What do you need to know about Epic Poetry?
invocation to the muse: The Odyssey begins with a prayer to a goddess of inspiration:
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns …
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove—
the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all,
the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun
and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.
Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus,
start from where you will—sing for our time too.
in medias res: Like many of the books you read, The Odyssey begins in medias res, in the middle of things. Little does Telemachus know, but Odysseus is almost home!
flashback: Also like many modern novels, The Odyssey is not told in chronological order. Odysseus is already with Calypso. Hermes gets him released, and he washes up on the Phaeacian shore. The King presses Odysseus for his history, which is how we hear about the events of the preceding nine years.
epithet: Epic poems were recited, and the bards needed help remembering thousands of lines of verse. They resorted to stock phrases to fill out the verse, which is why Athena is always "Bright-eyed Athene," or "Goddess of the Flashing Eyes, Athene." We keep hearing about the "wine-dark" sea and dawn "with her rose-red fingers" and "quick-witted" "illustrious" "resourceful" "wily" Odysseus, "man of many tales," "never at a loss."
epic simile: You'll find the coolest similes EVER in The Odyssey. Consider these two from Book 22. Odysseus, with a little help, is massacring the suitors:
And now Athena, looming out of the rafters high above them,
brandished her man-destroying shield of thunder, terrifying
the suitors out of their minds, and down the hall they panicked—
wild, like herds stampeding, driven mad as the darting gadfly
strikes in the late spring when the long days come round.
The attackers struck like eagles, crook-clawed, hook-beaked,
swooping down from a mountain ridge to harry smaller birds
that skim across the flatland, cringing under the clouds
but the eagles plunge in fury, rip their lives out—hopeless,
never a chance of flight or rescue—and people love the sport—
so the attackers routed suitors headlong down the hall,
wheeling into the slaughter, slashing left and right
and grisly screams broke from skulls cracked open—
the whole floor awash with blood.
Do you see how the comparisons make the scene even more vivid (at least for people used to observing herds and birds...)
epic catalogue: The Odyssey contains long lists of warriors, weapons, things, or people that locate the hero in the history and culture of the listeners. Book Eleven contains a catalogue of heroes, Book Eight a catalogue of gifts.