Analysis of Homer's poem “Iliad”. Textual analysis of Homer's Iliad Brief analysis of Homer's Iliad

Time and history of creation

Until the middle of the 19th century, there was an opinion in science that the Iliad and the Odyssey were fiction, that they were unhistorical. The discoveries of the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870-1880s proved that Troy, Mycenae and the Achaean citadels are not a myth, but a reality. Schliemann's findings surprisingly coincided with Homer's descriptions: his poems traced numerous features of the culture of the “heroic age” (mention of iron tools and weapons or the custom of cremation of the dead).

A comparison of the evidence of the Homeric epic with archaeological data suggests that it took shape in the 7th century. BC e. Researchers consider the “List of Ships” (Iliad, 2nd Canto) to be the oldest part of the Homeric epic.

It is also obvious that the poems were not created at the same time: “The Iliad” took shape during the “heroic period”, “The Odyssey” stands at the turn of a different era - the time of the Great Greek colonization, when the boundaries of the world mastered by Greek culture expanded.

Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are the first known monuments of ancient Greek literature and, at the same time, the first monuments of literature in Europe in general.

The plot of the Iliad

The Iliad begins with a description of the wrath of Achilles, with a conflict in the camp of the Achaeans besieging Troy. Achilles criticizes King Agamemnon, who kidnapped the daughter of the priest Apollo, for which a pestilence begins in the Achaean army. The king agrees to replace the captive with Briseis, who belongs to Achilles. The siege of Troy, which had lasted 9 years by that time, was on the verge of collapse. Odysseus corrects the situation.

In the second canto, Homer describes the forces of the opposing sides. This song contains a “list of ships”: under the leadership of Agamemnon, 1186 ships sailed to the walls of Troy, and the army itself numbered over 130 thousand soldiers. The regions of Greece that sent their heroes are listed.

In the third song, Helen's husband Menelaus and Paris, who kidnapped her, enter into single combat. Menelaus wins. But the goddess Aphrodite, who contributed to the abduction of Helen, saves Paris and carries the wounded man away from the battlefield. The war continues. Immortal gods help mortals. The Achaeans are patronized by Pallas Athena, Hera and Poseidon, the Trojans by Apollo, Ares and Aphrodite.

The fifth canto tells how even the immortals Ares and Aphrodite are wounded by the Achaean Diomedes. The leader of the Trojans, Hector, returns to Troy and demands rich sacrifices to be made to Athena. Hector shames Paris, who has hidden in the rear, and encourages his wife Andromache.

The seventh canto describes the battle between Hector and Ajax. Heroes fight until late at night, but none of them can prevail. Then they fraternize, exchange gifts and go their separate ways. The Achaean embassy is sent to Achilles, whose army is inactive due to a quarrel between their leader and Agamemnon. The Trojans almost burn the Achaean fleet. Achilles sends his soldiers (2500 people) into battle under the command of Patroclus, dressed in the armor of Achilles. He himself avoids the battle, holding his anger at Agamemnon. Patroclus dies in battle at the hands of Hector. Achilles avenges the death of his friend by killing Hector. A dispute develops over Hector’s body, which Achilles initially refused to hand over to the father of the deceased for burial.

The plot of the Odyssey

The protagonist's journey itself took 10 years. But all the events in the Odyssey take place within 40 days. Only 9 days are filled with main events. Nevertheless, the time frame of the work is expanded due to numerous inserted short stories.

First song. Ten years have passed since the fall of Troy. Odysseus languishes on the island of Ogygia, forcibly held by the nymph Calypso. In his native Ithaca, numerous suitors woo his wife Penelope. Odysseus's son Telemachus goes to Pylos and Sparta to ask about the fate of his father.

Second - fourth songs. King Nestor of Pylos sends Telemachus to Sparta to Menelaus, from whom he learns that Odysseus is being held captive by Calypso.

Fifth - eighth songs. The gods order Calypso to release Odysseus, who sets sail on a raft on the sea. Poseidon, hostile to Odysseus, raises a storm. Odysseus is saved by a miracle. He finds himself on an island where happy people live - the Phaeacians, sailors with fabulously fast ships. The king of the Phaeacians, Alcinous, receives the wanderer in his luxurious palace, arranges a feast and games in honor of the wanderer. At the games, the blind singer Demodocus sings about the exploits of Odysseus.

Ninth - thirteenth songs. Description of the hero's wanderings. Odysseus visited the country of lotus eaters, where everyone who tastes the lotus forgets about their homeland. He finds himself on an island where a cannibal giant, the Cyclops Polyphemus, lives, who devours several of Odysseus’s comrades in his cave. But Odysseus, having drunk and blinded the Cyclops, escaped with his remaining comrades, leaving the cave, hiding under the wool of rams. Polyphemus called upon Odysseus the wrath of his father Poseidon.

Odysseus arrived on the island of Aeolia, where the god of the winds, Aeolus, handed him a fur with winds tied in it. Not far from their homeland, Odysseus's companions untied their fur, and the storm again threw them back to the Aeolian island.

The cannibalistic Laestrygonians destroy all of Odysseus's ships, except one, which lands on the island of the sorceress Kirka. She turns Odysseus's companions into pigs. Odysseus was Circa's husband for a year.

Odysseus descends into the underworld, talks with the shadows of his mother and dead friends.

Odysseus sails past the island of the Sirens, who lure sailors with magical singing and destroy them. Odysseus is tied to the mast. He hears the Sirens singing and remains alive.

Odysseus sails between the cliffs where the monsters Scylla and Charybdis live. Angry over the murder of sacred bulls by Odysseus's companions, Zeus sends a storm that destroys Odysseus's ship and all his companions. One Odysseus sailed to the island of Calypso.

Thirteenth - sixteenth songs. The Phaeacians take Odysseus to his homeland. Turned by Athena into an old beggar, Odysseus goes to the faithful swineherd Eumaeus, where he meets his son Telemachus.

Seventeenth - twenty-fourth songs. Odysseus returns to his home as a beggar, being insulted by suitors and servants. Only the old nanny Eurycleia recognizes Odysseus by the scar on his leg. Penelope promises her hand to the one who, bending Odysseus's bow, shoots an arrow through 12 rings. The beggar alien is the only one who completes Penelope's task. Odysseus kills the suitors.

Penelope finally recognizes Odysseus. The poem ends with scenes of the arrival of the souls of the suitors in the underworld, and the meeting of Odysseus with his father Laertes.

