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2019 STUDY GUIDE BY JAMILA REDDY A Study Guide to Aquila Theatre’s Production of HOMER'S THE ODYSSEY Translation by Emily Wilson | Adaptation by Desiree Sanchez Homer’s The Odyssey is the epic tale of one man’s decade-long struggle to return home. One of the most famous tales in world I N T HI S STUDY GUIDE literature, The Odyssey remains an influential and moving portrait of Odysseus’ monumental journey – one fraught with obstacles, dangers, and temptations. A testament to perseverance and the WHO WAS HOMER? human spirit, The Odyssey was originally performed by highly skilled bards across the ancient Mediterranean world. Now, Aquila Theatre presents a thrilling new dramatic adaptation of this timeless poem. SYNOPSIS Odysseus is the great strategic mind of the Greek army at Troy. He is at first reluctant to leave his wife Penelope and newborn son to go to battle, but his brilliant tricks of deception help defeat the Trojans and end the ten-year-long war. His homecoming is just as long and CHARACTERS treacherous as the war itself. As Odysseus sails across the seas, forced to confront a fantastical array of mythical creatures, sorcerers, monsters, and divine forces, he must use all his strength, SAY WHAT?: skill, and intellect to survive. When he finally returns home to Ithaca, he comes disguised as a beggar. His own halls are plagued with VOCABULARY WORDS gluttonous suitors determined to force Penelope to choose a new husband and king. How can this warrior return home after so many years of war, violence and trauma? AQUILA'S ADAPTATION Aquila Theatre's acclaimed adaptation of Homer’s Iliad: Book One was hailed by The New York Times as “thrillingly embodied.” In The Odyssey, Aquila applies its signature style of innovative THINK ABOUT IT! storytelling and ensemble movement, bringing another of Homer’s DISCUSSION Q'S. classic poems to life. WHO WAS HOMER? Homer is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two largely influential epic poems that describe the Trojan War, a conflict between the Greeks and the city of Troy (fought about 1200BCE.) He was born sometime between the 12th and 8th centuries B.C.E., possibly somewhere on the coast of modern day Turkey. While some scholars believe Homer is solely responsible for writing these works, others claim that the poems are based on oral legends — retold and revised by numerous people — but attributed to a storyteller named Homer. Whether he was the sole author or not, Homer is considered to be one of history’s most influential writers. The Iliad and The Odyssey influenced global standards and ideas — providing the basis of Greek education and culture Source: Getty Images throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond and inspiring many of the world’s most famous works of literature, music, art and film The Greeks saw Homer's poems as more than just works of literature; they knew much of them by heart and valued them as an ancient source of moral and even practical instruction. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Homer-Greek-poet SYNOPSIS The house of Penelope and Odysseus in Ithaka Odysseus, the husband of Penelope and father of Telemachus, has been away now for twenty years. The first ten he was fighting with the Greeks at Troy, the following decade he was wandering lost and unable to find his way back home. In that time he lost his command, questioned his beliefs and even his own identity. While Odysseus has been away, his wife, Penelope has been besieged by many suitors, keen to inherit a leading position in the community and marry Penelope who was famous for her intelligence and beauty. But Odysseus’ son, Telemachus is coming of age and resents the suitors and so the leading suitor, Antinious hatches a plot to do away with him once and for all. Odysseus’ loyal pig farmer, Eumaeus has been watching over the family. Athena, the goddess who has taken Odysseus and his family under her wing, encourages Telemachus to leave and search for his father and in so doing gets him out of harm’s way. Meanwhile, Odysseus is wandering unable to return, suffering many misfortunes, and ends up seeking refuge at the house of Alcinious and Arete and their fellow Phaecians. They take the disguised Odysseus in and when he hears a song about the war he fought in, he becomes emotional and reveals himself. Then he tells the Phaecians his own story and they help him in the telling, knowing that he can only get home once he comes to terms with the life he has lived and who he really is. Odysseus tells of how after ten long years of war at Troy he and his crew visit the land of the Cicones and instead of seeking hospitality they attack the city in an attempt to enrich themselves. This was a foolish plan as they are forced off by a counter attack that cost Odysseus many men. Beaten, confused and hungry they put in at the land of the Lotus Eaters and his troops start to devour the lotus, which offers to erase all memories. Odysseus knows this is the path to self-obliteration and so he forces his crew back on board their ship. Still hungry, they sail to the Island of the Cyclopes in search of supplies. The Cyclopes live alone, apart from each other. Odysseus is ambushed by one of them, Polyphemus who savagely starts killing his men. Odysseus blinds the cyclops’ one eye and escapes. Polyphemus calls out to his compatriots who come to his aid, but the clever Odysseus has told him that his name is “Noman” and so the other Cyclopes think he has gone mad when he shouts “no man is hurting me!” However, Odysseus, let’s his anger and ego get the best of him and reveals his true identity to the Cyclops when he thinks he is out of harm’s way. In turn, the Cyclops curses Odysseus and pleads with his father, the sea god, Poseidon to avenge him. SYNOPSIS Eventually, Odysseus and his crew manage to sail to Ithaka as they have been given a mystical bag of winds to help in their journey. But Odysseus has not shared this information with his squad and as he falls asleep exhausted, relieved to finally see his home again, they steal the bag and open it, unleashing a terrible storm. They are blown far from home and are lost again. Odysseus must learn to change in order to get home and so he embarks on a journey to the underworld to learn the prophecy of the dead sage Tiresias, who is both male and female and knows all. While there he sees his mother, discovering she has died while he has been gone. He also encounters his fellow warriors, Achilles, Agamemnon and Ajax. Now he knows what he must do but he must still pass the test of the Sirens who lure men to their deaths by hypnotically singing and offering to fulfill the listeners’ greatest desires. Once he has told his story, the Phaecians are so moved that they bring him home to Ithaka. He arrives in disguise and is offered simple hospitality by his old friend, Eumaeus. He tries to lie about who he is and what he has done, but in telling the lie he reveals the truth of what he has endured. Telemachus returns home and meets his father for the first time. Odysseus is also reunited with his beloved dog, who upon seeing his master, dies. Odysseus then sees his wife Penelope for the first time in twenty years but decides to stay in disguise from her. Odysseus reveals his true identity to Penelope only after he has violently expelled the suitors. This is shocking to Penelope so she devises a way to test him to ensure that this man who has returned is not only really her husband but a man still capable of love. They reunite and Odysseus tells her of the prophecy that he must leave again, plant his oar far from home and make peace with the gods. Odysseus’ journey is not yet over. Image from Alexander Pope’s illustrated translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. THE CHARACTERS Odysseus - The protagonist of the Odyssey. Odysseus fought among the other Greek heroes at Troy and now struggles to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. Odysseus is the husband of Queen Penelope and the father of Prince Telemachus. Though a strong and courageous warrior, he is most renowned for his cunning. Telemachus - Odysseus’s son. An infant when Odysseus left for Troy, Telemachus is about twenty at the beginning of the story. He is a natural obstacle to the suitors desperately courting his mother, but despite his courage and good heart, he initially lacks the poise and confidence to oppose them. Penelope - Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. Penelope spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer portrays her as clever and steadfastly true to her husband. Athena - Daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom, purposeful battle, and the intricate arts. Athena assists Odysseus and Telemachus with divine powers throughout the epic, and she speaks up for them in the councils of the gods on Mount Olympus. Poseidon - God of the sea. As the suitors are Odysseus’s mortal antagonists, Poseidon is his divine antagonist. He despises Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and constantly hampers his journey home. Ironically, Poseidon is the patron of the seafaring Phaeacians, who ultimately help to return Odysseus to Ithaca.
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