The Iliad summary by book and commentary
The Iliad summary by book and commentary
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The Iliad summary by book
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and commentary
Homer – The Iliad
Context:
We know very little about Homer, who was regarded by the Greeks as their first and greatest poet. Evidence of how little we know about him is that no fewer than seven cities claim to have been his birthplace. Homer is thought to have lived between 850 and 750 BC. The Trojan War, which is the subject of his poem, took place c. 1250 BC, some 400 years before. A bard, who according to tradition was blind, Homer received the history of the war as part of an oral tradition handed down from one generation to the next. The Iliad is an epic poem, meant to be recited or rather sung aloud. One of the greatest war stories ever told, it is filled with scenes of battle and carnage. From this broad perspective, it is the story of a war between two peoples, the Greeks from the West and the Trojans from the East. But Homer’s stated purpose is to sing of one man, Achilles, and the results of his choices. Insofar as the poem is about both, Achilles and the war between the two peoples, it gives us a hint of what all epics are about, a founding or a refounding. Epics are always about a people in the midst of some battle struggling to overcome something they don’t understand or see very well. They typically bring into focus two worlds, a cosmic order of the gods and the temporal, largely political order of a people. At the center of some battle is an individual who either because of some divinely appointed task or divine burden is the instrument of issuing in a change which makes possible a greater attunement between the human and divine orders. The epic is always heroic precisely because of the magnitude of the burden the hero has to bear. The hero of this epic is Achilles.
As part of a living oral tradition, the epic made use of conventions that all of its listeners would have known. One of the more obvious was that the story began en medias res, that is, in the midst of things. Homer was counting on his audience already knowing all that preceded and all that came after his story, or he could not have begun where he did. It is important for our understanding of the poem to have some sense of the events leading up to the point where he begins, 9 ½ years into the war. On a human scale, the story began with the abduction of Helen, the wife of Menelaus. Paris, the son of Priam, king of Troy, fell in love with Helen while he was a guest of Menelaus and taking her with him, he returned to Troy. In retribution for the violation of both the marriage and the rules of hospitality, Agamemnon, Menelaus‟ brother, gathered an army of the Greek city-states and traveled over the Aegean Sea to lay siege to the city of Troy. On a divine scale, the roots of the conflict grew out of a contest in which Paris was asked to choose Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess. He chose Aphrodite, and as a result both Hera and Athena bore a grudge against him. The gods are actively involved in this war, taking sides with either the Trojans or the Achaeans. Hera and Athena, along with Poseidon, support the Achaeans; Apollo, Ares, Artemis and Aphrodite support the Trojans. Zeus intervenes on both sides at various times as it suits his own high purposes.
Book Summaries:
Book I: begins 9 ½ years into the war. Before the story opens, in one of their many raids, the Greeks captured the small town of Chryse, and Agamemnon was given Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo, as booty. When the story opens, the priest comes to the Achaeans to ransom his daughter. Agamemnon refuses, and Apollo sends a plague on the Achaeans for dishonoring his priest. Troubled by this turn of events, Achilles calls an assembly. During that assembly, Kalcas, the bird reader, reveals that the plague is due to Agamemnon’s refusal and that Apollo will not lift it until the king returns Chryseis without ransom. Agamemnon becomes angry, and when Achilles confronts him, the king takes Briseis, Achilles‟ concubine, to replace the one he is forced to give up. Feeling dishonored, Achilles responds by withdrawing himself and all his men from the war. He appeals to his mother, the goddess Thetis, to restore his honor, and she in turn persuades Zeus to punish Agamemnon by helping the Trojans. Zeus consents. A whole divine order is put in motion in support of Achilles.
Book II: Zeus sets in motion his plan to restore Achilles‟ honor by sending Agamem-non a false dream that he will take Troy that day. Agamemnon tests his soldiers by telling them that Zeus is sending them back to Greece in shame. But his plan backfires, and they rush to put to sea for home. Odysseus restores order. The Greeks once again assemble. Thersites, “a man of many words but disorderly,” attempts to persuade the Achaeans to abandon the war and return home. Odysseus defeats him. Nestor offers sound advice. This chapter ends with a well recognized epic convention, a catalogue of the Trojan and Achaean forces.