Poetics, composition, idea

The genre of the Iliad and Odyssey is epic. In both poems there is a unity of style and compositional principles. This makes them a duology and a diptych.

The poems have similar structures, in both the plot is based on the motif of “lack”: Achilles wants to return Briseis, who was taken from him, Odysseus strives for Penelope and takes revenge on the suitors trying to take her away from him.

Further action is associated with trials and losses: Achilles loses his friend and his armor and weapons; Odysseus loses all his companions and ships.

The ending of both poems describes a sad celebration: the funeral of Patroclus in the Iliad, the reunion with the family of Odysseus and his new worries, as fate sends further trials.

There is also a pattern in the rhythmic ordering of episodes in poems.

In the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey there is a mirror symmetry of the first and second halves of the work: “looking from the wall” in the 3rd song of the Iliad corresponds to “looking” in the 22nd song. In the Odyssey, the beginning and end of the poems are also dedicated to episodes in Ithaca. This symmetry embodies the mythological ideas of the ancient Greeks about the cyclical movement of time. We can talk about the spherical structure of the Homeric cosmos.

In both works, Homer does not unfold his narrative gradually, but builds it around one event - the basis of the poems is the dramatic unity of action.

Aristotle also drew attention to the peculiarities of the construction of Homer’s works: the character of the hero is revealed not by the author’s descriptions, but by the speeches uttered by the hero himself.

Also important in the works is the “law of chronological incompatibility”: parallel events are depicted as sequential.

Language of poems

Speech in Homer's poems is conventional, poetic; it is not a reflection of living colloquial speech. The works are written in a special poetic meter - hexameter. This is a poetic meter in which each verse consists of six feet with a regular alternation of long and short syllables.

Homer's poems are characterized by compound epithets (“swift-footed,” “rose-fingered,” “thunderer”). They are stable formulas: the Achaeans are “lush-legged” even if they are not described in armor, and Achilles is “swift-footed” even when resting.

Heroes of the poems

The integral, majestic images of Homer's poems are marked by human truth and are perceived by readers of all past centuries as living and real human characters. At the same time, they are distinguished by simplicity and clarity of image.

The main character of the Iliad is Achilles - an integral and noble nature, the personification of military valor in the understanding of the ancient Greeks. There is no cunning or double-mindedness in him. He is used to commanding. His anger manifests itself in the most violent forms: sometimes he is overcome by madness, he is ready to destroy everything in his path. This is manifested in many scenes: in the desecration of Hector’s corpse, in the murder of twelve Trojan captives at the grave of Patroclus. But Achilles softens, seeing before him the tears and sorrowful plea of ​​his father, who came to him for the body of the son he killed.

The Trojan hero Hector is symmetrical to Achilles. Despite the fact that he is a representative of a hostile people who cannot be treated as a fellow tribesman, Homer describes him as a valiant and noble warrior. In difficult times, Hector is always ahead of everyone. He has a high sense of honor. He is left alone on the battlefield while the rest of the Trojan warriors hide in the city. He is respected and loved by everyone, even his enemies bow before his valor. Nothing can shake him: neither the prayers of his father, nor the tears of his mother. The duty of honor is above all else in him. Hector's character is revealed most clearly in the scene of his farewell to Andromache, where he appears as a husband and father.

Odysseus, the hero of both poems, seems to be the bearer of worldly wisdom and enterprise. The constant epithets of this image are “cunning” and “long-suffering.” In the Iliad he appears both as a warrior and as a wise adviser: the capture of Troy with the help of a wooden horse was the work of his cunning. In The Odyssey, his image is more complex: he has to show not only resourcefulness, but also courage and determination.

In both poems, in addition to the main characters, there are many more minor ones, who are also depicted in bright colors: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Paris, Priam, Telemachus, etc.

The female images of the poems are very expressive: Andromache and Penelope. Andromache is Hector’s faithful and loving wife, living in constant anxiety for her husband, who does not spare himself, constantly participating in battles, as if wanting to “kill himself with his valor.” The fate of this heroine is deeply tragic. At the end of the poem, she mourns her dead husband.

The image of another faithful wife in the Odyssey is Penelope. This is a model of family virtue and fidelity. She is surrounded by unfriendly people who consider her a widow and are seeking her hand, hoping in this way to gain royal power. But for twenty years, while Odysseus is absent, she has not changed her feelings for him and believes in his return.

The opposite of these two images is Helen, the heroine of the Iliad. Her frivolity and intoxication with passion for Paris brings untold suffering to a huge number of people. But she experiences bitter regret, realizing her mistake. She repents of this to Priam, and he forgives her and takes her under his protection.

Both poems of Homer carry a charge of humanity and are the heritage of the culture of all mankind.

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In the Iliad, the Olympian gods are the same characters as people. Their transcendental world, depicted in the poem, is created in the image and likeness of the earthly world. Gods from ordinary people They were distinguished only by divine beauty, extraordinary strength, the gift of transforming into any creature and immortality.

Like people, the supreme deities often quarreled among themselves and even fought. A description of one of these quarrels is given at the very beginning of the Iliad, when Zeus, sitting at the head of the feasting table, threatens to beat his jealous and irritable wife Hera because she dared to object to him. Lame Hephaestus persuades his mother to come to terms and not quarrel with Zeus over mortals. Thanks to his efforts, peace and fun reign again. Golden-haired Apollo plays the lyre, accompanying a choir of beautiful muses. At sunset, the feast ends and the gods disperse to their palaces, erected for them on Olympus by the skillful Hephaestus.

The poems consisted of songs, each of which could be performed separately, as an independent story about one or another event in the life of its heroes, but all of them are somehow related to the Trojan War.

The cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the wife of King Menelaus, by Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam. Insulted, Menelaus called on other kings for help. Among them were Diomedes, Odysseus, Ajax and Achilles. The Achaean warriors occupied the plain between Troy and the sea, pulled ships ashore and set up their camp, from which they made sorties, plundering and destroying small settlements. The siege of Troy lasted 10 years, but the poems describe only the last year of the war. (Here it should be noted that Homer calls the Greeks Achaeans, also calling them Danaans and Argives, and not at all Greeks or even Hellenes, as the Greeks themselves began to call themselves later).

Starting from the third song of the Iliad, there is a description of the battles between the Achaeans and Trojans. The gods actively intervene in these battles between individual heroes. The poem ends with a description of the solemn burial of the heroic leader of the Trojans, Hector.

