WHEN HARRY MEETS HOMER

UNDERSTANDING THE CLASSICS WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM

THE BOY WHO LIVED
SHARON GERALD, JONES COUNTY JUNIOR COLLEGE, ELLISVILLE, MS

About Homer
The Ancient Greek epics, The
Iliad and The Odyssey are
attributed to a poet named
Homer.
Homer is thought to have
lived around 750 BCE. His tales
of the exploits and adventures of
Greek heroes are based on
legendary events that were
thought by the Greeks to have
happened centuries before
Homer’s crafting of his epics.
Legendary in this case means
that the people of Homer’s time
by all indications believed the
events to be historical--they Who is Odysseus?
believed The Iliad and The Odyssey Odysseus, one of the Greek during his struggle to go home
to be not so much exact factual heroes of the Trojan War, has and of the turmoil faced by his
history but rather stories based on not returned to his kingdom in wife and son due to his absence. 
real history. We don’t have Ithaca, though many years have The journey is
enough historical evidence today passed since the Greeks complicated by the antagonism
to know whether the Trojan War conquered Troy.  The Odyssey is of Poseidon, god of the sea,
really happened or how much of the story of his adventures who has vowed to keep
it happened as remembered by Odysseus off course.
Greek legend.
continued on page 2

Harry’s scar is the shape of a Harry has to get past Fluffy, the three- Hermes is the messenger to the gods
lightening bolt, the source of Zeus’s headed dog, just as Odysseus in The Odyssey. Hermes shows up as
power in Greek mythology. encounters Cerberus, the guard of an owl, a messenger for wizards, in
the gates of Hades. Harry Potter.
About Homer continued
orally. They were also passed
down orally for several more
centuries before ever being
written down. If you think
reading The Odyssey is difficult
now, imagine being assigned the
task of memorizing the entire
poem for the purpose of handing
by Sharon Gerald it down word-for-word to the next
••• generation.
Just imagine. While you are
There is some archeological at it, imagine that the poem is
evidence to back up the stories, actually about the greatest heroes
though not enough to tell us of your own culture. Imagine
exactly what really happened. you’ve heard about these heroes
Still, it is enough for our purposes your whole life, that you were told
in studying Ancient Greek about them even before you could
literature to know that the Greeks walk and talk. Imagine that the
of the day would have believed greatest form of entertainment
their stories were--though possibly known to your family and friends
elaborated for dramatic effect--at is the telling and retelling of
least based upon real historical stories about these same heroes.
events. Now imagine that because
It is enough to know that the you have no written language you
Trojan War, whether mostly real have had to memorize everything
or mostly imagined, was the stuff you know. You can’t jot down
of legend for many, many reminders to yourself. You can’t
generations. rely on Wikipedia to refresh your
Homer lived during a time memory about any facts you may
when there was no written forget. Your memory and the
language in his part of the world. memories of the people around
Thus, his poems were shared you are the only means you have
MINERVA HERMIONE
In The Odyssey, our hero is Hermione is the daughter of Helen
championed by and watched over by of Troy and her husband, King
Minerva (aka Athena), goddess of Menelaus. This Hermione bears little
war and justice in war. Harry Potter resemblance to the young witch who
has his own Minerva in the form of is the smartest of her class, however,
Professor McGonagall. and Rowling has said she was
thinking of the Hermione in
of keeping information from one
year to the next, one decade to
the next, one generation to the
next.
Such was the world in which
Homer lived. He did not write
more than 25,000 lines of poetry.
He composed them in his head,
memorized them, and recited
them to his audience. How
would you like to have that job?
The heroic warrior job almost
sounds easy by comparison,
doesn’t it?
Fast Facts on Homer
• He lived in Ancient Greece
