The Iliad
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- Homer's epic about the Trojan War
- depicts fifty-four days during the last year of the
war between the Greeks and the Trojans
- the cause of war: Paris dishonors the principals of
honor, hospitality, and friendship; abducts Helen, wife of Menelaus
- one man's folly (Paris), another man's rage
(Achilles)
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The Odyssey
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- Homer's epic tale of Odysseus' journey home after the
Trojan War.
- The Greek hero's adventurous wanderings span ten
years.
- Odysseus, a "man of twist and turns"
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Characteristics shared in Homer's epics
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- "oral epics": composed and recited orally
- structure not as complex as other literary forms
- often repeats speeches and episodes
- noted for humor and spontaneity
- entertainment more important than the history or the
mores of the culture
- formal invocation to the muses at the opening
- long rhetorical speeches
- extended similes
- in medias res ~ in the middle of things [L]
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