In the Iliad the phenomena are reproduced in vivid terms real life and the life of the ancient Greek tribes. What predominates, of course, is a description of wartime life, and the poem is full of realistic depictions of scenes of death, cruel mutilations, and pre-death convulsions. However, the battle is most often depicted not as a mass battle, but as a duel between individual heroes, distinguished by strength, valor and martial art. But the exploits of the heroes, so colorfully described by Homer, do not obscure all the horrors of war from the poet’s gaze. He reproduces scenes of violence and merciless cruelty of the victors in bright and accusatory realistic colors. Homer has no sympathy for the cruelty of war. He contrasts them with such episodes full of human feelings as the farewell of the Trojan leader Hector to his wife Andromache before the decisive battle for his hometown, the cry of Queen Hecuba or the prayers of King Priam in the tent of Achilles. Here, the poet forces his beloved hero, Achilles, indomitable in anger, raging in a thirst for revenge, to soften and shed tears along with Priam. An equally serious counterbalance to the vivid depiction of fierce battles between the warring parties is a detailed description of the scenes of peaceful life that were depicted by Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles. The poet speaks with great warmth about fat fields with ears laden with grain, about numerous herds grazing in the valleys, about lush vineyards, and, most importantly, about the hardworking people who created all this abundance, enjoying the fruits of their labors and the peace of a peaceful life.

The duration of the Iliad covers 51 days. But from this number we must subtract those days on which events are not displayed, they are only mentioned (the plague in the camp of the Achaeans, the feast of the Olympians among the Ethiopians, the burial of heroes, the outrage of Achilles against Hector, the preparation of firewood for Hector’s fire). Thus, the Iliad mainly depicts only 9 days from the last year of the Trojan War.

Section 1. Ancient Greek literature

Practical lesson No. 1

Topic: Folklore period. Ancient mythology

Target: to consolidate students’ knowledge of the essence of myth, to form a system of knowledge on ancient mythology, to consider and analyze the main mythological plots that are classics of world art.

Issues for discussion

1. Myth and its features. Myth and ritual, myth and legend, myth and fairy tale. Features of mythological consciousness.

2. Pantheon of ancient Greek gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Eros, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Master (characteristics and main mythological subjects).

3. Ancient Greek heroes and their exploits (Prometheus, Perseus, Sisyphus, Hercules, Theseus, Jason, Achilles).

Practical task

2. Using LES, establish the origin and essence of the concepts: “myth”, “ritual”, “mythological thinking”, “syncretism of thinking”.

Main literature

additional literature

2. Gilenson, B.A. Story ancient literature: Textbook for students of philological faculties of pedagogical universities: In 2 books. - Book 2. Ancient Rome / B.A. Gilenson. – M.: Flinta: Nauka, 2002. – 384 p.

Practical lesson No. 2

Topic: Heroic epic of Homer

Target: mastering the specifics of the epic type of verbal creativity, its genre embodiment; strengthening in practice the skills of working with the texts of Homer’s poems, the ability to analyze them artistic features.

Issues for discussion

1. Homer. "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Historical and mythological origins of the Homeric epic.

2. “The Iliad” as a military-heroic story about the Trojan War.

3. “Odyssey” as a fabulously everyday poem (transpositions, composition).

4. Features of the epic style (retardation, digressions, comparisons, epithets, hexameter).

5. “The Homeric Question.” Synthesis of different approaches in the modern interpretation of poems.

Additional tasks

1. Extract quotes from the text of the poem “Iliad” describing the heroes: Achilus, Hector, Priam, Paris, Agamemnon, Minelaus, Ajax, Diomedes, Nestor; female images: Helen, Andromache, Hecuba. Identify constant epithets.

2. Extract quotes from the text of the poem that characterize Odysseus, Telemachus, and Penelope.

3. Creative task: build a diagram of epic genres and develop their “dialogue” about their meaning.

Textual analysis of Homer's Iliad

(epic poetics)

Plan for analyzing Homer's work

1. How is the content of the song related to the main theme. What is its place in the composition of the entire poem?

2. How is reality reflected (the worldview of the ancient Greeks, social relations, ethical and religious norms, pictures of everyday life)?

3. How are characters revealed (individual and typical traits of the hero, features of psychologism)?

4. Anthropomorphism and burlesque in the depiction of gods.

5. What signs of folklore are there in the song (repetitions, commonplaces, constant epithets, etc.)?

6. What examples of Homeric style can be seen in the song (objectivity, disinterest, retardation, archaization, hyperbolization, monumentalism, sublime vocabulary)?

7. Determine the artistic function of comparisons (1-2 examples).

Main literature

1. Gilenson, B. A. History of foreign literature from antiquity to the middle of the 19th century: textbook. / B.A. Gilenson. – M.: YURAYT, 2014. – 904 p.

additional literature

1. Anpetkova-Sharova, G.G. Ancient literature: Textbook. aid for students Philol. fak. higher textbook institutions / G.G. Anpetkova-Sharova, V.S. Durov; Ed. V.S. Durova. – 2nd ed., rev. – St. Petersburg: Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University; M.: Academy, 2005. – 480 p.

2. Gilenson B.A. History of ancient literature: Textbook for students of philological faculties of pedagogical universities: In 2 books. Book 2. Ancient Rome / B.A. Gilenson. – M.: Flinta: Nauka, 2002. – 384 p.

3. Foreign writers. Bibliographical dictionary: In 2 hours – Part 1. A-L / ed. N.P. Michalska. – M.: Education: Textbook. lit., 1997. – 476 p.

4. Losev, A.F. Ancient literature: Textbook for higher education / ed. A.A. Tahoe-Godi / A.F. Losev. – M.: CheRo; Mn.: Asar LLC, 2001. – 543 p.

5. Samarin, R.M. Foreign literature / R.M. Samarin. – M.: Higher. school, 1991. – 368 p.

6. Tronsky, I.M. History of ancient literature (any publication) // http://centant.spbu.ru/sno/lib/tron/index.htm

7. Khalizev, V.E. Theory of literature / V.E. Khalizev. – M.: Higher School, 2002. – 437 p.

The action of Homer's Iliad is concentrated around the central theme of the poem, stated in the first lines of the poem: “Wrath, goddess, sing to Achilles, son of Peleus...”. “The Wrath of Achilles” is a kind of compositional core of the Iliad. At first, anger is Achilles’s resentment towards the Greek leader Agamemnon, who took away the hero’s beautiful concubine Briseis, a resentment that prompts Achilles to withdraw from the battle as punishment for the Greeks. This resentment, however, is resolved already in the XIX song of the Iliad, when the hero accepts Briseis returned by Agamemnon and the pacifying gifts offered by the leader of the Greeks. However, by this point the theme of anger takes on a new interpretation; At the hands of the Trojan leader Hector, Achilles’s closest friend Patroclus dies, and main character returns to battle, driven by the desire for revenge. This new “anger” can only be satisfied by the death of Hector, who dies at the hands of Achilles in canto XXI (the poem ends with a description of his funeral).

