City College of Calamba

Calamba City
Department of Teacher Education

Lesson 5: Greek and Roman Mythological Epics

General Directions:
Accomplish the tasks given below. Provide your answer based on the activity done during the
start of the synchronous class. Then, part II shall be accomplished after a careful study of Lesson
2. Style Guide: 8.5x11, Arial, 12, 1.5 spacing, 1x1x1x1 inch margin.

To submit your output, kindly upload your output to your Google Drive with a file name:
Name_Lesson5_Section. Then, copy the Google Drive link where you have uploaded your
output and send the link to the LESSON part of the LMS.

Part I. Read the passages below. Afterwards, answer the succeeding questions.

Odyssey by Homer
Summary Excerpt

The narrator of The Odyssey invokes the Muse, asking for inspiration as he prepares to tell the story of
Odysseus.

The story begins ten years after the end of the Trojan War, the subject of the Iliad. All of the Greek heroes
except Odysseus have returned home. Odysseus languishes on the remote island Ogygia with the goddess
Calypso, who has fallen in love with him and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, a mob of suitors is
devouring his estate in Ithaca and courting his wife, Penelope, in hopes of taking over his kingdom. His son,
Telemachus, an infant when Odysseus left
but now a young man, is helpless to stop them. He has resigned himself to the likelihood that his father is
dead.

With the consent of Zeus, Athena travels to Ithaca to speak with Telemachus. Assuming the form of
Odysseus’s old friend Mentes, Athena predicts that Odysseus is still alive and that he will soon return to
Ithaca. She advises Telemachus to call together the suitors and announce their banishment from his father’s
estate. She then tells him that he must make a journey to Pylos and Sparta to ask for any news of his father.
After this conversation, Telemachus encounters Penelope in the suitors’ quarters, upset over a song that the
court bard is singing. Like Homer with The Iliad, the bard sings of the sufferings experienced by the Greeks on
their return from Troy, and his song makes the bereaved Penelope more miserable than she already is.

To Penelope’s surprise, Telemachus rebukes her. He reminds her that Odysseus isn’t the only Greek to not
return from Troy and that, if she doesn’t like the music in the men’s quarters, she should retire to her own
chamber and let him look after her interests among the suitors. He then gives the suitors notice that he will
hold an assembly the next day at which they will be ordered to leave his father’s estate. Antinous and
Eurymachus, two particularly defiant suitors, rebuke Telemachus and ask the identity of the visitor with
whom he has just been speaking. Although Telemachus suspects that his visitor was a goddess in disguise, he
tells them only that the man was a friend of his father.

When the assembly meets the next day, Aegyptus, a wise Ithacan elder, speaks first. He praises Telemachus
for stepping into his father’s shoes, noting that this occasion marks the first time that the assembly has been
called since Odysseus left. Telemachus then gives an impassioned speech in which he laments the loss of both
his father and his father’s home—his mother’s suitors, the sons of Ithaca’s elders, have taken it over. He
rebukes them for consuming his father’s oxen and sheep as they pursue their courtship day in and day out
when any decent man would simply go to Penelope’s father, Icarus, and ask him for her hand in marriage.

Antinous blames the impasse on Penelope, who, he says, seduces every suitor but will commit to none of
them. He reminds the suitors of a ruse that she concocted to put off remarrying: Penelope maintained that
she would choose a husband as soon as she finished weaving a burial shroud for her elderly father-in-law,
Laertes. But each night, she carefully undid the knitting that she had completed during the day, so that the
shroud would never be finished. If Penelope can make no decision, Antinous declares, then she should be
sent back to Icarus so that he can choose a new husband for her. The dutiful Telemachus refuses to throw his
mother out and calls upon the gods to punish the suitors. At that moment, a pair of eagles, locked in combat,
appears overhead.
The soothsayer Halitherses interprets their struggle as a portent of Odysseus’s imminent return and warns
the suitors that they will face a massacre if they don’t leave. The suitors balk at such foolishness, and the
meeting ends in deadlock.

As Telemachus is preparing for his trip to Pylos and Sparta, Athena visits him again, this time disguised as
Mentor, another old friend of Odysseus. She encourages him and predicts that his journey will be fruitful. She
then sets out to town and, assuming the disguise of Telemachus himself, collects a loyal crew to man his ship.
Telemachus himself tells none of the household servants of his trip for fear that his departure will upset his
mother. He tells only Eurycleia, his wise and aged nurse. She pleads with him not to take to the open sea as
his father did, but he puts her fears to rest by saying that he knows that a god is at his side.