more than 2700 years ago.
• He is credited with the
composition of the Greek epics,
The Iliad and The Odyssey, based
on the Trojan war and its
aftermath.
• His epics were not written down
until long after his death.
• He lived several hundred years
after legend says the Trojan war
took place.
Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale when
she chose that name.
SYBILL
Harry’s divination teacher is Sybill
Trelawney, aptly named as sibyls are
prophetesses in Greek mythology.
Why We Love Epics
by Sharon Gerald
•••
Whether you know it or
not, you too love epics. People
have always loved epics and
always will. They are exciting.
They bring us adventure of the
sort we’ll never see in real life.
They have suspense. They have
drama. They have romance.
They have violence, seduction,
poetry, magic, and everything
else the human heart responds to
for the good or the bad.
Epics are, at their core,
stories of the adventures of
heroes. They have to be larger
than life in some way. There has
to be something massive at
stake in the success or failure of
the hero. And the adventures all
have to tie together toward a
common goal. If it’s got all that
plus suspense, excitement, and
so forth, it’s an epic.
Mostly we think of things
like The Odyssey and Beowulf
when we hear epic. Those are
the stories everyone reads in
school. There’s a reason for that.
Those ancient epics, like
Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and The
Aeneid, are where it all started,
and what they contributed to the
world of literature has remained,
throughout all the centuries, the
biggest crowd-pleaser of any
literary form ever.
Think about some of the
epics of our own time. The
Ancient World contributed
written language to the
generations to come, and the 15th children). Not only does HP have
Century gave us the printing
press, but the 20th Century made
its mark in film, and that is where
we find many, many modern day
epics. Remember, the epic is high
entertainment as much as it is
high art. We don’t get too many
parties these days with a hired
bard sitting in the corner reciting name of one of Harry’s teachers.
the history of our people in
dactylic hexameter, but we sure
do love to gather in big groups to of wisdom and justice in war.
watch the movies.
Case in point, the Star Wars
movies represent classic epics of
our time. Check it out. Go read
the characteristics of the epic and
the epic hero and see how many
of them sound like Star Wars.
That is exactly what George
Lucas intended to create, and he
said so himself.
Another set of beloved
movies, which were actually
beloved books long before they
made it to the big screen, is the
Lord of the Rings trilogy. Epic,
epic, epic. Aragorn is the closest There are many, many more of
thing you’ll find to Odysseus
since the days of the Roman
Empire. He’s brave, cunning,
noble, favored by the gods (or
Elves as the case may be), and the
fate of the world rests with his
success, as it does with Frodo’s.
Then there are the Harry
Potter books/movies, proving that
epics aren’t just for adults (and
Harry Potter isn’t just for
all of the characteristics of the
epic, the stories are also packed
full of allusions to Greek
Mythology and to ancient epics.
The scar on Harry’s
forehead is in the shape of a
lightening bolt, the symbol of
Zeus’s power. Minerva is the
It’s also the Roman name for
Athena who is the Greek goddess
Athena just happens to be
Odysseus’ patron. She looks out
for him, and it is no coincidence
that she appears as a character in
Harry Potter. Then there is
Hermes, the owl, who shares his
name with Hermes, the messenger
of the gods. And Fluffy, the three-
headed dog, who bears amazing
resemblance to Cerberus, the
three-headed dog who guards the
gates of Hades and who can also
be lulled to sleep with music.
Hermione, Harry’s friend, is the
namesake of Hermione, the
daughter of Helen and Menelaus.
these likenesses. Read The
Odyssey. Then read Harry Potter.
You’ll be astounded by how alike
they are.
Indiana Jones is an epic.
Spiderman is an epic. The Wizard
of Oz is an epic. The Matrix is an
epic. The list goes on and on.
Why We Love
Epics continued Star Wars is one of the most