In numerous subsequent interpretations, these alternating feelings became almost the first examples in European literature of describing insulted love and pain for a dead friend. In relation to the poem “The Iliad” itself, the analysis of which interests us, such an individual psychological interpretation turns out to be greatly modernized. Both versions of the main theme implement the central epic motif of the Iliad - the motif of the hero’s honor. Briseis is Achilles’s spoils of war, and her taking away offends his honor as a warrior and leader. In the same way, the murder of Patroclus is also a “blow” to Achilles himself, for Patroclus replaces him in battle, leads his squad and, moreover, fights in Achilles’ armor and on his chariot. With the death of Patroclus, Achilles also loses his armor (Hector takes it) - a symbol of his family military glory. Accordingly, revenge on Hector again becomes a sign of restoration of the shaken status of leader and hero.

Thus, a kind of compositional core of the poem “Iliad”, which we are analyzing, is the theme of honor, closely related to the images of the main epic heroes. Another implementation of it is the image of Achilles’ main opponent, Hector (although in this case another significant motive is added: Hector acts not only as a warrior-hero, but also as the leader of the Trojans, the leader and defender of Troy). Therefore, his actions are dictated not only by the most important desire for glory for a warrior, but also by a feeling of “shame” in front of his people. Accordingly, the death of Hector, which ends the poem, is interpreted as a harbinger of the defeat and fall of the city. Thus, the Iliad, which essentially describes several moments of the battle, provides a panorama of the course of the war, including foreshadowing its final conclusion.

This feature of the Iliad, noted by Aristotle: to contain a picture of the entire war in a small space, is reinforced by the characteristic technique of “inserted episodes” that are characteristic of epic poetry in general, describing numerous previous events, including those that lie beyond the boundaries of the Trojan myth itself. This expansion of the horizons of the epic narrative is served by special figures of hero-storytellers - Nestor, Phoenix, etc. Special scenes, sometimes perceived as an obvious anachronism, serve the same purpose: for example, “view from the walls”, when Elena (in the tenth year of the war) shows the king the Trojans to Priam and all the leaders of the Greek army.

In such a general mythological perspective, the theme of death, which is, of course, dominant in Homer’s poem “Iliad” becomes understandable. The Trojan myth is essentially an eschatological narrative about the “last battle”, in which, by the will of the gods (cf. the mention of the “will of Zeus” at the beginning of the poem), a generation of heroes must die (the same plot is presented, for example, in the ancient Indian “Mahabharata”) . It is no coincidence that it is the theme of death that dominates the compositional structure of the poem. As has been repeatedly noted, its beginning (description of the pestilence in the Greek camp) is symmetrical to the ending (Hector’s funeral). The image of death frames the poem, defining its ring structure (there are other symmetrical pairs within it; for example, the famous “Catalog of Ships” in Canto II corresponds to “games at the funeral of Patroclus” in XXIII, etc.). Moreover, this motif permeates the entire fabric of the poem: there are constant prophecies of death, addressed not only to Hector, but also to Achilles, whose death formally remains outside the scope of the poem; This motif also marks the climax of the poem (the fights in which first Patroclus and then Hector die). It is characteristic that great battle is described not so much as a confrontation between foreign peoples (which would correspond to the ideas of scientists who see a historical background in the events of the Iliad - the expansion of the Greeks into Asia Minor at the end I I millennium BC), as well as civil strife: Greek and Trojan heroes have common roots, they often turn out to be relatives (the same Achilles says: “The Trojans are not my enemies”). Interwoven into this picture of internecine strife is the theme of women as a reason for war and discord: on the one hand, the reason for the Greek campaign was the abduction of Helen by Paris; on the other hand, Briseis becomes a reason for discord in the camp of the Greeks themselves, becoming a kind of “projection” of the general theme of fratricidal warfare.

The scheme of the “last battle” is also emphasized by the unconditional parallelism of the two plot plans of the Iliad: human and divine. The so-called “divine apparatus” largely organizes the action of the poem, and all events in the human world are reflected in the divine world. The two heroic camps correspond to two “parties” of gods, respectively standing for the Greeks and for the Trojans (this divine confrontation finds its most vivid embodiment in the XX song, traditionally called the “battle of the gods”). At the same time, in the divine confrontation, the main role is played by the motive of insult and the anger caused by it: Hera and Athena are offended by the choice of Paris made at one time, Poseidon by the dishonor inflicted on him (he was once forced to become a slave of the Trojan king), etc. A special role within this system of divine opponents is played by the figure of Zeus, who occupies the position of the supreme judge and implements the plans of fate, which appears as a kind of justice, equal for all. This principle of supreme balance, maintained by Zeus, is most clearly embodied in the scene of weighing the heroes' lots before the duel between Hector and Achilles. This concludes the analysis of Homer's Iliad.

HOMER

(c. 8th century BC)

[biography briefly]

Singer of the Trojan War

No reliable information has been preserved about the greatest classic of ancient Greek and world literature, Homer. The poet's life time has not been precisely established. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus believed that Homer lived in the 9th century. BC e. Most scientists attribute his activities to the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. The place of birth of the creator is also controversial. In Greece, seven cities claimed the right to be called his homeland: Kuma, Smyrna, Chios, Paphos, Colophon, Argos and Athens.

There are sculptures of Homer representing the poet as a blind old man. Philologist N. Marr translated his name as “blind,” because among some peoples the word “Homer” meant a person deprived of sight, as well as a storyteller endowed with the gift of divination. However, modern literary scholars doubt that the numerous vivid descriptions of the Iliad and Odyssey could have been created by a blind person. Probably, the idea of ​​Homer as a blind man is explained by the belief of the ancients that the blind have special spiritual vision and are closer to the world of the gods.

The lack of information about Homer already in Antiquity gave rise to doubts about his existence. Some literature experts were convinced that under the name of Homer a group of ancient poets, the Aeds, were united, who created small songs that were eventually combined into the poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey.” However, the mechanical connection of songs could not form such integral and complex creations. Therefore, most likely, they had one author who reworked the songs of his predecessors, subordinating them to a single artistic concept.