Book III: The two armies face off, but rather than engage, they arrange a truce so that Paris and Menelaus, the two principles of the conflict, can engage in single combat with the winner to take Helen. While the two prepare, Helen ascends the Skian gate atop the walls of Troy where she points out the leaders of the Greeks to Priam. Just at that moment when Paris is in danger of being defeated, Aphrodite spirits him back behind the walls of Troy and to his bedroom, where he makes love to Helen.
By the terms of the truce, Helen should go to Menelaus, but Hera wants Troy defeated and so in Book IV, Athena persuades one of the Trojans to kill Menelaus to reignite the fighting. Pandaros, a Trojan archer, wounds Menelaus and the battle recommences.
Book V: describes the aristae of Diomedes. Diomedes is unstoppable and he leads the Greeks in a day of battle that swings first to one side and then the other. The Book begins with Athena healing Diomedes‟ wound and lifting the „mist‟ from his eyes so that he can see the gods on the field of battle. The gods actively join in the fighting, killing some and saving others. Diomedes attacks both Aphrodite and Ares as they help the Trojans. Ares complains to Zeus that the war and his wound are the fault of his „accursed‟ daughter, Athena, but Zeus will hear none of his whining and rebuffs him.
Book VI. Diomedes encounters a guest-friend and for the sake of that friendship, they refuse to kill each other, exchanging shields as a sign. Hector leaves the field of battle to make an offering to Athena in hopes of gaining her aid. While he is within the walls of Troy, he rebukes Paris for remaining safe in the palace while Trojans die for his cause. He seeks out his wife, Andromache and his infant son, assuring her that she will never be taken as a slave as long as he lives.
Book VII: opens with Hector’s return to the battle followed by Paris. He challenges the Achaeans to choose someone for single combat. Aias is chosen but nightfall halts the duel before a winner is decided. The Trojans offer to return everything taken from Menelaus except Helen; the Achaeans refuse the goods and Helen. Another truce is agreed upon so that each side may collect and bury their dead. On the advice of Nestor, the Achaeans fortify their camp with a wall and a ditch during the truce. The Trojans meet in assembly.
Book VIII: reveals the further unfolding of Zeus‟ plan to make the Greeks suffer for Agamemnon’s dishonor of Achilles when he forbids any of the other gods to interfere in the fighting while he himself encourages the Trojans. At the end of the day, the Achaeans retreat behind their fortifications and the Trojans make camp on the plain.
In Book IX, Realizing that shaming Achilles was a mistake that is costing the Greeks dearly, Agamemnon sends Aias, Odysseus, and Phoenix to appease him. They offer him generous gifts as well as the return of Brises but Achilles refuses their offers. Faced with the choice the gods have given him of dying there with great honor or returning to his home for a long comfortable life without honor, he would choose a long life rather than help Agamemnon. He plans to sail for home, and declares he will never enter the battle until Hector breaks the Achaean wall and reaches the ships.
Both sides decide to send spies out in the night in
Book X. Diomedes and Odysseus capture Dolon, the Trojan scout, using what they learn from him to kill some of the Trojans allies and to steal booty.
Fighting resumes the next day in
Book XI. Hector beats the Achaeans back to their camp. Some of the greatest Greek warriors, Diomedes, Odysseus, and Agamemnon, are injured while Achilles, watching the fighting from his ship, nurses his wounded pride. Patroklos goes out to learn of the casualties and seeing him, Nestor pleads with him to join the battle without Achilles. He tells him if he puts on Achilles‟ armor, the Trojans will fall back in fear.
Hector’s aristeia takes place in
Book XII. The Trojans storm the Greek camp, and Hector breaks through the wall allowing them through to the beach.
In Book XIII, the battle continues on the beach as the Achaeans strive to fight back the advance of the Trojans toward the ships, their only means of survival and passage home. Knowing Zeus is away, Poseidon takes advantage of his absence to encourage the Achaeans. Aias stops Hector from pushing through the fortifications.
Alarmed at the turn of the battle and wanting to get her husband behind doors which only she can unlock, Hera seduces Zeus with the aid of Sleep and a love potion from Aphrodite. They make love here during the height of the battle. While Zeus sleeps, Poseidon works with the Greeks and the battle turns again in Book XIV.