•••
enduring epics of our time.
Two recent films that were
directly based on The Odyssey
are Cold Mountain and Oh,
Brother, Where Art Thou? The
book Cold Mountain, a Civil
War novel, won the National
Book Award and made the
bestseller list too. That just
shows that a good epic, even in
our own time, wins both respect
and popularity. Oh, Brother is an
adaptation of The Odyssey into
Depression Era Mississippi. If
you haven’t seen either of these
movies, I highly recommend What do Harry, Luke, and Odysseus all have in common?
both. But with Cold Mountain,
you should read the book first.
It's fantastic. that there is something inside together in all of the various roles
The point is that epics appeal ourselves that can rise to necessary to have a thriving
to the human spirit at all levels. greatness as the situation civilization. They made people
They have something to teach. requires. They cheer us up. They believe in the heroes inside
They have thrills to offer. They comfort us. They give us themselves.
play on our emotions. Most something to dream about.
importantly, they inspire. Not much has changed in
Epics perform several 3000 years. People laugh, cry,
Epics exist because real life important functions. In ancient love, and hope in the same ways
isn’t nearly that exciting, and days when there was no written they always have. And that is
when life does get exciting, often language, epics were a primary why we love epics.
things don’t work out very well. means of preserving the history
Epics are there to remind us to and the values of a people. They
believe in the extraordinary also bonded nations together with
capacity of the human spirit and a common pride in culture and
the human imagination to heritage. They inspired people to
overcome. They make us believe do their duty and to work
in heroes. They make us believe

Points For Discussion
What are some examples of
contemporary epics in popular
mediums, such as film?
Do action heroes like
Spiderman and Batman count
as epic heroes? What do they
have in common with classical
literary heroes?
How are women depicted
in ancient epics like The
Odyssey as compared to
contemporary popular
epics like Harry Potter?
 The Epic and the Epic Hero

by Sharon Gerald
•••
Epics are long narrative accounts
of the adventures of a hero.
The ancient epics were long
narrative poems. We tend to use
the term more generically today,
referring to movies and novels
and other forms of literature as
epic when they share other
characteristics of the epic, but
Homer’s epics that we are
studying in this unit are poems in
their original forms.
In the epic, the hero is a
larger than life character. He
is stronger, more agile, even
luckier than anyone else.
He (and yes, ancient epic
heroes usually were men) also has
greater responsibilities than
anyone else, as we learn not just
from watching Spiderman
movies, but from reading ancient
epics as well.
The fate of the world--or
at least of the hero’s world--rests
on the fate of the hero.
Even the gods take note of
what the hero is up to and often
intervene in his affairs.
Sometimes they champion the
hero, as Athena does Odysseus,
and sometimes they pit
themselves against the hero, as
Poseidon does Odysseus. The
epic hero is constantly tested
and experiences a series of
adventures that all tie together
toward a common goal.
Odysseus, for example, faces
all of his adversities with the one
goal of returning to Penelope and
to his home.
The fate of
the hero
is the fate
of all.
The foes of the epic hero are
also larger than life. They are
bigger, meaner, and more
impossible to defeat than any
normal human could possibly
endure. The fact that the hero
does endure proves his own
strength and worthiness.
The epic hero shares many
characteristics with other types of
literary heroes. Like the tragic
hero, for example, he often rushes
in where others fear to go. He is
full of pride and an
overdeveloped sense of self-
confidence, even cockiness.
Perhaps the main difference
in the epic hero and the tragic
hero is simply that fate is on the
side of the epic hero. Even if
an epic hero dies in the end, he
dies heroically and in a way that
still saves the world around him.
The epic hero is the reason
others can sleep at night. He is
the great protector of those
around him. Though often at the
very last possible second, he
always manages to save the day
against the most impossible odds.