The plots of the Iliad and Odyssey are taken from the cycle of Greek myths about the Trojan War - the Greek campaign against the city of Troy (its other name is Ilion). According to myths, the Trojan prince Paris stole treasures and his beautiful wife Helen from the king of Sparta Menelaus. The insulted Menelaus and his brother, the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, gathered an army to march on Troy. Agamemnon became the leader of the Greeks. For ten years the king unsuccessfully besieged Ilion. The Greeks managed to penetrate the city only thanks to cunning: they hid in a wooden horse. Thus Troy was captured and burned, and Helen was returned to Menelaus. The path of the victors to their homeland turned out to be incredibly difficult: some died at sea, others wandered for years. 1

1 Apotheosis (from the Greek apotheosis - “deification”) - glorification, exaltation of a person, event, phenomenon.

We express our opinion

Look at the reproduction of the painting by J.-O.-D. Ingres "The Apotheosis of Homer".

On the electronic educational resource interactive.ranok.com.ua, read information about the allegorical composition of the work.

In your opinion, what idea did the painter want to convey with his canvas?

The plot of the Iliad

The Iliad opens with the poet’s address to the muse, the patroness of poetry:

Wrath, O goddess, sing to Achilles, son of Peleus...

The anger of Achilles forms the plot and theme of the poem. The anger was caused by the act of the Greek leader Agamemnon, who took away the captive Briseis from Achilles. The offended hero refused to participate in the siege of Ilion and turned to the supreme god Zeus with a prayer to help the Trojans defeat the Greeks. God heeded the prayer: military success abandoned the Greeks. Their defeat made a grave impression on Achilles' friend Patroclus. The warrior asked Achilles to let him go into battle and received consent. Patroclus, dressed in the armor of Achilles to intimidate his enemies, pushed back the Trojans, who had already approached the Greek ships. In the midst of the battle, Patroclus died at the hands of the Trojan Hector.

Achilles fell into despair and was overcome with guilt. He reconciled with Agamemnon and turned his anger towards the Trojans. A new battle ensued, in which the gods who descended from Olympus took part. The Trojans ran to the city gates. There, near the impregnable walls, Achilles and Hector fought in a duel. Achilles avenged his friend by killing Hector. He tied the body of the defeated enemy to a chariot and dragged it across the field.

At night, Hector’s elderly father, the Trojan king Priam, appeared in Achilles’ tent. Falling at Achilles' knees, the king begged to give him his son's body in order to bury him with honor. The father's grief softened Achilles' heart, and he fulfilled the old man's request. The Iliad ends with Hector's burial, when the theme of the protagonist's anger has been exhausted.

Homer enriched the described plot with a large number of episodes from Greek heroic tales and myths not related to Troy. For example, the poem mentions the campaign of the Argives 1 against Thebes and the exploits of Hercules.

Image of Achilles

The central image of the Iliad is Achilles (Achilles), the son of the Thessalian king Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. As the prominent scientist of the 20th century A. Losev noted, Achilles is one of the most complex figures in the entire 1

1 Argives are inhabitants of the ancient Greek province of Argos. In Homer the Argives,

like the Achaeans, all Greeks are called.

ancient literature. The complexity of this image lies in the fact that his character combines two opposing features. On the one hand, he is angry, quick-tempered, vindictive, and merciless. Wanting to avenge his friend, he mocks Hector’s body. But at the same time, Achilles has a tender, loving heart. He “sheds hot tears” over the corpse of his faithful comrade.

Achilles knows about his own death under the walls of Troy 1. Despite this, he still participates in the Greek campaign, which gives his image greatness and tragedy.

The image of Achilles is the ancient ideal of a warrior-hero: sometimes obsessed with passions, but courageous, selflessly devoted to friendship.

INTERESTING FACT

Troy really existed. The city was located in Asia Minor, on the Troad Peninsula, off the coast of the Aegean Sea (now the Turkish province of Canakkale).

Many scientists tried to find Troy. The German entrepreneur and self-taught archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann succeeded in this. In the 1870s He found on the site of ancient Troy the remains of successively arose settlements, including two fortresses. According to myths and the Homeric epic, the city was burned. Excavations confirmed the myth: traces of fire were found in both fortresses.

Poetics of 2 Homer poems

One of the main features of an epic tale is thoroughness and leisurely presentation. The action in Homer's epic is slowed down by numerous detailed descriptions weapons

1 The oracle predicts to Achilles that he will die during the Trojan War from a wound in the heel - the only vulnerable area on his body.

2 Poetics - here: a system of artistic means and techniques used by a writer to create the artistic world of a separate work and in his work as a whole.

heroes, cooking, ship equipment and the like, repetitions of poems and entire episodes.

In Homer's poems, constant epithets are widely used. The leaders are characterized as divine, nurtured by the gods, the Greeks are beautifully legged, Zeus is a lightning striker, a cloud suppressor, Achilles is fleet-footed, Odysseus is multi-cunning. Epithets are “assigned” to the heroes and do not depend on the situation: Achilles is called “swift-footed” when he rushes swiftly across the battlefield and when he speaks in a public assembly.

Homer is a master of extended comparisons. In the description of the battle for the body of Patroclus (“Iliad”), vivid pictures of nature and life are created with the help of comparisons. The battle behind those carrying the body is “Stormy, like a fire directed at a city of people: / Flashing suddenly, it devours everything...”

The artistic perfection of Homer's poems already in Antiquity created for their author the fame of an unsurpassed poet. This glory has not faded to this day.

ILIAD

(Excerpts 1)

Canto Twenty-Second The Killing of Hector

[Achilles mercilessly avenges the death of Patroclus. Achilles' rage forced the Trojans to take refuge behind the city walls. Only Hector remained at the gates of Troy. Seeing Achilles, he ran. Achilles rushed after him. At this time, on Olympus, Zeus weighed the opponents' lots. Hector’s lot turned out to be more difficult: he was destined to die. Hector stopped his run and turned to Achilles.]

250 “Son of Peleus! I don’t intend to run away from you anymore!

Three times before the city of Priam I ran, not daring to meet your attacker; now my heart commands me to stand and fight with you; I will kill or be killed!

First, let us call upon the gods as testimony; the best will be

255 Gods are witnesses of oaths and guardians of our conditions:

I will not dishonor your body when the Thunderer grants me to resist and tear out your spirit with a weapon; Only the glorious armor from you, Achilles, I will strip,

I will give the body to the Myrmidons 2; and you fulfill this agreement.”

