EUROPEAN LITERATURE

Popular Forms of European Literature

ILIAD

 “The Iliad” (Gr: “Iliás”) is an epic poem by the ancient Greek poet Homer, which recounts some of the
significant events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy (which was also
known as Ilion, Ilios or Ilium in ancient times).
 The story covered by “The Iliad” begins nearly ten years into the seige of Troy by the Greek forces, led by
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. The Greeks are quarrelling about whether or not to return Chryseis, a
Trojan captive of King Agamemnon, to her father, Chryses, a priest of Apollo.
 The Iliad is an epic poem, written by Homer, that covers the quarrels
and fighting near the end of the Trojan War. The story opens nine
years into the war, which basically started because Paris, son of King
Priam of Troy (Ilias), kidnapped Helen from Menelaus, a Greek and
brother of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. Agamemnon decides to go
to war with the Trojans, and convinces other armies to join him.
 Achilles returns to the war to kill Hector.
 The Iliad isn't just about the soldiers and kings, though. The gods,
too, find their own source of entertainment by participating in the war
on various levels. At the core of this epic is the legend of Achilles. For
those of you who have seen Troy, which was partially based on The
Iliad, this lesson is worth taking into consideration because of the
significant differences between the film and this epic poem,
especially the timeline. For example, Achilles doesn't die in Homer's
story, and there is no Trojan Horse in The Iliad.
THE MAIN THEME ILIAD?

 Love and friendship, fate and free will, and honor are the main themes of Homer's The Iliad. All
three themes follow Achilles and the other main characters of the epic poem. We see how
Achilles' friendship with Patroclus and his hunger for honor guides much of the epic, which lead
to both his and Hector's demises.
ODESSY

 Odyssey is a Greek epic poem written by Homer about the long journey of a man named
Odysseus, or a long and eventual journey or experience. A spiritual quest is an example of
an odyssey.