1. Who is the hero from the said epic? (3points)

Odysseus is that the hero during this Epic “The Odyssey” by Homer. He embodies many characteristics of a
typical Epic hero, but he still strays from the norm in some ways, which makes him unique. He values Ithaca,
his home, most that he spends years getting back, struggling the full way, and doing what it takes to guard his
home. Odysseus is created a hero by exemplifying qualities of being audacious, savior, and sly. However, the
characteristics that Homer equates with Odysseus don't seem to be always required for somebody to be
considered a hero. In Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, audacious could be a quality that creates Odysseus heroic.
2. How would you characterize him? What admirable traits make him a good hero? (3points)
Odysseus is described as a strong warrior with steely muscles. he's a supremely self-confident leader who is
employed to being responsible, and he contains a strong sense of self-worth. However, his most significant
characteristic is his intelligence.
3. What ideals does he represent? What made you think so? (3points)
Odysseus needed his cleverness, power, and endurance to come out because the epic hero he's. Odysseus
fully represents the perfect characteristics of his civilization. His strength, ingenuity, and perseverance
through trials make Odysseus an epic hero.
4. What can you say about the Greeks from the character of the hero? (3points)
A major characteristic of Greek people is their hospitality, which is extended even towards strangers. This is
because it is believed that gods often approach mortals in disguise. King Alcinous, states that Odysseus could
be “one of the deathless powers”, or an immortal god in disguise as a wandering traveler, but Odysseus puts
this suspicion to rest, proclaiming he is indeed a mortal. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle, plays out
her major role in the epic through several disguises in order to help Odysseus return home. She also disguised
herself as “Mentes, lord of the Taphian men” to guide and inspire Telemachus, who realized “overwhelmed
with wonder—this was a god”.
5. What role do the gods and goddesses play in the story? (3points)
In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the gods are key in Odysseus’ return to Ithaca after twenty years.
Whether it is helping Odysseus or delaying him, they play a major role in the development of the story.

Aeneid by Virgil
Summary Excerpt

Virgil begins with "Wars and a man I sing…" and says that he will tell the story of Aeneas, who has fled from
Troy and is fated to eventually reach Latium in Italy, where he will found the race that will one day build
Rome. But Aeneas's journey is made difficult by the gods, and in particular by Juno, the queen of the gods.
Virgil wonders why Juno hates Aeneas, who is famous for his piety. He asks the muse, the goddess of the arts,
to tell him about the source of her anger.

Virgil gives some background about Carthage, Juno's favorite city, a rich and old Phoenician settlement
located in North Africa (modern-day Tunisia). Juno wants Carthage to one day rule the world, but she has
heard that a race of men descended from Trojans are fated to destroy it.

Juno fears the potential Trojan destruction of Carthage. In addition, Paris, a Trojan prince, was once asked to
judge who was the most beautiful goddess, and chose Venus over Juno and Minerva. Finally, Juno remembers
that her husband, Jupiter, once ran off with a Trojan shepherd name Ganymede. All of this has made Juno so
despise the Trojans that she's made it impossible for many years for them to reach Latium.

Now the Trojans are sailing near Sicily. Juno angrily recalls a time when Minerva burned Greek ships. Juno,
prideful about her power, wonders why she shouldn't do the same. Juno goes to Aeolus, the wind god, who
keeps the winds in his dungeon. She asks Aeolus to send winds to sink the Trojan ships, and in return
promises him a beautiful nymph for a wife. Aeolus immediately agrees, since Juno is the most powerful
goddess, and unleashes the East, West and South-West winds against the Trojans.

The winds blast the Trojan ships, and Aeneas prays to the gods. He then wishes that he could have died at
Troy, killed by Achilles just as Hector was. Aeneas thinks that the Trojans who died defending Troy were many
times more blessed than he is, who survived only to have no home. Meanwhile, his men's ships (eleven are
mentioned) crash in the shallows or begin to sink.
The situation is desperate, but then Neptune, the god of the ocean, notices the storm and recognizes it as his
sister Juno's work. He angrily commands the winds to return to Aeolus, and proclaims that he, Neptune, is
the lord of the ocean. Neptune then calms the sea, just as a politician might calm an angry crowd, and the sun
comes out.

The exhausted Trojans land their remaining seven ships at a cove in Libya, and Achates, a friend of Aeneas's,
starts a fire. Aeneas hikes up a mountain to try to see if any other of his men's ships are out on the water.
Instead, he spots a herd of deer. He shoots seven of them.

Returning with the deer to feed his men, Aeneas gives a stirring pep talk. He recalls their difficulties with
Scylla and the Cyclops, but says that someday, they'll enjoy looking back on these events. "A joy it will be one
day, perhaps, to remember even this," says Aeneas. He says that the Fates have determined that they will
manage to reach Italy, so they should cheer up. Though Aeneas privately worries and grieves, he fakes a
positive attitude to support his men. They eat and miss their drowned friends.

Jove and Venus watch the scene from the heavens. Venus asks Jove when there will be an ento Aeneas's
suffering. Jove tells her not to worry, and foretells more of Aeneas's fate. Aeneas will reach Italy and found
Lavinium, but he will have to battle the Italian locals first. Aeneas will then rule for three years, and after his
death his son Ascanius will rule for thirty years. After three hundred years, Romulus and Remus, sons of a
mortal priestess and Mars, will be born, and Romulus will found Rome, which will endure indefinitely. Even
Juno will change her mind and love Rome. Eventually, Julius Caesar will bring peace—he will close the gates
of war and bind Discord with a hundred knots.

Jove then sends the god Mercury to make Dido, the queen of Carthage, and her people be friendly and
hospitable to the Trojans.