1 You can find the full text of the work at interactive.ranok.com.ua.

2 Myrmidons (Myrmidons) - an Achaean tribe that lived in Thessaly, in the domains of Peleus and Achilles. At Troy, the Myrmidons were led by Achilles.

260 Fleet-footed Achilles looked at him menacingly and cried out: “Hector, hated enemy, do not offer treaties to me!

There is not and will not be any union between lions and people;

Wolves and lambs cannot be friends with the consent of the heart;

They are always hostile and malicious against each other, -

265 So love is impossible between us; There can be no agreements between us until one, prostrate, satisfies the fierce god Ares with his blood!

Remember all the art of war! Today you must be an excellent spear fighter and a fearless warrior!

270 There is no longer any escape for you; under my spear Tritogen 1 Will soon tame you; and you will pay at once for the grief of my friends, whom you savagely beat with copper!”

He roared and, with a powerful shake, sent out a long-shaded pike. At the right time, seeing her, helmet-shining Hector ran away;

275 He quickly sank to the ground, and the peak that flew over him pierced the ground; but, having snatched it away, Pallas 2 again gave it to Achilles, invisible to Hector, the horseman of Troy.

Hector loudly exclaimed to Peleev’s glorious son: “The blow is in vain! and in no way, Pelid 3, like immortals,

280 You did not learn my share from Zeus, although you told me;

But you were talkative and cunning with your speeches in front of me, with the goal that I, timid, would lose both courage and strength.

No, I don’t intend to run; You will not thrust your spear into my spine, but pierce my chest directly with your face directed at you,

285 If God judged! But beware of spears too

Copper! If only, sharp, you would take it all into your body!

The bloody war would have been easier for the sons of Ilion,

If only I would crush you, you, their cruelest destruction!”

He roared - and, shaking powerfully, he threw his long-shaded spear,

290 And he did not throw it: he struck Achilles in the middle of the shield;

But the shield reflected the weapon far away. Hector was upset when he saw that the spear flew out of his hands uselessly,

1 Tritogena (also Tritonida) is one of the names of the fertility goddess Athena, associated with her birthplace - the shore of Lake Triton.

2 Pallas is the nickname of Athena.

3 Pelid, also Peleion (Greek: “descended from Peleus”) - in Greek mythology, the name of Achilles on his father's side.

He stood and lowered his eyes: he had no other spear.

295 Requires a new sharp dart: no Deiphobus.

Hector comprehended this with his soul, and this is what he said:<...>

300 “Near me there is only Death! and I can no longer be terrible! No deliverance! Thus, without a doubt, the gods judged,

Zeus and Phoebus born from Zeus 2; the merciful before Have often delivered me: fate finally befalls me!

But I will not perish in vain, I will not fall into dust without glory;

305 I will do something great that posterity will hear!”

So he said - and a sophisticated knife was pulled out of the vagina,

Hanging from the left side, the knife is huge and heavy;

From his place, tense, he rushed like an unpaired eagle, If he suddenly falls from behind gray clouds onto the steppe,

310 The greedy greedy kidnap a gentle lamb or a timid hare,” Hector rushed like that, waving a deadly knife. The swift Pelid also sprang, and the spirit of his Stormy wrath was filled; he placed his magnificent shield in front of his chest, marvelously decorated; the helmet on his head is four-bladed

315 The light one sways, the lush golden mane undulates,

Thickly Hephaestus 3 spilled around the high ridge.

But, like a star shining among the stars in the darkness of the night,

Hesperus 4, who is the most beautiful and brightest in the sky, -

So Pelid's spear sparkled, with which

320 He shook in his right hand, planning his life on Hector, looking for places on his beautiful body for sure blows.

But the hero’s entire body was covered in copper-plated armor, Magnificent, which he stole, having overcome Patroclus with his might. Only where the neck 5 keys are connected with ramen, larynx

325 A part was exposed, a place where death of the soul is inevitable:

There, Achilles flew in and struck Priamid with his spear;

A deadly sting passed straight through the white neck;

Only the crushing ash tree did not cut his larynx, so that he, dying, could utter a few words;

1 Deiphobus - son of Priam, beloved brother of Hector. Athena took on his image to encourage Hector to fight Achilles.

2 Phoebus is the second name of the god of the sun and poetry Apollo, the patron saint of the Trojans.

3 Hephaestus is the god of fire, the son of Zeus and Hera. He forged Achilles' weapons and armor.

4 Hesperus is the deity of the evening star.

5 Neck (obsolete) - neck.

330 He burst into dust, and Achilles cried out loudly, triumphant: “Hector, you killed Patroclus - and thought to remain alive! You weren’t afraid of me either when I was moving away from battles,

The enemy is reckless! But his avenger, incomparably stronger than you, I remained behind the Achaean courts,

335 I am the one who broke your knees! Birds and dogs will tear you apart for shame, and the Argives will bury him.”

Breathing languidly, helmet-shining Hector answered him: “I conjure you and your family at your feet with my life.

ABOUT! Don’t let me be tormented by the dogs of the Myrmidons;

340 Copper, valuable gold, demand as much as you want;

Your father and venerable mother will send you redemption;

Just return the body to the house, so that the Trojans and the Trojan women, giving the last honor, will put me on fire in the house.” Looking gloomily at him, fleet-footed Achilles said:

345 “It’s in vain, dog, you hug my legs and pray for your family! I myself, if I had listened to the anger, would have torn you to pieces, I would have devoured your raw body - then you did it to me!

No, a human son will not drive you away from your head

Devouring dogs! If ten and twenty times me

350 They will bring magnificent gifts and promise so many more;

If the King of Ilium Priam orders you to be weighed for gold, and then - on your funeral bed, Mother Hecuba will not mourn your birth;

The birds will tear your corpse to pieces and the dogs of the myrmidons!”

355 Giving up the spirit, helmet-shining Hector proclaimed to him: “I knew you: I had a presentiment that you would not be touched by my prayer: you have an iron heart in your chest.

But tremble, lest I be God's wrath for you On that day, when Alexander 1 and Phoebus the arrow-maker,

360 No matter how powerful you are, you will be overthrown at the Skeian Gate 2!” Thus speaking, gloomy Death overshadows Hector:

Quietly the soul, leaving the lips, descends to Hades,

Crying for your share, leaving both youth and strength.

