Invitation to World Literature

Classroom Resources > Invitation to World Literature > 3. The Odyssey > 3.4 The Odyssey – Map & Timeline

The Odyssey – Map & Timeline

The twisting, turning journey of Odysseus.
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This map shows Odysseus’ journey after he left Troy. While his encounters were fictional — there were no Lotus Eaters, Sirens, or Cyclopes in the ancient Mediterranean — his ports of call were real. As you can see from the names of the modern nations, the bards who sang of Odysseus sent him to very real places in the Greek world. At a time when little of the world was fully mapped, it was not so far-fetched to believe that in some unknown corner of Italy or Tunisia there might be wonderful and terrible creatures waiting to catch the unwary traveler.

1200 BCE

Trojan War. Mycenean Greeks at this time had a complicated script for writing that was only used by scribes and that died out when Mycenae fell.

1100s BCE

Oral stories of the Trojan War and Odysseus are first told.

1100s-700s BCE

The “Dark Age” of Greece, about which we know very little.

700s-600s BCE

First use of the Phoenician alphabet in Greece. Each letter stands for a sound, but with no punctuation, spaces between words, or distinction between capital and lower-case letters.

Late 700s - early 600s BCE

Accomplished oral poets first commit the epics of Troy and Odysseus to writing. They write on papyrus rolls. One hypothesis is that the twenty-four books of the written epic result from the fact that the story took this many parchment rolls to write out.

400-300s BCE

Alexandrian scholars copy the stories in the great library founded by Alexander the Great in Egypt.

330-1453 CE

The Odyssey is copied and preserved by scholars of the Byzantine Empire.

1453 CE

Byzantium falls and its manuscripts of The Odyssey travel west into Europe, where few scholars are able to read ancient Greek.

1700s CE

European scholars launch a debate over whether Homer was literate.

1700s-1800s CE

The Odyssey is translated into English.

1800s CE

European scholars of the new field of linguistics study ancient Homeric texts.

1920s CE

Based on research among oral bards in Serbia, Milman Parry demonstrates that oral poets can indeed sing thousands of lines of poetry by improvising on a well-established topic.

Sections

3.1 The Odyssey – Getting Started

3.2 The Odyssey – Read the Text

Read the Excerpt

3.3 The Odyssey: Expert’s View

Experts' View: Penelope

3.4 The Odyssey – Map & Timeline

3.5 The Odyssey: Connections

3.6 The Odyssey: Key Points

Key Teaching Points and Discussion Prompts

Transcript: The Odyssey

Transcript

Slideshow: The Odyssey

Images

Units

Unit 1 The Epic of Gilgamesh

The first known human story is that of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Images of artifacts from ancient Iraq mix with beautiful illustrations, dance, and costume to tell of the relations between gods and mortals, the search for friendship, love, and immortality. Featured cast members include Assyriologist Ben Foster, comic book illustrator Jim Starlin, and poet and playwright Yusef Komunyakaa.

Unit 2 My Name Is Red

Both an historical novel and a graphic murder mystery set among the miniaturists of the Ottoman court. With its focus on Istambul, a major crossroads of the world, it tells of the artistic/cultural contest between Europe and the East. Cast members include the book's Nobel-prize winning author, Orhan Pamuk, and its English translator, Erdağ Göknar.

Unit 3 The Odyssey

Odysseus must travel the known and unknown world before he can return home to his beloved island kingdom of Ithaca. What does this ancient story say to readers today? In this program, Odysseus's story is given ancient and modern historical and philosophical context, and illustrated with centuries of art. Featured are theater director Mary Zimmerman, actor-director Tim Blake-Nelson, and psychologist/author Jonathan Shay.

Unit 4 The Bacchae

The city of Thebes is torn apart by the conflicting demands of reason and religion, as the disguised god Dionysus returns to his home town demanding to be worshipped. Opposing him is the young king Pentheus, who is doomed to suffer the ultimate punishment for his disbelief. Featured speakers include world-renowned playwright/author Wole Soyinka, actor Alan Cumming, and Daniel Mendelsohn of Bard College.

Unit 5 The Bhagavad Gita

This epic tale of the warrior-prince Arjuna confronting a life-or-death dilemma during civil war presents a unique and powerful philosophy of duty, discipline, and serving a higher purpose. Beautiful illustrations connect the story with its rich history and culture. Featured speakers include Sheldon Pollock, Professor of Sanskrit Studies and acclaimed composer Philip Glass.

Unit 6 The Tale of Genji

This portrait of court life in medieval Japan follows the life and exploits of the great Genji. Written by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady of the Japanese court, it provides an insider's view of Japanese court life, the official and behind the screen. Art, clothing, music from the time of the novel illustrate the obserations of authors Jane Smiley and Chiori Miyagawa, among others.

Unit 7 Journey to the West

The powerful and mischievous Stone Monkey King brings chaos to heaven and earth. Freed from a mountain prison in order to guard a Chinese monk on his journey to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures from India, Monkey seeks his own spiritual transformation. Modern performance, contemporary art, and Buddhist philosophers provide a rich context to the ancient tale. Featured cast members include playwright David Henry Huang, storyteller Diane Wolkstein, and translator Professor Anthony Yu.

Unit 8 Popol Vuh

The Mayan book of creation, the dawn of life, and the glories of gods and kings. This magnificent epic was saved from destruction at the hands of the Spanish by Quiché chroniclers. Once repressed, the story is now interwoven with the history of today's Mayan people. Featured speakers include archaeologist Richard Hanson, humorist Mo Rocca, and Guatemalan artist Shuni Giron.

Unit 9 Candide

A satirical novel following the travails of Candide, a hopeless optimist whose faith in his tutor's mantra that his is "the best of all possible worlds" is tested beyond all limits. Voltaire's challenge to the aristocracy of his day proves refreshingly amusing and biting today. Original illustrations, songs, and comic book figures plumb the depths of this satire. Featured speakers include director Harold Ramis, actress Kristin Chenoweth, and cartoonist Chris Ware.

Unit 10 Things Fall Apart

In this foundational modern African novel, Chinua Achebe's story follows the lives of people trying to understand which belief systems deserve their loyalty. The protagonist, Okonkwo is a tribal leader who battles neighboring villages, the English, and his own demons in early colonial Nigeria. The perspectives of readers from around the world reveal the novel's universal themes. Cast members include playwright and professor Tess Onwueme and theater director Chuck Mike.

Unit 11 One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel García Márquez's multigenerational saga of the Buendía family in the isolated town of Macondo inaugurated the boom in Latin American literature in the 1970s and marked the beginning of magical realism. Writer Sandra Cisneros and scholar of Latin American literature, Ilan Stavans lend their thoughts and voices to the discussion of this epic novel.

Unit 12 The God of Small Things

Fraternal twins Rahel and Estha struggle to reclaim their lives after their childhood is destroyed by tragic circumstances. As past and present merge in this narrative of Indian society and politics, the many layers of the caste system are mirrored in the poetic and inventive language of the author. Featured speakers include Simon Gikandi of Princeton University, author Evelyn Ch'ien.

Unit 13 The Thousand and One Nights

Shahrazad must hold the interest of her despotic husband the sultan with nightly tales, lest she lose her life in the morning. This wellspring of storytelling, circulating from medieval Persia to Egypt to Iraq, like its wily raconteur lives on in many modern adaptations. Art, performance, and film images are employed to show the collection's broad span of influence. Featured speakers include Marin Alsop, musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Aly Jetha and Shabnam Rezai, co-producers of the 1001 Nights animated series.