Essential Words and Ideas for Reading The Odyssey
Students do not need to memorize a dictionary of Greek terms before reading Homer. But a relatively small group of words and concepts appears again and again in discussions of The Odyssey. Understanding them can make the poem much easier to follow.
Some of these terms come directly from ancient Greek culture. Others are literary terms used to describe the way Homer tells his story. Still others identify places, peoples, and religious practices that would have been familiar to Homer’s original audience.
Epic and Literary Terms
Epic
A long narrative poem concerned with heroic figures and events of great importance to a culture. The Odyssey is one of the foundational epics of ancient Greek literature.
Epic Hero
The central heroic figure of an epic. An epic hero usually possesses exceptional abilities but is not necessarily morally perfect. Odysseus is admired for courage, endurance, intelligence, and resourcefulness, but he also makes serious mistakes.
Invocation
A formal appeal for inspiration or assistance, usually addressed to a divine power. The Odyssey begins with an invocation to the Muse.
Muse
One of the divine figures traditionally associated with inspiration in poetry, music, history, and the arts. Epic poets conventionally ask the Muse to help them tell their story.
In Medias Res
Latin for “into the middle of things.” A story that begins in medias res starts after important events have already occurred rather than beginning at the chronological beginning.
The Odyssey opens years after Odysseus left Troy. Much of what happened earlier is revealed later.
Flashback
A return to events that happened before the present action of a story. Odysseus recounts many of his famous adventures retrospectively after reaching the land of the Phaeacians.
Epic Simile
An extended comparison developed over several lines, often comparing heroic events with familiar scenes from nature, agriculture, family life, or ordinary human experience.
Epithet
A descriptive word or phrase repeatedly associated with a person, god, place, or object.
Homeric epithets help characterize figures and were also part of the traditional language of oral poetry.
Formulaic Language
Repeated phrases, descriptions, or patterns used throughout an oral poetic tradition. Such formulas helped poets compose and perform long poems.
Oral Tradition
The passing down of stories, poems, histories, and cultural traditions through spoken performance rather than written texts.
The stories associated with the Trojan War circulated orally for generations before the Homeric poems reached the forms in which we know them.
Foreshadowing
A suggestion or indication of something that will happen later in the story.
Homer frequently reminds his audience of dangers or outcomes before they occur.
Greek Cultural Concepts
Nostos
Homecoming or return home.
The desire for nostos lies at the center of The Odyssey. Odysseus wants not simply to survive but to return to Ithaca, his household, and his family.
Xenia
The ancient Greek custom of hospitality between hosts and guests.
A host was expected to welcome and provide for a stranger, while the guest was expected to behave respectfully. Much of The Odyssey can be understood by noticing who observes the rules of hospitality—and who violates them.
Oikos
The household, including the family, property, servants, and economic life associated with a home.
Odysseus' return is partly a struggle to restore order to his oikos.
Kleos
Glory, fame, or reputation, especially the reputation that survives after a person's death.
The desire for kleos is particularly important in Greek heroic culture.
Arete
Excellence or the fulfillment of one's abilities and responsibilities.
The meaning can vary according to the person and situation. Excellence in a warrior, ruler, wife, son, or household servant may take different forms.
Metis
Cunning intelligence, practical wisdom, or skill in devising plans.
This is one of Odysseus' characteristic strengths. He frequently survives through intelligence rather than physical force alone.
Honor
The respect and status a person receives from others.
In Homeric society, public recognition and reputation matter greatly, particularly among rulers and warriors.
Loyalty
Faithfulness to a person, household, family, or obligation.
Loyalty becomes one of the principal tests by which characters in Ithaca are judged.
Hubris
Excessive arrogance, presumption, or behavior that goes beyond appropriate human limits.
The term is often translated simply as “pride,” but its meaning is broader. It can involve insulting others, ignoring limits, or behaving as though ordinary rules do not apply.
Supplication
A formal appeal for protection, mercy, or assistance.
A supplicant places himself or herself in a vulnerable position and asks another person to respect a powerful social and religious obligation.
Gods, Fate, and Religious Practice
Olympian Gods
The major Greek gods traditionally associated with Mount Olympus.
Several take an active interest in events in The Odyssey, particularly Athena and Poseidon.
Divine Intervention
Direct involvement by a god or goddess in human affairs.
The gods may assist, obstruct, disguise, warn, inspire, or punish human beings.
Fate
The idea that some events or outcomes are destined to occur.