But to him, and to the deceased, the fleet-footed son Peleev 365 shouted again: “Die! and I will meet my inevitable death, whenever the Thunderer and the eternal gods send!”

So he said - and from the dead he tore out the murderous ash tree, threw it to the side and pulled off the armor from Dardanid 3, drenched in blood.<...>

(Translation by N. Gnedich)

1. You read a fragment of one of the oldest works of European fiction. What impression did the poem excerpt make on you? What difficulties did you encounter while reading it? Have you turned to the links given on the pages of the textbook, without which it is not easy for a modern reader to understand the events described in the poem?

2. How does Hector appear in his address to Achilles? Why does the author focus on the fact that Hector ran around Troy three times? What made Hector stop? Does Hector understand what the duel with the best of the Greek warriors threatens him with? Support your point of view with quotes from the text.

3. What kind of mutual oath does Hector propose to take? What is Achilles' answer? What is the reason for this answer?

4. Find words in the text that explain Hector’s desire to destroy Achilles. What new facets of Hector’s image are revealed in this desire?

1 Alexander is the first name of Paris, son of Priam and brother of Hector. According to Greek mythology, when Priam already had numerous children from his marriage to Hecuba, she became pregnant and dreamed that she was giving birth to a burning torch, from which many snakes crawled out. The dream interpreters ordered her to kill the newborn so that he would not cause the death of his homeland. Hecuba gave birth to a boy, Alexander, and gave him to the guards to kill him. But out of pity, they threw it to the shepherds, who named the baby Paris.

2 Scaean Gate - the western gate of Troy.

3 Dardanides is a descendant of the mythical hero Dardanus. The founder of Troy, Il., originated from Dardan.

5. Describe the course of the duel between Achilles and Hector. What qualities of a warrior does Hector display? Is he inferior to Achilles in strength and courage? Justify your answer.

6. Think about why Achilles wins the fight. In a form convenient for you - text or diagram - give your answer to this question. Discuss the answer options with your classmates.

7. Do you think it is possible to determine which side is on?

8. The main theme of the poem “Iliad” is the anger of Achilles. How does the author reveal this topic in the twenty-second song?

Learning to compare

9. Consider a reproduction of the painting by P. Rubens “Achilles kills Hector” (p. 28). How accurately do you think the great painter’s painting reproduces the events described in the poem? Justify your answer by referring to the text of the poem.

We invite you to discussion

10. Why did Achilles become the ideal warrior for the ancient Greeks? We express our opinion

11. Remember the material from the textbook article “Features of Ancient Literature.” Which of these features could you illustrate with examples from the Iliad?

12. What artistic features characteristic of the ancient epic did you see in the passages you read from the poem “The Iliad”? Summarize your observations and fill out the table “Poetics of the Iliad” in your notebook.

The plot of the poem "Odyssey"

The Odyssey describes the last, tenth year of the wanderings of the main character, a participant in the Trojan War. The winner Odysseus returns to his own possessions - Ithaca. His long journey, complicated by numerous obstacles, is the central theme of the Odyssey.

In Ithaca, almost no one hoped that Odysseus would return. Noble citizens dreamed of taking the empty throne, wooed the wanderer's wife Penelope, spent his treasury and feasted in the royal palace. Meanwhile, the gods freed the hero, who had been held on the island by the nymph Calypso for seven years. Having made a raft, the wanderer set off into the open sea. The storm threw him onto the land of the Phaeacians. Here Odysseus found a warm welcome and told the local ruler about everything he saw during his wanderings: about the one-eyed giant - the cannibal Polyphemus, about the floating island of the wind god Aeolus, about the insidious sirens who lure travelers with captivating singing, and much more. Touched by the fate of Odysseus, who survived

Many trials and troubles, having lost his companions and his ships, the Phaeacians took him to Ithaca. There, unrecognized, in the guise of a beggar, he waited for two days for an opportunity to take revenge on Penelope’s suitors. The opportunity presented itself when Odysseus’s wife staged a shooting competition and presented her husband’s long bow to the contenders for her hand. No one could even pull the bowstring. Then Odysseus took the bow and struck all the contenders with arrows. Penelope, who had missed her husband for many years, was delighted to recognize him. The angry relatives of the suitors killed by Odysseus entered into battle with him, but with the help of Athena, the civil strife stopped, and peace came to Ithaca.

The plot of the Odyssey, unlike the Iliad, unfolds out of chronological sequence and contains digressions and returns to the starting point; the action of the work is transferred from one place to another.

The unifying principle, the figure that cements the motley series of incidents and persons of the epic into one artistic whole, is Odysseus - a hero with a complex character: he is a brave warrior, an ardent patriot, the greatest sufferer, a prudent owner, a wonderful family man and, at the same time, a resourceful cunning man.

(Excerpt 1)

Song Nine

[Odysseus landed his ship on the island of the Cyclops.

With twenty companions, he went to the cave of the giant Polyphemus to get food. His comrades advised him to take the food and return to the ship, but Odysseus did not listen to them: he wanted to meet the owner of the cave. Soon the giant appeared and blocked the entrance to the cave with a huge stone. Seeing the uninvited guests, he rudely asked who they were.

Odysseus spoke about himself and his comrades and expressed the hope that Polyphemus would show them due hospitality, as the gods commanded. Angrily, the Cyclops replied that he was not afraid of the wrath of Zeus, then he grabbed two of Odysseus’s companions and swallowed them. Having had his fill, Polyphemus fell asleep. Odysseus wanted to kill the sleeping Cyclops, but realized that this would doom himself and his comrades to certain death: they would not have the strength to move the huge stone blocking the entrance to the cave.

The Cyclops woke up and drove his herd to pasture, leaving Odysseus and his people in a cave filled with stones. Odysseus whittled out a sharp stake. When Polyphemus returned, the “cunning one” treated him to strong wine.]

355 Bowls. “Pour it for me,” he said, “and tell me your Name, so that I can prepare you a decent gift.”

We, the Cyclopes, also have luxurious clusters of grapes, Full vines, and Kronion himself fertilizes them with rain;

Your drink is pure ambrosia with sweet nectar.”

360 So he said, and I poured another cup with sparkling wine. He asked for more, and I gave the third to the madman.

The fire wine in the cannibal's head began to rustle.

I turned to him with a seductively sweet speech: “You, Cyclops, are curious to know my glorious name,

365 In order to treat me and give me the usual gift? I'm called Nobody; My mother and father gave me this name, and my comrades all call me that.”