 The Odyssey” (Gr: “Odysseia”) is the second of the two epic poems attributed to the ancient
Greek poet Homer (the first being “The Iliad”), and usually considered the second extant work
of Western literature. It was probably composed near the end of the 8th Century BCE and is, in
part, a sequel to “The Iliad”. It is widely recognized as one of the great stories of all time, and
has been a strong influence on later European, especially Renaissance, literature. The poem
focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long
journey home to Ithaca following the fall of Troy. His adventure-filled ten year journey took him
through the Ionian Islands and the Peloponnese and as far away as Egypt and North Africa
and the western Mediteranean, as the displeased sea-god Poseidon prevented him from
reaching his home.
 Odysseus is probably best known as the
eponymous hero of the Odyssey. This epic
describes his travails, which lasted for 10
years, as he tries to return home after the
Trojan War and reassert his place as rightful
king of Ithaca.
 The Odyssey Summary
 Ten years after the fall of Troy, the victorious Greek hero Odysseus has still not returned to his native Ithaca. A band of rowdy suitors,
believing Odysseus to be dead, has overrun his palace, courting his faithful -- though weakening -- wife, Penelope, and going through
his stock of food. With permission from Zeus, the goddess Athena, Odysseus' greatest immortal ally, appears in disguise and urges
Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek news of his father at Pylos and Sparta. However, the suitors, led by Antinous, plan to ambush him
upon his return.
 As Telemachus tracks Odysseus' trail through stories from his old comrades-in-arms, Athena arranges for the release of Odysseus
from the island of the beautiful goddess Calypso, whose prisoner and lover he has been for the last eight years. Odysseus sets sail on
a makeshift raft, but the sea god Poseidon, whose wrath Odysseus incurred earlier in his adventures by blinding Poseidon's son, the
Cyclops Polyphemus, conjures up a storm. With Athena's help, Odysseus reaches the Phaeacians. Their princess, Nausicaa, who has a
crush on the handsome warrior, opens the palace to the stranger. Odysseus withholds his identity for as long as he can until finally, at
the Phaeacians' request, he tells the story of his adventures.
 Odysseus relates how, following the Trojan War, his men suffered more losses at the hands of the Kikones, then were nearly tempted
to stay on the island of the drug-addled Lotus Eaters. Next, the Cyclops Polyphemus devoured many of Odysseus' men before an
ingenious plan of Odysseus' allowed the rest to escape -- but not before Odysseus revealed his name to Polyphemus and thus started
his personal war with Poseidon. The wind god Ailos then provided Odysseus with a bag of winds to aid his return home, but the crew
greedily opened the bag and sent the ship to the land of the giant, man-eating Laistrygonians, where they again barely escaped.
 On their next stop, the goddess Circe tricked Odysseus' men and turned them into pigs. With the help of the god Hermes, Odysseus
defied her spell and metamorphosed the pigs back into men. They stayed on her island for a year in the lap of luxury, with Odysseus
as her lover, before moving on and resisting the temptations of the seductive and dangerous Sirens, navigating between the sea
monster Scylla and the whirlpools of Charybdis, and plumbing the depths of Hades to receive a prophecy from the blind seer Tiresias.
Resting on the island of Helios, Odysseus' men disobeyed his orders not to touch the oxen. At sea, Zeus punished them and all but
Odysseus died in a storm. It was then that Odysseus reached Calypso's island.
 Odysseus finishes his story, and the Phaeacians hospitably give him gifts and ferry him home on a ship. Athena disguises Odysseus
as a beggar and instructs him to seek out his old swineherd, Eumaeus; she will recall Telemachus from his own travels. With Athena's
help, Telemachus avoids the suitors' ambush and reunites with his father, who reveals his identity only to his son and swineherd. He
devises a plan to overthrow the suitors with their help.
 In disguise as a beggar, Odysseus investigates his palace. The suitors and a few of his old servants generally treat him rudely as
Odysseus sizes up the loyalty of Penelope and his other servants. Penelope, who notes the resemblance between the beggar and her
presumably dead husband, proposes a contest: she will, at last, marry the suitor who can string Odysseus' great bow and shoot an
arrow through a dozen axe heads.
 Only Odysseus can pull off the feat. Bow in hand, he shoots and kills the suitor Antinous and reveals his identity. With Telemachus,
Eumaeus, and his goatherd Philoitios at his side, Odysseus leads the massacre of the suitors, aided only at the end by Athena.
Odysseus lovingly reunites with Penelope, his knowledge of their bed that he built the proof that overcomes her skepticism that he is
an impostor. Outside of town, Odysseus visits his ailing father, Laertes, but an army of the suitors' relatives quickly finds them. With
the encouragement of a disguised Athena, Laertes strikes down the ringleader, Antinous' father. Before the battle can progress any
further, Athena, on command from Zeus, orders peace between the two sides.
SONNETS
 A sonnet is a poem in a specific form which originated in
Italy; Giacomo da Lentini is credited with its invention.
The term sonnet is derived from the Italian word sonetto.
By the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen
lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific
structure.
 Generally, sonnets are divided into different groups
based on the rhyme scheme they follow. The rhymes of a
sonnet are arranged according to a certain rhyme
scheme. The rhyme scheme in English is usually abab–
cdcd–efef–gg, and in Italian abba–abba–cde–cde.
EXAMPLE OF SONNET
3 TYPES OF SONNET

 Terms in this set (3)

 Spenserian sonnet. 3 quatrains and a couplet -
"abab bcbc cdcd ee"
 english(shakespearean) sonnet. 3 quatrains of
"abab cdcd efef" followed by a single couplet.
 italian(petrarchan) sonnet. octave of "abba
abba" then a sestet of "cdc cdc"
 Shakespearean Sonnet
 Or English sonnet consists of three quatrains, or four-line stanzas, followed
by a couplet, or pair of rhyming lines. The rhyme scheme is typically abab,
cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet often presents a conclusion to the issues or
questions presented in the three quatrains.
 Spenserian Sonnet
 has three quatrains and a couplet, but it follows the rhyme scheme abab
bcbc cdcd ee. This interlocking rhyme scheme pushes the sonnet toward the
final couplet, which makes a key point or comment.
 Petrarchan Sonnet
 or Italian sonnet, fourteen lines are divided into two stanzas, the eight-line
octave and the six-line sestet. The sestet usually responds to a question or
situation posed by the octave. The rhyme scheme for the octave is typically
abbaabba; for the sestet, the rhyme scheme is typically cdecde.

SPENSERIAN SONNET
ENGLISH(SHAKESPEAREAN)SONNET
ITALIAN(PETRARCHAN)SONNET
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