Book XV opens with Zeus awakening. He reveals his plan to Hera and Poseidon is forced to withdraw. Following Zeus‟ command, Apollo restores the stunned Hector, who leads the Trojans through the Greek barricade where he plans to set fire to the ships.
The Trojans are clearly in the ascendancy. Achilles is moved by Patroklos‟ pity, and in
Book XVI he gives Patroklos the use of his armor and men, but he warns him not to take the battle to the walls of Troy. Before Patroklos arrives, Hector finally gets past Aias and sets fire to the first ship, but once the Trojans see the armor of Achilles, they fall back. In battle fury and forgetting Achilles‟ warning, Patroklos pushes the Trojans back to the walls of their city. Apollo confronts and disarms him there and Hector kills him.
Book XVII describes the battle over the body of Patroklos and Achilles‟ armor. The Achaeans manage to retrieve the body of Patroklos and get it back to the Achaean camp, but Hector keeps Achilles‟ armor. In Book XVIII, Achilles grieves the death of Patroklos and, angry with himself for remaining outside the fighting too long, sets his quarrel with Agamemnon aside to avenge his friend. Thetis, his goddess mother, reminds him that if he rejoins the fighting, he himself will follow Hector’s death Hector’s own. Hephaestus, the god of craft, makes Achilles new armor with a shield on which is depicted the two cities of men: the city of war and the city of peace and justice. Thetis and Odysseus both urge Achilles to make a formal reconciliation with Agamemnon at the opening of Book XIX. Achilles speaks to Agamemnon, telling him of his regrets in letting his anger rule him. Agamemnon places the blame for his own behavior on the gods for having deluded him and then offers Achilles gifts. Achilles says the gifts are of no consequence. He desires to take up the fight immediately. He performs a ritual dressing in his new armor, and just before taking the field, his horse Xanthus speaks a prophecy, telling Achilles his horses will keep him safe for a while, but he is soon to meet his death at the hands of “a great god and powerful Destiny.”
When Achilles returns to the battle in Book XX, Zeus gives all the gods permission to rejoin the fighting and a psychopathic ensues. The battle is a holocaust that sweeps up all of nature: the god of the dead awakens, the underworld gapes open, all the gods fight. Achilles kills everyone who faces him with the exception of Aeneas, who is saved by Poseidon, and Hector, who is saved by Apollo.
The Trojans‟ retreat in Book XXI is hampered by the river, Xanthos. As Achilles fills it with bodies, the river rises against him in protest but is finally stopped by the fire of Hephaestus. Now the gods begin to turn openly against one another, with Athena defeating both Ares and Aphrodite and Hera boxing the ears of Artemis. Apollo deceives Achilles into pursuing him long enough for the Trojans to reach the city safely.
Reaching the city gates in Book XXII, Achilles finds Hector waiting for him. As Achilles approaches, Hector takes flight, aided by Apollo. Apollo finally leaves him, and when he does, Athena persuades Hector to turn and fight Achilles. Achilles kills Hector, and fastening his body to the chariot, he drags it back to the Achaean camp while Hector’s family watches from the walls.
The ghost of Patroklos appears to Achilles in Book XXIII, asking why he has not been given a proper burial. The next day he is given an elaborate funeral followed by a day of funeral games.
Book XXIV opens eleven days after Hector’s death, his body still left unburied. Apollo has kept it safe from desecration or corruption and the gods tell Priam to go to Achilles to ransom his dead son. With the help of Hermes, the god of stealth who leads souls to the underworld, Priam goes under cover of night to seek out Achilles and ask for the return of Hector’s body. Achilles greets him courteously, and they grieve their losses together. Achilles has Hector’s body bathed and anointed and returns it to Priam, warning him to stay clear of Agamemnon and promising that there will be no fighting until the days of the funeral are completed. The poem ends on an elegiac note with the Trojans gathering their dead for Hector’s funeral.
Things to Think About When Reading the Poem
1. The war has been going on for 9 ½ years with neither side winning. Each side fights for a different set of values. Be aware of what is most honored by the Achaeans and what by the Trojans.
2. Epics are about foundings. What are the values being fought for at the beginning of the epic? Watch to see if they are changed and if the changes taking place become the occasion for a new order, either in the men or the readers. Be aware of the value given to honor by both men and gods and how the concept of honor changes over the course of the book.
