The Homeric World — GCSE Classical Civilisation

Section A Culture
1.0
Overview
What the Culture half covers, and how the Mycenaean age sits behind Homer.
1.1
Dating the Mycenaean Age
When the Mycenaean age was, what defined it, and why it sits four hundred years before Homer.
1.2
Mycenae
The prescribed site in full — its setting, the Cyclopean walls and Lion Gate, the palace and megaron, the cistern and sally ports, and the tombs.
1.3
Tiryns
The prescribed fortress in full — its Cyclopean walls and galleries, the great ramp and gate, the palace, the water passages and its tholos tomb.
1.4
Troy and Homer
The prescribed site in full — where Troy is, the layers of the mound, and the case for and against Troy VI and Troy VIIa being Homer's city.
2.0
Overview
Daily life behind the palace walls.
2.1
The Palace and the Megaron
The typical complex, its layout and how it was used.
2.2
Hunting and the Elite
The evidence and what it shows (source: dagger blade with hunting scene, Grave Circle A).
2.3
Armour, Weapons and Warfare
Equipment and how it was used (source: Mycenaean warrior vase, House of the Warrior).
2.4
Chariots, Clothing and Trade
The wider picture of everyday life.
2.5
Linear B
How the tablets survived, what they record and why they matter (source: Linear B “tripod” tablet, Pylos).
3.0
Overview
The craftsmanship of the Mycenaean world.
3.1
Frescoes
Techniques, colours and typical designs (source: fresco of a lady holding a necklace, House of the Chief Priest).
3.2
Jewellery and Metalwork
Techniques and materials, including gold, amber and glass (source: gold rhyton, Grave Circle A).
3.3
Decorative Objects
Storage and drinking vessels, ivory carving and votive offerings (source: gold pyxis, Grave Circle A).
3.4
Figurines
Phi, psi and tau figures and what they were for.
4.0
Overview
How the Mycenaeans buried their dead.
4.1
Burial Customs and Beliefs
What the graves suggest about attitudes to death.
4.2
Shaft Graves and Cist Graves
Their structure and use.
4.3
Tholos and Chamber Tombs
Their structure and use (source: Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae).
4.4
Grave Circle A and Grave Circle B
The contents and what they tell us (source: gold death mask of Agamemnon, Shaft Grave V).
4.5
Funerary Objects
What was buried with the dead and why.
Section B Literature Homer, Odyssey 9, 10, 19, 21 & 22
5.0
Overview
How to read the Odyssey and what this half asks of you.
5.1
Homer as a Storyteller
How the poem might have been composed and performed.
5.2
What Makes the Odyssey an Epic Poem
The features of the genre.
5.3
Similes
How they work and why they matter.
5.4
Epithets
The repeated descriptive tags and their effect.
5.5
Formulae
Repeated phrases and lines, and what they were for.
6.0
Overview
Where Book 9 sits in the poem and the tale Odysseus tells.
6.1
The Cicones and the Lotus-eaters
The opening adventures.
6.2
Into the Cave
Odysseus, Polyphemus and the failure of xenia.
6.3
The Blinding and the “Nobody” Trick
Deceit and intelligence in action.
6.4
The Escape and the Boast
Cunning, and the pride that costs him.
6.5
Polyphemus as Monster and Herdsman
How the Cyclops is portrayed.
7.0
Overview
The adventures of Book 10.
7.1
Aeolus and the Bag of Winds
A homecoming thrown away.
7.2
The Laestrygonians
Civilisation, barbarism and the loss of the fleet.
7.3
Circe as Witch
The transformation of the crew.
7.4
Circe as Host
Hospitality, danger and the year on Aiaia.
7.5
The Crew of Odysseus
How they are portrayed and why they matter.
8.0
Overview
The disguised hero back in his own hall.
8.1
The Beggar and the Queen
Odysseus and Penelope in conversation.
8.2
The Recognition
Eurycleia, the foot-washing and the scar.
8.3
Penelope as Wife, Host and Queen
How she is portrayed.
8.4
Deceit, Disguise and Nostos
The threads running through the book.
9.0
Overview
The test that sets up the climax.
9.1
Penelope Sets the Contest of the Bow
The challenge laid down.
9.2
The Suitors Fail
How the suitors are portrayed.
9.3
Telemachus as Son and Hero
His growing role.
9.4
The Loyal Slaves
Eumaeus and Philoetius, and Odysseus' revelation to them.
9.5
The Stringing of the Bow
The hero reclaims his place.
10.0
Overview
The reckoning in the hall.
10.1
The Deaths of Antinous and Eurymachus
The slaughter begins.
10.2
Revenge and Justice
How far the killing is deserved.
10.3
Loyalty and Disloyalty
The fate of the maids and Melanthius.
10.4
The Role of Athena
Divine help in the fight.
11.0
Overview
Drawing the poem together for the exam.
11.1
Xenia Across the Poem
Guest-friendship honoured and abused.
11.2
Deceit and Trickery
Lies, disguise and cunning as a way of surviving.
11.3
Civilisation and Barbarism
How places and characters are judged.
11.4
Revenge and Justice
The punishment of the suitors and the slaves.
11.5
Nostos
The desire to return home as the engine of the poem.
11.6
The Role of Fate
What is fixed and what is chosen.
11.7
The Character of Odysseus
Leader, husband, father, warrior; his cunning, his skill as a speaker, and his bond with Athena.
11.8
The Gods in the Odyssey
How the divine shapes events.
11.9
Exam Technique
The Literature section, the prescribed extracts and the longer responses.