman artists made many copies of greatest Greek statues
Many copies survived even after original statues destroyed
Lifelike, Not Realistic
Greeks wanted statues to look lifelike, active, not necessarily realistic
Portrayed subjects as physically perfect, without blemishes, imperfections
Greek statues almost all depict figures of great beauty, grace
Sculpture
Larger Paintings
Little evidence of larger works; written sources say Greeks created
murals in many public buildings
Often included scenes from Iliad, Odyssey; showed aftermath of
battles, rather than battle itself
Themes similar to tragic drama popular with Athenians
Painting
Only a few original Greek paintings survive
Best preserved are paintings on vases, plates, other vessels
Scenes from everyday life, or from myths, legends
Most use only red, black; still convey movement, depth
Pointers to review:

Greek Literature
Greek Gods and Goddesses
Parts of Speech
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives and Adverbs
Troy
Perseus and Medusa
The Odyssey