The bestial cannibal answered me with an evil mockery: “Know, Nobody, my dear, that you will be the most

last

370 Eaten when I'm done with the others; here is my gift." Then he fell backwards, completely drunk; and a mighty neck hung to one side, and with all-conquering power Sleep took possession of him; He threw wine and pieces of human flesh out of his gaping mouth, having drunk too much.

375 Having taken out our stake, we put it on the fire with its tip;

He immediately burst into flames; Then I, having called my chosen comrades, encouraged them to be resolute with me in a dangerous matter. Our stake placed on the coals had already begun to give off a flame, having flared up, although it was damp; hastily

380 I took him out of the fire; comrades, bravely from both

They steeled their sides - the deity, of course, put courage in them; They grabbed the stake and with its red-hot tip they pressed it into the sleeping man’s eye.<...>

395 The cannibal howled wildly—the cave groaned from the howl.

In fear we rushed away; with unspeakable ferocity, tearing out the stake from the pierced eye, covered in boiling blood,

With a strong hand he threw it away from him; in a frenzy, he began to call the Cyclopes, who lived in the deep

400 Grottoes around and on mountain peaks kissed by the wind. Hearing the loud screams, the Cyclopes came running from everywhere;

They surrounded the entrance of the cave and asked: “Why did you call us all, Polyphemus? What's happened? Why did you interrupt our sweet sleep and the calm of the divine night?

405 Who boldly stole your goats and rams? Or are you dying yourself? But who is here destroying you by deception or force?” He answered them from a dark cave with a desperately wild roar: “Nobody! But by my mistake I am ruined; No one could harm me by force.” The Cyclopes cried out in their hearts:

410 “If no one, why are you the only one roaring like that? But if he is sick, then Zeus will do it, you cannot avoid it.

Call upon your father, Lord Poseidon, for help.”

This is what they said as they walked away. My Heart laughed inside me because I managed to save everyone by inventing everyone’s name.

415 Groaning heavily, grunting and groaning, groping the Walls with his hands, the Cyclops moved the rock away from the entrance, sat down in front of it and stretched out his huge arms, hoping that in the herd,

As he passes by, he will catch us all; Certainly,

The ferocious fool thought that I, too, was like him, without reason.

420 With a cautious mind I dreamed up and pondered a means, How to save myself and my vigorous comrades from certain Death; many tricks different ways My thoughts were in vain, but disaster was already close. This is what, out of duty, seemed most convenient to me: 425 There were large rams, covered with long hair,

Fat, powerful, in a herd; their fleece was agitated like silk. With my strong basts intertwined, I slowly snatched them out of the matting that served as the bed of the evil Cyclops,

I tied three rams each; the man was tied up under each

430 Middle, protected by the other two on the sides; for every Three there was one of our comrades; and I myself?.. A stout, tall, ram with luxurious wool was in the herd; Having grabbed his soft back, I hung in my arms under his rough belly; and hands (letting them into the incredibly thick fleece)

435 He wrapped himself in long hair and patiently held on to it.

With trembling hearts we waited for the appearance of the divine Eos 1. The young Eos with purple fingers rose from the darkness:

All the males, goats and rams ran to the exit;

The wombs, still unfed, bleated pathetically in the corners,

440 Milk splashes from long nipples; their master, groaning in pain, touched with his hands everyone running past,

Lush backs; but, stupid, he was not able to guess,

What some had hidden under their wavy breasts; The last one was my ram; and with a slow step he walked, weighed down

445 Long hair and me, who was thinking about many things at that time. Having felt his back, the Cyclops began to talk to him:

“Are you my beautiful pet? Why did the last one leave the cave now? You weren't lazy and slow before. You were always the first to step majestically into the meadow.

450 To eat sweet-growing grass; You were the first to run to the stream at noon; and in front of everyone he returned to the cave; In the evening. Now you are the last to go; know, you yourself feel, Poor One, that my eye is no longer watching you; I am deprived of Bright vision by a vile vagabond; here he wines me

455 The mind became foggy; they call him Nobody; but he's still

He did not escape my power! Whenever, my friend, you could speak, you would say where the hated enemy hid; I would instantly crush his skull and scatter his brain throughout the cave, hitting him to the ground and tearing him apart; would take revenge

460 I am for the offense that Nobody, the evil robber,

Inflicted on me here.” Having said this, he set the ram free. Well, not far from the entrance of the cave and the outer fence, I was the first to stand on my feet, untied all the travelers, and immediately with them the whole herd of thin-legged goats and fat sheep

465 Collected; Through many detours we drove them to the seaside

To our ship. And it was sweet for our comrades to meet us, having escaped certain death; wanted about the dear dead

They cry; but, blinking their eyes to stop their crying, take the herd of goats and rams onto our ship immediately

470 I commanded: I wanted to move away from the shore into the sea.<...>

(Translation by V. Zhukovsky)

Reflecting on the text of a work of art

1. You have read one of the most famous episodes of the poem “The Odyssey”. What impression did he make on you? Why do you think this episode appeals to readers?

2. In Homer’s poems, the constant epithet “cunning” is used to characterize Odysseus. Give examples of Odysseus's cunning and wisdom shown in the episode with Polyphemus. Think about what modern words could replace the epithet.

We express our opinion

3. What artistic features characteristic of the ancient epic did you see in the passages you read from the poem “Odyssey”? Fill out the table “Poetics of the Odyssey” in your notebook.

Learning to compare

4. Expressively read the poem by the Ukrainian classic M. Rylsky “Yak Odksey, natomleniy blukannyam...”. What mood is conveyed in the work? Why do you think the poet used the image of Odysseus to express his feelings?

Yak Od^sey, weary of the blues Across the blue sea, I am weary of life—

The old falcon is coming,

Lost in the leaves and forgetting about everything.

I have my thoughts - chi ysh 1x - scurry around in a quiet sleep. The leaves are blinking,

Having fallen on the stovbur the bshiy vvdblisk of the sun,

I Lisa's little cat by yom.

I'll fall asleep to the turbo-free rustling of the sky, so, slamming the ball,

I need to wake up my wife Navsshaya,

Strunka is the daughter of the Phaeatian king.

5. On the electronic educational resource interactive.ranok.com.ua, listen to a fragment from the opera “The Return of Ulysses 1 to the Homeland” by C. Monteverdi. In your opinion, did the composer succeed in conveying the majestic epic rhythm of Homer's poem? Justify your answer.

This is textbook material