
Understanding The Odyssey
A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents
- 248 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Understanding The Odyssey
A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents
About this book
For thousands of years, The Odyssey has resonated throughout the Western world. Homer has been an original source of inspiration to writers, painters, sculptors, and filmmakers, as well as a vital source of information about the mythology, history, and culture of ancient Greece. This casebook uniquely blends commentary and primary documents, situating the epic within historical contexts that are important for students to understand. The literary analysis chapter is ideal for readers coming to The Odyssey for the first time, introducing the work with a chronology of events and identification of major characters and themes. Topical chapters carefully consider matters of mythology, geography, archeology, and class issues pertinent to The Odyssey. Excerpts from classical and scholarly sources, including Herodotus, Plato, Thucydides, and Bulfinch, help students understand the historical framework, and materials from government documents and newspaper accounts help students make connections between The Odyssey's thematic ideas and current events, such as the September 11th attacks and the ongoing conflict in Ireland.
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Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1. A Literary Analysis of Homer’s The Odyssey. Transformation and Return
- 2. Greek Mythology and Homer
- 3. The Geography of The Odyssey
- 4. Archaeological Excavations Pertinent to Homer's Epics
- 5. The Historical Context of The Odyssey
- 6. The Trojan War of Myth and Legend
- 7. Supporting Players in The Odyssey:The Underclasses
- 8. Modern Applications: The Problem of Revenge
- 9. Contemporary Applications: The Athlete and Athletics
- 10. Modern Applications: The Evolution of the Heroic Ideal
- Index