Intro
What is the setting for the Iliad?
Troy
What two things are the subject of the Iliad?
Achilles' rage and the will of Zeus
Who duels in Book III?
Paris and Menalaus
Who fights in the duel in Book VII?
Hector and Ajax
What does Agamemnon want to do at the beginning of Book IX?
Give up and go home
Deserved prize/trophy that reflects one's social status and reputation
What is the purpose behind Agamemnon testing his troops?
To evaluate their morale/willingness to fight
How does Paris escape from Menalaus?
Aphrodite saves him
Why does Hector go to Troy?
Appease Athena
What is Achilles' dilemma?
Go home and live a long life of obscurity or stay and live a short life full of glory and honor
How does Homer describe war? Explain
Terrible beauty: War is bad and gory and gruesome and deadly, but there's a strange beauty in seeing a master at their craft, there's glory and beauty in victory over a worthy opponent too
What is Achilles' prayer to Zeus?
That the Achaeans would lose so that they would see how badly they need him
How does the truce erupt in war?
Athena convinces Pandarus, with promises of glory, to shoot Menalaus
How does Zeus determine which side will win (for the moment)?
Weighs them in his scales
What is the purpose of the special mission and who goes on it?
To gather information of the Trojan lines (or the Greek lines if you're Dolon). Diomedes and Odysseus go
Explain dactylic hexameter in epic poetry
3 syllables (stressed, unstressed, unstressed) and 6 of those dactyls, meaning there should be 18 syllables per line, but there's 17 because a trochee is at the end (stressed, unstressed)
How does Zeus get Agamemnon to go and attack the Trojans in Book II?
What is the relationship like between Paris and Helen? Explain and reference the text
Acrimonious - Helen sees him as a coward and not as much of a man as Menelaus, and Paris doesn't care, just wants an easy, peaceful relationship
Why does Hector want to build so many campfires on the plain?
To ensure the Greeks don't sneak off in the night
What does Agamemnon offer to Achilles? How does Odysseus modify this offer?
Offers gifts of gold, bronze, women, one of his own daughters, cities, horses, etc.
Odysseus offers all that, but leaves out the part of Achilles recognizing that Agamemnon is the superior man
Explain what an epic simile is, and its parts
An extended metaphor (often running to several lines) using “like” or “as” that compares and extraordinary action to an everyday thing
Tenor - real thing actually happening in the story
Vehicle - metaphor/thing in comparison
Ground - characteristic/thing being compared
Pivot - shift from vehicle back to tenor/real world
Explain the background to the clash, and the clash itself between Agamemnon and Achilles
Agamemnon refuses to give back Apollo's priest's daughter, Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks as punishment, Achilles calls the Greeks together and convinces Agamemnon to give back the girl and Agamemnon agrees but will take a prize from Achilles
What gift does Athena give Diomedes, and what stipulation comes with it?
See the gods on the battlefield; can only injure Aphrodite (eventually extended to all gods)
What deal does Paris offer the Greeks, and how do the Greeks respond?
He won't give up Helen, but he'll give up the gifts and other treasures he stole. The Greeks reject this offer because they sense that Troy is on the back foot
Who do Diomedes and Odysseus go to fight in the night and how do they escape?
They go to fight the Thracians. They kill the king and use his chariot to escape