CONFLICTS IN THE ODYSSEY

1. Analyzing the Classics CONFLICTS IN THE ODYSSEY

2. What is a conflict? • Fight • Battle • Struggle • Controversy • Quarrel • Discord of action • Incompatibility • Usually 2 (sometimes 3) opposing forces

3. In literature, we talk about 3 different types of conflict • Character vs. character (man vs. man): most obvious; when a character struggles against another character or other characters • Character vs. nature (man vs. nature): conflict occurs between the character(s) in the book and the natural world (e.g. hurricanes, viruses, etc.) • Character vs. self (man vs. self): conflict occurs between a character and his internal self (e.g. moral dilemmas, emotional problems, etc.) Conflict in Literature

4. Character vs. character (man vs. man): most obvious; when a character struggles against another character or other characters • Character vs. nature (man vs. nature): conflict occurs between the character(s) in the book and the natural world (e.g. hurricanes, viruses, etc.) • Character vs. self (man vs. self): conflict occurs between a character and his internal self (e.g. moral dilemmas, emotional problems, etc.) See if you can come up with your own examples of each (movies, books, etc.)  

5. Yes! So far, we’ve seen one type of conflict (possibly 2 if we dig deep). • In Books I-III we see a man vs. man conflict as Telemachus is struggling against the suitors who are occupying his father’s house. Have we seen any conflict(s) yet in the odyssey?

6. Be on the lookout for all 3 types of conflict – they are certainly there, but we are going to have to think about them in order to really understand them. • Constantly compare the conflicts that Odysseus encounters on his journey to the conflicts that you encounter in everyday life. • How are your conflicts similar? (Don’t just think say that they are not because monsters aren’t real. Think about what you face every day.) As we continue to read through the odyssey…