3. The epic struggle of a people doesn't take place in a vacuum; it occurs against the backdrop or rather in the midst of a cosmic order. And this cosmic order, the order of the gods, isn't just a setting; there is something going on within this order itself that's a part of the struggle the humans are facing. It brings into focus some aspect of the problem that isn't obvious at first. The importance of this cosmic order and the epic
world it unfolds to us isn't small, then; it’s enormous because to be aware of a cosmos is to be aware of ancient beginnings. When we enter a cosmos in which the gods play a part, we move into a world that takes us back to beginnings, to “the deeps of time” where boundaries or barriers as we know them fall away. We hear of an Olympus
where the gods dwell; an underworld where spirits go or are taken; a place called Tartarus. In book one, Zeus is described as taking a twelve day's journey to the ends of the ocean, that place where Okeanos, one of the fathers of the gods has been banished--it is at the ends of the world as we know it. And after Zeus agrees to Thetis's request to help recover the lost honor of her son, Achilles, Thetis "leapt down...down from shining Olympus into the sea's depth." Over and over again, we are reminded of a mythic world interpenetrating our own and yet fully real to itself just beyond our borders. Let this world have its full place as you read (cf. especially, XIV, 200ff; and XV, 185ff).
4. In an epic largely devoted to „deeds, ‟ Homer gives attention to several episodes in which words are shown to have an extraordinary power. As you read, think about the power of words vs. the power of deeds and which is greater.
Names and Terms
1. Epic: from the Greek epos, a word or story.
2. The poet or bard: The bard is a poet, a singer who moved from town to town telling his stories or remained at court in the service of his king. Many of the stories were drawn from history and myth that had been handed down from one generation to the next and so would have been familiar to their audiences. This passing on of stories from generation to generation is called the oral tradition. Homer, like the bards before him, would have received the stories of the Trojan War as part of that spoken heritage. Tradition tells us that Homer was blind. It may have been his inability to see with his eyes that gave him the vision to see beyond the battles to invisible things, things greater and more permanent
3. Invocation: a calling on the gods. When Homer begins by invoking the help of the Muse, Calliope (I, ll.1-7), he is drawing on mythic powers of the cosmos without which he cannot tell his tale. His subject involves something too great for him to tell by himself. What is so great about the war that it is deserving of divine help? Notice the several parts that make up the themes announced in the invocation: 1) Achilles‟ "anger" and its devastation; 2) the "will of Zeus" or Zeus's plan to recover Achilles' honor; and 3) the anger of Apollo who caused the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles.
4. Muse: Calliope, one of the 9 daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus (memory impregnated with divine power). Homer invokes her as the muse of epic poetry; she contains knowledge of all things past, particularly those associated with battle. The epic world is a world of the past, existing in memory and apparently closed off from the present.
5. In medias res: in the midst of things: this doesn't mean in the middle arithmetically; its meaning is rather in the midst of a crisis, some problem that is so great, so con-fusing, so painful, no one quite understands how to get out of it: in the midst of things. The fact that the story begins 9 ½ years into the war is not small. Neither side has been able to bring the conflict to a close, suggesting some underlying disorder is in the way. The story is about some change taking place in the interval between Achilles‟ withdrawal from the war and his return. 9 ½, remember, is almost 10, a number representing completion: as The Iliad begins, something is about to happen.
6. Aristae: a special show of valor by an individual; he is perfect, unfailing and invincible in this state.
7. Hubris: pride; an over-reaching showing a failure to grasp human, natural limits.
8. There are two peoples fighting this war: the people of the West are the Achaeans, Danaans, and Argives. The people of the East are the Trojans and the Dardanians. Be aware of the differences between them. Notice, for example, the way they enter the battles in Book III and their respective assemblies, Books I and VII. It will be helpful to keep the cast of major characters clear:
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The Iliad summary by book and commentary
SUMMARY OF HOMER’S THE ILIAD
The Iliad is together with the Odyssey, one of the two ancient Greek epic poems, attributed to Homer. Scholars dispute whether homer existed and whether he was a single person, but it is clear that the poems spring from a long tradition of oral poetry. Their influence on subsequent Greek, Roman and European culture has been enormous.
The epics are considered by modern scholars to be the oldest literature in the Greek language. For most of the 20 century the Iliad and Odyssey were dated to the 8th century BC, but many scholars now prefer a date in the 7th or even the early 6th century BC.