Fast Facts About the Epic Fast Facts About the Epic Hero

• Long narrative poem about the
adventures of a hero.
• The adventures lead the hero on a
quest toward a common goal, usually
one that saves or protects his own
world.
• Larger than life in strength and
ability.
• Faces foes that are larger than life.
• Prevails in the end even if at the
cost of his own life.
The Epic Hero
•••
HOW DO HARRY POTTER AND
Character Traits of the ODYSSEUS FIT THESE
Characteristics of the
Epic Hero CHARACTERISTICS? WHAT SPECIFIC Epic Hero’s Life
SCENES CAN WE POINT TO IN THE
STORIES WHERE WE MIGHT FIND
EXCEPTIONAL LOYALTY OR
1.
Proud CUNNING? 1. Responsible for the fate
of all
2.
Brave ARE THESE TRAITS ALWAYS
STRENGTHS? ARE THERE TIMES, FOR 2. Embarks on journey or
3.
Loyal EXAMPLE , WHEN BRAVERY OR
quest
PRIDE SERVE AS WEAKNESSES
4.
Cunning RATHER THAN STRENGTHS?
3. Given tasks to prove
worth
5.
Quick to action
4.
Faces many adventures
WHAT IS ULTIMATELY THE MOST
6.
Exceptional abilities DIFFICULT OBSTACLE FOR HARRY
5. Has larger than life
AND FOR ODYSSEUS TO
enemies
7. Born to be a hero OVERCOME--TRIALS OR

TEMPTATIONS? IN WHAT WAY IS 6. Faces temptations as
HARRY TEMPTED? IN WHAT WAY IS well as trials

ODYSSEUS TEMPTED? CAN YOU

A NOTE ABOUT OTHE

THINK OF SCENES IN WHICH 7. Sometimes aided by gods
R HEROES THEY BOTH CHOOSE LOYALTY (or Hogwarts’ teachers)
TO OTHERS OVER THEIR OWN
These are characteris
tics of the epic TEMPTATIONS? 8. Has supporters and
hero. Many of them sidekicks, but must
might also
apply to other types ultimately complete the
of literary
heroes, in particular
the tragic HOW IMPORTANT IS THE IDEA quest alone
hero. The most basic OF FATE TO THE HERO? DO
difference in
the tragic hero is tha ODYSSEUS AND HARRY HAVE
t he or she
starts at a high point
and ends up at FATES THEY MUST FULFILL
a low point. The epic
hero, by REGARDLESS OF THEIR OWN
contrast, often starts
at a low point CHOICES? IN WHAT WAYS DO
and ends up prevailing
over THEIR CHOICES MATTER?
adversity. You don’t
get much lower
than Harry’s cupboa
rd under the
stairs, do you?