Aeneas and Achates go into the woods, where they come upon a virgin warrior, who is actually Venus in
d isguise. Venus tells them about Dido's past, how her greedy brother Pygmalion, king of Tyre, killed Dido's
husband Sychaeus for his wealth. When she learned what had happened from the ghost of her dead
husband, Dido led her f riends to escape, and founded the city of Carthage: "A woman leads them all."
Aeneas then recounts his difficult journey and laments his drowned men, but Venus stops him and tells him
the lost ships have arrived safely at the harbor of Carthage. Venus reveals herself, and then makes Aeneas
and Achates invisible by covering them in a dense mist so that they can travel safely into Carthage.

As he walks through Carthage, Aeneas envies the productive and happy town with its workers building up the
city like busy bees. On the walls of a temple to Juno, Aeneas sees a depiction of the Trojan War of a large
temple
of Juno, including images of Priam, Achilles, and Hector, and is amazed and comforted that the ordeals of his
people are known throughout the world. "Even here, the world is a world of tears and the burdens of
mortality touch the heart."

Dido then arrives at the temple, and is not only beautiful but shows herself to be a capable leader. Aeneas
(still invisible) is astonished to see friends whom he thought had drowned standing next to Dido. He listens as
one of the Trojans describes their past struggles and Aeneas's bravery, declares their peaceful intentions, and
asks if they can rebuild their ships at Dido's city.
Dido generously offers them land and help in finding Aeneas. Just then, the mist of invisibility breaks away,
revealing them, and Venus uses her powers to make Aeneas look extra-handsome. Aeneas praises Dido, and
she welcomes him and calls for a grand feast. Achates leaves to retrieve gifts for Dido of beautiful clothing
and jewels.

Venus, still concerned about Juno's wrath and mistrustful of Carthaginian hospitality, sends Cupid, disguised
as Aeneas's son Ascanius, to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas. Cupid brings the gifts to the feast, sits in
Dido's lap and enchants her, making her forget her beloved Sychaeus as she falls in love with Aeneas. The
narrator describes love as poison and fire, and says that Dido is "doomed." The Trojans and their hosts drink
and make merry together and listen to music. Dido asks Aeneas to tell the whole story of his seven years of
wandering.

1. Who is the hero from the said epic? What made you think so? (3points)
2. How would you characterize him? What admirable traits make him a good hero? (3points)
3. What ideals does he represent? What made you think so? (3points)
4. What can you say about the Romans from the character of the hero? (3points)
5. What role do the gods and goddesses play in the story? (3points)

PART II. Based on your understanding in both stories, answer the following questions comprehensively.

1. How is the Odyssey of Homer related to the Aeneid of Virgil? (10 pts.)
The foremost influence on Virgil was Homer, the Greek poet who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey. By
Virgil's time, Homer was acknowledged as the greatest of all poets, and Virgil studied Homeric epic poetry in
order to develop his own artistic techniques

2. Based on the identified heroes of the epics, what do you think the Greeks consider heroic? How about for
the Romans? (10 pts.)
Heroes feature prominently in the wars, myths, and literature of the ancient world. Not all of these people
would be heroes by today's standards, and some wouldn't be by Classical Greek standards, either. What
makes a hero changes with the era, but it's often tied up with concepts of bravery and virtue.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were among the best at documenting the adventures of their heroes. These
tales tell the stories of many of the biggest names in ancient history, as well as its greatest triumphs and
tragedies.

3. What purposes do these epics accomplish for the Greek and the Roman societies? (10 pts)
The Greeks made important contributions to philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. Literature
and theatre was an important aspect of Greek culture and influenced modern drama. The Greeks were
known for their sophisticated sculpture and architecture.
the Greek concern with simplicity, proportion, perspective, and harmony in their buildings would go on to
greatly influence architects in the Roman world and provide the foundation for the classical architectural
orders which would dominate the western world from the Renaissance to the present day.

4. What are the underlying themes from the Excerpt of Odyssey and the Aeneid? (10 pts)
The Primacy of Fate
The direction and destination of Aeneas’s course are preordained, and his various sufferings and glories in
battle and at sea over the course of the epic merely postpone this unchangeable destiny. The power of fate
stands above the power of the gods in the hierarchy of supernatural forces. Often it is associated with the will
of Jupiter, the most powerful of the Olympians. Because Jupiter’s will trumps the wills of all others, the
interference in Aeneas’s life by the lesser gods, who strive to advance their personal interests as much as
they can within the contours of the larger destiny, do not really affect the overall outcome of events.

The development of individual characters in the epic is apparent in the readiness and resistance with which
they meet the directives of fate. Juno and Turnus both fight destiny every step of the way, and so the epic’s
final resolution involves a transformation in each of them, as a result of which they resign themselves to fate
and allow the story, at last, to arrive at its destined end. Dido desires Aeneas, whom fate denies her, and her
desire consumes her. Aeneas preserves his sanity, as well as his own life and those of his men, by
subordinating his own anxieties and desires to the demands of fate and the rules of piety. Fate, to Virgil’s
Roman audience, is a divine, religious principle that determines the course of history and has culminated in
the Roman Empire.