Homer's characters nevertheless continue to make choices, making the relationship between fate and human responsibility an important question in the poem.
Omen
A sign believed to indicate what may happen in the future.
Birds and other unusual events can be interpreted as messages or indications from the gods.
Prophecy
A prediction or revelation concerning future events, frequently communicated through a god, prophet, seer, or supernatural encounter.
Seer
A person believed capable of interpreting divine signs or revealing knowledge of events beyond ordinary human perception.
Sacrifice
A ritual offering made to a god.
Animal sacrifices, prayers, feasts, and offerings form part of religious life throughout Homeric poetry.
Libation
A ritual pouring of wine or another liquid as an offering to a god.
Underworld
The realm of the dead.
Odysseus travels to the world of the dead in order to seek knowledge necessary for his journey home.
Shade
The spirit or ghost of a dead person in the Underworld.
Important Peoples and Places
Achaeans
One of the names Homer uses for the Greeks who fought at Troy.
Students may also encounter the terms Argives and Danaans for the Greek forces.
Trojans
The people of Troy, the city against which the Greeks fought during the Trojan War.
Ithaca
Odysseus' homeland and kingdom.
His desire to return to Ithaca provides the central direction of the poem.
Troy
The city destroyed by the Greeks after the ten-year Trojan War.
The events of The Odyssey take place after Troy has fallen.
Sparta
The kingdom of Menelaus and Helen. Telemachus visits Sparta while seeking information about his father.
Pylos
The kingdom of Nestor, another veteran of the Trojan War whom Telemachus visits.
Phaeacians
The people who welcome Odysseus near the end of his wandering and ultimately help him return to Ithaca.
They are particularly important examples of hospitality in the poem.
Scheria
The land of the Phaeacians.
Ogygia
The island where the nymph Calypso keeps Odysseus for many years.
Aeaea
The island associated with Circe.
Cyclopes
A race of one-eyed giants encountered by Odysseus. Polyphemus is the Cyclops whose encounter with Odysseus becomes one of the poem's best-known episodes.
Other Useful Terms
Nymph
A female divine or semi-divine figure associated with the natural world.
Calypso and Circe are often described in ways that connect them with the broader world of divine or supernatural beings.
Suitors
The group of men occupying Odysseus' household and competing to marry Penelope while Odysseus is absent.
Their behavior becomes one of the poem's most important violations of hospitality and household order.
Disguise
A changed or concealed appearance used to hide a person's identity.
Disguise plays an important role in Odysseus' return to Ithaca and in the poem's larger interest in appearance, identity, and recognition.
Recognition
The moment when one character discovers or confirms the true identity of another.
Recognition scenes are among the most important structural features of the latter part of The Odyssey.
Cunning
The ability to achieve a goal through intelligence, strategy, deception, or ingenuity rather than straightforward force.
Odysseus' cunning repeatedly saves him, although it can also create problems.
Temptation
An attraction that threatens to divert a character from an obligation or goal.
Several episodes in The Odyssey test whether Odysseus and his companions can resist immediate pleasures or desires in order to achieve their larger purpose.
Self-Control
The ability to restrain one's impulses or reactions.
Self-control becomes especially important once Odysseus reaches Ithaca and must conceal his identity.
Revenge
Punishment inflicted in response to an injury or wrongdoing.
The poem raises difficult questions about when revenge becomes justice and whether the two can always be distinguished.
Restoration
The return of something to its proper condition or order.
Odysseus' homecoming involves more than physically reaching Ithaca. He must restore his household, his relationships, and his position within the community.
Five Terms Worth Remembering
If students remember only a handful of unfamiliar terms, these five will help them understand much of the poem:
- Nostos — homecoming
- Xenia — hospitality
- Metis — cunning intelligence
- Oikos — household
- Kleos — glory or lasting reputation
These ideas overlap constantly throughout The Odyssey.
Odysseus wants his nostos, depends repeatedly upon xenia, survives through metis, seeks to recover his oikos, and must decide what sort of kleos his actions will leave behind.
A Useful Reading Strategy
When one of these concepts appears while reading, students should not simply ask, “What does this word mean?”
A better set of questions is:
- Who is following or violating this value?
- What does the character gain or lose because of it?
- How does Homer make us judge the character's behavior?
- Does the same idea appear differently elsewhere in the poem?
Learning the vocabulary of The Odyssey is therefore not an exercise in memorizing definitions. These terms provide a way of noticing the patterns Homer develops across the entire poem.
