Fill in the blanks with words from the list below.
Nearly 3,000 years after Homer, we still say ____ 3 ____ heel, "Trojan horse," or "the face that launched a thousand ships." All of these sayings are from "The Iliad" or they are from the famous and popular ____ 4 _____cycle on which the poems are based.
For all practical purposes, our Western ____ 5 _____begins with "The Iliad".
"The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" were composed ____ 6 ____ . The poems were handed down by ____ 7 ____ from generation to generation and eventually were written down on papyri after Homer's death.
Homer was most likely a Greek who lived in the eighth century B.C. According to legend, he was blind and made a living as a poor singer of stories (called bards).
However, Homer's genius was that of a ____ 8 ____ storyteller. He shaped traditional poetic stories into tales that today are second only to the Bible in popularity.
Alexander the Great, carried Homer's book along with him even in battle, as his ____ 9 ____ , and was never without it. He used it as a pillow, so that he should not be separated from Homer, and so that he should dream well.
"The Iliad"takes place during the tenth year of the Trojan War, which took place in the twelfth century B.C.
"The Odyssey" takes its name from the hero of the epic, ____ 12 ____ , King of the Island of Ithaca, who participated in the Trojan War and is sailing toward home.
His wanderings take place over ten years, and Odysseus tells about his fantastic adventures using flashbacks. Odysseus ____ 13 ____, the qualities of bravery, physical strength, and supreme cleverness, but he also comes to represent endurance, wisdom, and self-control.
His most famous adventure is on the Island of the ____ 14 ____ where ____ 15 ____ Ulysses escapes a one-eyed giant by getting him drunk and blinding the eye.