Notes on Epic Literature (THE ILIAD)

Epic Literature

Terms & Background

Terms on Epic Literature

Homer

Epic Setting

The Trojan War

Archetypes

Odysseus

Epic Themes

Intervention of gods/goddesses

Tone

Oral History

Diction

Epic

Epic simile

Epic Hero

Epithet

Epic Plot

Allusion

Terms on Epic Literature

Alliteration

Assonance

Consonance

Rhyme

Imagery

Figurative language

Character traits

Who was Homer?

Homer is given credit for The
Iliad.

He was supposedly blind.
Some scholars believe he may have been 2 people.

He probably sang the story.

Multiple Choice

Who was Homer?

• The guy from The Simpsons who constantly makes mistakes with his family..

• A guy who was named after a baseball term.

• A blind poet who would recite epic tales.

• A person who hated to leave the house.

Homer was alive
about 1,000 years
before the Beowulf
poet. (about 700 B.C.)

Multiple Choice

True or false? Homer lived much earlier than the poet who wrote Beowulf.

• True

• False

The Trojan War

-occurred around 1200 B.C.

-Paris, (a Trojan prince) kidnapped Helen, who was considered to be the most beautiful girl in the world. She was already married.

-Menelaus (the king of Sparta) , her husband, recruited kings & soldiers from all over Greece to help him avenge his honor & recover his wife.

-The Greeks laid siege to Troy for 10 years.

-The Iliad tells the story of the Greek warrior, Achilles, and his quarrel with
Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon, & ends with the funeral of Paris’s brother,
Hector.

Multiple Choice

When did the Trojan War take place?

• 1200 B.C.

• 600 A.D.

• 12 B.C.

• 1960 A.D.

Multiple Choice

During the Trojan War, several figures were important. Who was Helen?

• Helen was the leader of the Greek army.

• She was the goddess of war who helped the Greeks win the war.

• She was the most beautiful woman in the world and one of the reasons the Trojan War was fought.

• Beowulf's girlfriend.

-After Hector’s death, the Greeks won the war thanks to the plan of Odysseus, the ruler of Ithaca.

-Odysseus came up with the plan of the Trojan Horse. He ordered the building of a wooden horse that would be left outside the gates of Troy. The Trojans woke up to find the horse there, and thought the Greeks had given up & left a peace offering.

-When the Trojans brought the horse inside the gates, they didn’t realize that it was filled with Greek soldiers. When the Greek soldiers emerged from the
horse, they routed the Trojans and won the war.

The Trojan War

Multiple Choice

The plan that allowed the Greeks to win the Trojan War involved __________.

• A special cannon that allowed the Greeks to bomb the city.

• A wooden horse that hid Greek soldiers.

• Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce.

• A dragon that the Greeks used to fly over the city walls.

In epic literature, a major part of the stories involves the gods/goddesses that take part in human affairs. They often intervene.

Intervention of the gods/goddesses

Homer’s epic poems are all that remains of a series of poems that tell the story of the Trojan War.

The stories of the war (The Iliad & The Odyssey) were memorized by
professional reciters (minstrels) who performed them at religious festivals throughout Greece.

Since they were based on oral retellings, they often changed slightly with each retelling.

Oral History

Multiple Choice

Why did the epics, The Iliad & The Odyssey, often change through the years?

• The minstrels had to recite them from memory, so sometimes details would be left out.

• Supermodels asked that more of the story could be about Mr. Lawrence.

• The figures in the tales would die off, so new characters would have to be added.

• The lyrics on Taylor Swift's albums caused the characters to change.

Multiple Select

What are characteristics of a epic heroes?

• They possess superhuman strength & intelligence.

• They are often helped by gods/goddesses.

• They embody the values of a culture.

• They emerge victorious from perilous situations.

Multiple Select

What is a subject that often comes up in epic literature?

• Wealth

• Dishonesty

• Loyalty

• A nation's fate

Multiple Choice

Compound adjectives that often point out special traits in characters are called:

• Tone

• alliteration

• epithets

• stock epithets

Multiple Choice

A long, elaborate comparison that goes on for several lines and uses the words, like or as, is called a/an:

• metaphor

• simile

• epic simile

• allitertion

Multiple Choice

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words is called:

• assonance

• epic simile

• alliteration

• consonance

Multiple Choice

The repetition of vowel sounds in non-rhyming words is called:;

• assonance

• epic simile

• alliteration

• consonance

Multiple Choice

The repetition of consonant sounds within and at the end of words is called:

• assonance

• epic simile

• alliteration

• consonance

Multiple Choice

The idea that the outcomes of one's life are predetermined by the gods or goddesses is called:

• Fate

• Outcome

• Epic

• Epic simile

Dropdown

The term that means to refrain from is called: ​

Select answer

Dropdown

The term that means to sully or make dirty is called: ​ ​

Select answer

These were the first stories read by Greek schoolchildren.

Epic-a long narrative poem

Epic Hero-1. Possesses superhuman strength, craftiness, and confidence

2. Is helped & harmed by interfering gods/goddesses

3. Embodies ideals & values that a culture admires.

4. Emerges victorious from perilous situations.

Why are epics so important? Epic Literature

Dropdown

The term that means "bitter or long-lasting anger" is called: ​

Select answer

Dropdown

The term that means "peace or harmony" is: ​

Select answer

Dropdown

The term that means "a judge or official" is: ​

Select answer

Dropdown

The term that means "an excessive amount or more than enough for satisfaction" is: ​

Select answer

Dropdown

The term that means "a beggar" is: ​

Select answer

​Now that you have finished...

You can complete this activity as many times as you would like to earn the most possible points. When you finish, grab a green anthology & turn to page 78. Read pages 78-81 (Book 18).