Aim: How can an understanding of Greek myths and heroes prepare us for our examination of Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey?
We started the class with a Kahoot quiz on poetic and literature elements. I came in first place of my other in-person classmates.
Class Discussion
This lesson started off with a whole class discussion of the following:
Brainstorm the qualities that you feel belong to a “hero”. What do you believe might be a working definition of “hero” you could share with the class.
I said that a hero is someone who helps out others, and my other classmates said other qualities of a hero were courage, bravery, and kindness. We all agreed on the definition of a hero as a person who helps out and has a positive impact on society or a person
Next, we had another class discussion, answering the question:
What (if anything) do you already know about Greek heroes and Greek mythology?
We didn’t know much about Greek mythology, however we knew that the gods tend to have human traits. I also knew a few gods like Zeus and Hades.
Greek Gods and Customs
After our discussion, we learned about important Greek gods, including:
Zeus
The God of the sky, lightning and thunder
King of the gods on Mount Olympus
Hades
God of the underworld/Lord of the Dead
Athena
Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, courage, battle etc.
Poseidon
God of the sea and earthquakes
We learned that ancient cultures used mythology belief systems similar to how people use modern religion. The ancient Greeks believed in the existence of gods and goddesses, known as polytheism. They also believed that gods took an active interest in human life, even possessing human characteristics.
Greek culture was also known for hero-worship. A hero might be the town’s founder or a historical figure who played a major role in an important battle.
Greek myths were not written down, and instead were passed down orally, usually through scholars who memorized them.
Epic Poetry
An epic is a long, narrative poem about a national or legendary hero.
Ancient Greece produced two epics: The Iliad and The Odyssey (900-700 B.C.) Both poems were written by Homer, and set the standard of the definition for the word epic.
These poems usually:
Start off in the middle of the action (in medias res)
Contain divine interventions
Contains a hero who embodies the values of a civilization.
Have a vast setting, covering many nations
Feature lengthy, formal speeches.
Etymology of the Word “Hero”
Next, we learned about the meaning of the word “hero” from long ago.
In storytelling, (such as in epic poems), heroes were superhumans and the actions they took were mostly in the best interest of humankind. The dictionary traces the word’s definition to be "a being of godlike prowess and beneficence" to "a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage or ability" during the time of ancient Greece.
We recognized that nowadays, many people overuse the word “hero.” This led us to discuss as a group the following questions:
One of my classmates started the discussion for the first question, saying that he thinks the word “hero” is overused, as the original definition of “hero” is someone who is superhuman, and no person has superpowers. However, he also addressed the other side of the argument, saying that there can be people who do something extraordinary for others, and we can still consider those people as heroes. We all agreed on his answer. For the second question, we said that today's superheroes consist of people like doctors. And while these people do not have superhuman abilities, I feel that these people have courage and ability, using it to help others. As a modern society, I didn’t think we are searching for a “superhuman” hero similar to the ancient Greeks, as we do consider many different people to be “heroes” already.
Reflection
I learned about ancient Greek mythology and culture in this lesson, specifically about Greek epics. Epics are narrative poems (poems that tell a story), and two famous Greek epics, The Odyssey and The Iliad, showcase the main components of these types of poems. I felt that the last part of the lesson really opened my eyes, and I realized that many of the people who we consider to be heroes might not truly fit the original definition of “hero”. Despite this, I still think that there are many different people in our lives who we can consider heroes. I think a hero is someone who does something that helps a great amount of people, but we can still have our own heroes, people who help us with smaller things in life.
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