into the underworld, and 2. Write your own Odyssey fan

IDEAS
FOR WRITING
1. Choose a scene in Harry Potter
to compare to a scene in The
Odyssey. You might choose, for
example, Odysseus’s journey
Harry’s descent into the
Chamber of Secrets. Or what
about Harry’s battle with the
troll in Book 1 and Odysseus’s
encounter with the cyclops?
fiction by taking a scene from
Homer and inserting
characters from Harry Potter
into it (or a scene from Harry
Potter with characters from The
Odyssey).
Why We Love Harry Potter and What Harry
Can Teach Us About Literature
by Sharon Gerald
•••
WE LOVE HARRY POTTER FOR
THREE MAIN REASONS: (1) THE
ENGAGING VOICE; (2) THE EPIC
ADVENTURE; (3) THE MORAL
CLARITY
Voice
Harry Potter has its own unique
charm, largely due to the speaking
voice of the narrator. The first line
of the first book is “Mr. and Mrs.
Dursley, of number four, Privet
Drive, were proud to say that they
were perfectly normal, thank you
very much.” If the sentence ended at
“normal,” it would accomplish the
storyteller’s job of establishing
character and setting. The “thank
you very much” tacked on goes a
step further to establish attitude,
tone, and personality on the part of
the narrator.
This quirkiness of speaking voice,
evident throughout the series, tells us ingrained in our culture and in our
Rowling is very much aware of the previous exposures to storytelling.
conversational elements of
storytelling, that she’s engaged in a
conversational performance as she
tells this story. That narrative
performance is about as close as we
can get in the written word to oral
storytelling traditions, the likes of
which produced The Odyssey and
other great epics of classical
literature.
Epic Adventure our collective memories of fairy
tales and other fanciful things.
For most of recorded literature, the
epic has remained the most popular Moral Clarity
type of story (see “Why We Love
In a literary age filled with moral
Epics” on page 3). What’s not to
love? It has adventure, survivable ambiguity thanks to the
experimentalism of modernism and
violence, and romance.
the skepticism of postmodernism,
The Harry Potter series makes use of Harry Potter offers what’s often
that winning combination to once missing for us in both life and
again prove the rule. We love epics. fiction--a clear sense of good and
evil with clear lines of demarcation
The series also draws on a whole lot
between the two.
of tried-and-true literary devices that
often go along with epic adventure. Good characters make mistakes, and
bad characters have back-stories to
We have a hero who embarks on a
help us understand them, but we still
journey. He encounters a villain, is have no doubt who the good ones
given a quest, and realizes that only
are and who the bad ones are.
he can save the world as he knows it. What’s more, we know what makes
He is an orphan. He has sidekicks
a character good--love. Harry and
and a mentor. He has a rival.
Voldemort are very similar
characters if we only look at their
These are literary archetypes, or
symbolic patterns that we recognize abilities, or even if we look at their
circumstances or their weaknesses,
and respond to on an instinctive
level because they are deeply yet Harry is distinctly good where
Voldemort is distinctly bad because
Harry loves and Harry has been
loved. This is the great moral of the
Harry Potter resonates so well with whole series.
us then because we understand on an
instinctive level how to respond both Along the way to understanding the
mentally and emotionally to his moral that love is the dividing line
between good and evil, we, with
story.
Harry, learn many other lessons.
Furthermore, the books are full of
mythological creatures, legends, and Here are just a few:
other references that add to our sense
“It’s our choices, Harry, that show us
of being in a comfortably familiar
who we really are, far more than our
fantasy world because they draw on
abilities.” ~Albus Dumbledore,
Why We Love Harry Potter continued
“The truth. It is a beautiful and
terrible thing and should therefore be should cherish them just for that.
treated with great caution.” ~Albus
Dumbledore, Sorcerer’s Stone
“Dark and difficult times lie ahead.
Soon we must all face the choice
between what is right and what is
easy.” ~Albus Dumbledore, Goblet
of Fire
“The consequences of our actions
are so complicated, so diverse, that
predicting the future is a very
difficult business indeed.” ~Albus
Dumbledore, Prisoner of Azkaban
WHAT HARRY POTTER CAN
TEACH US ABOUT
LITERATURE
Harry Potter has been called a
gateway drug of reading because so
many kids (of all ages) clamor to
read Harry like they’d never read
before. Some even go on to take up
an interest in reading other books.
This is magical.
First and foremost what Harry can
teach us (or just remind us of when
we need reminding) is how to love
reading. The books are entertaining,
inspiring, and fun to talk about with
others. They’ve sparked more
literary discussion than Oprah. We
Image Credits
They can teach us a whole lot more Page 1
as well, though. If we can
understand how literary conventions Top left: Flickr image
by Quinn Dombrowski
function in Harry Potter, we can
understand how they function in any
Bottom left: from
literature, no matter how ancient or hubpages.com
how difficult to read.
Bottom center: from
If you understand why Harry is an educatorunderground.c
epic hero, you’ll understand why om
Odysseus is an epic hero.
Bottom right: from
If you understand what it means for mysticmedusa.com
Harry to have so many near misses
Page 2
with Voldemort without ever fully
ridding himself of the threat for
from
seven full years, you’ll understand rogueclassicism.com
what it meant for Odysseus to
Page 4
experience that many years and
more of conflict with Poseidon.
from msnbc.msn.com
Harry Potter is more than a gateway
to reading; it’s a pattern book to Retrieved 14 November
literature. If you read it mindfully 2010 via Google Images
with an eye to how it is put together
and what has symbolic meaning as
well as literal meaning, you’ll know
all you need to know about how to
mindfully read any other book as
well. That’s magic.

When Harry Meets Homer Sharon Gerald
Understanding the Jones County Junior College
Classics with a Little Help
Ellisville, MS
from the Boy Who Lived
Contact:
sharon.gerald@jcjc.edu
www.teacherlytech.net
www.writerlyhaphazardry.net
Copies of this document
available on Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/
sharon_gerald