The Iliad (8th c. B.C.)
Things to Consider:
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History, especially of Athens & Sparta
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Theology: Greek vs. Hebrew vs. Egyptian
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Relationships between:
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Love/Sex and War (Which is more rewarding?)
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Emotions and Violence
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War and Peace
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Gods and Humans (Which Gods/Goddesses favor which side in war?)
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Gods and Goddesses
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Agamemnon & Gilgamesh
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Achilles & Gilgamesh
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Parents to Children
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Homoeroticism (?) and Images of War
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Repetition of Images/Language
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Women as "prizes" vs. Women as "wives"
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Men as Husbands vs Men as "Winners" of Prizes
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Character of Helen of Troy (See Essay
)
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"Daughter of Zeus by Leda [to whom he appeared in the form of a swan]
. . . . Helen grew into the most beautiful woman in the world, and her
many suitors agreed among themselves that whoever eventually married her
would be defended by the others. She married Menelaus, and when Paris
carried her off to Troy, the Greek leaders organized the expedition against
Troy" (WW97).
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At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (eventual parents to Achilles),
Eris, the goddess of Discord and Strife, is the only one not invited, but
crashes the party and throws on the floor a golden apple, on which is written,
"To the most beautiful." Three goddesses--Hera, goddess of marriage;
Aphrodite, goddess of Love; and Athena, goddess of wisdom and battles--
all claim it. To settle the dispute, the gods ask Paris, a Trojan
traveller, to decide who should get the apple. Each goddess promises
him a reward to decide in her favor--Hera promises him power, Athena offers
wisdom, and Aphrodite promises him the love of Helen. Aphrodite wins.
(See Ch. 27 of Bulfinch text )
Epic: "A long narrative poem in elevated style presenting characters
of high position in adventures forming an organic whole through their relation
to a central heroic figure and through the development of episodes important
to the history of a nation or a race" (H&H 177).
Convention: Poem opens by stating theme, invoking Muse.
Epic/Homeric Simile: more involved or ornate comparison, in which
the secondary object is very fully developed, and for the moment upstages
the primary object.
Achilles: Warrior Identity
Hektor: Associated with civilized life
** Homework Questions ** (See Part Two Questions )
Book One:
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What kind of king is Agamemnon? Compared to Gilgamesh? Explain.
360:
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Why does (Phoibos) Apollo shoot arrows for nine days at the Greeks?
(See 1.10-46)
368:
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What does it involve for the Greeks to make a sacrifice? (See 1.450-74)
371-72:
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Describe the relationship between Zeus (Jove) and Hera (Juno). (See
1.560-611)
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Who is Hephaistos (Vulcan)?
Book Eighteen:
372ff:
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What eventually causes Achilles to fight?
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Explain: "It is decreed your death must come soon after Hektor's" (18.96).
(see also )
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Why does he need a new shield to do so?
381:
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Explain Thetis's complaint. Why is she "one who in her heart has
endured so many grim sorrows / as the grief Zeus, son of Kronos, has given
me beyond others?" (18.430-31).
383-86:
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What is significant about the images Hephaistos puts on the Shield of
Achilles?
Other Discussion Questions:
European Background:
193:
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Who are the 12 Olympians? (See also page 791-92)
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Who is Cronus? Who is Zeus?
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Who is Prometheus? Who is Epimetheus?
194:
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Who is Pandora?
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When was the age of lyric poetry?
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What are the 8 conventions of epic poetry?
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What was the Pelopponesian War?
195:
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What does "unity of time and place" mean?
196:
363:
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What function does Athene (Minerva) serve here?
364:
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What function does Nestor serve here?
365:
367:
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What service has Thetis earlier performed for Zeus?
379:
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What literary technique is used in the description of the lion who has
lost his cubs (18.318-23)?
381:
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Why is Hephaistos (Vulcan) in Thetis's debt?
** Homework Questions for Part Two
**
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Find and explain an example of an epic simile in Book 22 or 24.
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Find an example of the gods' intervention in the events of Humans in
Book 22 or 24. Explain their actions.
Book Twenty-Two:
386:
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Explain Apollo's comment to Achilles: "Why, son of Peleus,
/ do you keep after me in the speed of your feet, being mortal / while
I am an immortal god?" (22.7-9).
391:
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Explain the significance of the "golden scales" (22.209).
392:
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Why does Hektor stop running from Achilles?
394-95:
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Explain the Greeks' treatment of Hektor in 22.369-75.
Book Twenty-Four:
398-99:
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Why isn't Hektor's body damaged when Achilles drags it?
399:
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Why do Athene and Hera keep "still / their hatred for sacred Ilion as
in the beginning" (24.26-27)? Why do they hate Troy in the first
place?
404:
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Why would Priam trade his remaining nine sons for Hektor?
413:
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Explain the interaction between Priam and Achilles in 24.629-32:
Other Discussion Questions:
388:
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Why does Hecuba (Hekabe) expose her breasts to Hektor?
389:
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What does it mean to be slain "as if I were / a woman" (22.124-25)?
401:
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Why does Achilles agree to accept a ransom for Hektor's body?
403:
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Is is true that Hektor is "no coward" and has "no thought in his mind
of flight or withdrawal" (24.214,216)? Explain.
405:
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Why does Zeus send an eagle ("a bird of omen") to Troy?
406:
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Why is Mercury (Hermes) called the Argeïphontes?
410:
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How many children does Priam have? How does he have so many?
414:
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Does Achilles have the authority to promise an eleven-day respite from
fighting? Explain.
416:
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Why is Helen particularly upset by Hektor's death?
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