Background to the Iliad: The Trojan War
The action of the Iliad covers only a few weeks of the tenth and final year of the Trojan war. Neither tha background and early years of the war (Paris’ abduction of Helen from King Menelaus), nor its end (the death of Achilles and the fall of Troy), are directly narrated in the Iliad. Many of these events were narrated in other epic poems collectively known as the Cyclic epics or the epic cycle; these poems only survive in fragments.
The story of the Iliad
Apollo has sent a plague against the Greeks, who captures Chryseis, the daughter of the priest Chryses, and given her a prize to Agamemnon. Agamemnon is compelled to restore Chryseis to her father. Out of pride, Agamemnon takes Briseis, whom the Athenians had given to Achilles as a spoil of war. Achilles, the greatest warrior of the age, follows the advice of his mother, Thetis, and withdraws from battle in revenge and the allied Achaean (Greek) armies nearly lose the war.
In counterpoint to Achille’s pride and arrogance stands the Trojan prince Hector, son of King Priam, with a wife and child, who fights to defend his city and his family. The death of Patroclus, Achilles’ dearest friend or lover, at the hands of Hector, brings Achilles back to the war for revenge, and he slays hector. Later Hector’s father, King Priam, comes to Achilles alone (however he was aided by Hermes) to ransom his son’s body back, and Achilles is moved to pity; the funeral of Hector ends the poem.
After the Iliad: the end of the war and the returns home
Although certain events subsequent to the funeral of Hector are foreshadowed in the Iliad, and there is a general sense that the Trojans are doomed, a detailed account of the fall of Troy is not set out by Homer. The following account comes from later Greek and Roman poetry and drama.
Achilles fights and kills the Amazon queen Penthesilea and the Aethiopean king Memmomn. Very soon he is killed on the battlefield by Paris with a poisoned arrow to his vulnerable heel. After his death, ajax and Odysseus feud over who should keep his armour. They submit their disagreement to an impromptu court and Odysseus feud over who should keep his armour. They submit their disagreement to an impromptu court and Odysseus us awarded the armour. Ajax subsequently goes mad and slaughters his livestock, believing they are the Trojan commanders. He then kills himself in shame.
Odyesseus devises a plan to take the city. He has his men build a large, hollow wooden horse, and then he and twenty others hide inside. The greek ships withdraw out of sight of Troy, apparently admitting defeat, and leave behind the horse, allegedly as an offering to Poseidon for good winds on the return trip. The Trojans take inside the great walls of Troy, and then feast and celebrate their victory and the war’s end. At night, Odysseus and the solider creep out of the horse and open the gates to the other Greeks who have sailed back under cover of night. The city is sacked and in some accounts burned for seven years.
Priam is killed. According to one traditions Hector’s wife Andromache throws their son Astyanax and herself from the ramparts to save them from slavery. According to another, Astyanax was killed by Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, to ensure that Hector’s son could not seek vengeance for his fathers death against Achille’s son. Andromache became Neoptolemus’ concubine, later to marry Helenus, Hector’s brother. A roman tradition held that Aeneas escaped with his family and several hundred people, who after years of migration eventually founded Rome.
BOOK I. Apollo is angry because Agamemnon has failed to let one of the god's priests ransom a daughter Agamemnon had alloted himself as a war-prize. Agamemnon reluctantly gives the girl up but insists on taking in her place Briseis, a captive originally assigned to Achilles--hence the "wrath of Achilles," which iis the epic's announced topic. Achilles complains to his divine mother, Thetis, who presuades Zeus to let the Trojans prevail in battle until Achilles's honor is satisfied.
BOOK II. Lured by a false dream sent by Zeus, the Greeks mass for battle, as do the Trojans. Homer gives long lists of both and their allies.
BOOK III. Paris agrees to single combat with Menelaus to settle the issue of the war and everyone on both sides hopes that the war will soon be over, but when Paris starts to lose Aphrodite wafts him away. Even Helen is mad at both Paris and the goddess.
BOOK IV. The Olympians quarrel among themselves and help stir up battle on the fields of Troy.
BOOK V. Athena helps DIOMEDES, the son of King Tydeus of Argos, wound Aphrodite as that goddess is bearing her Trojan son Aeneas off the battlefield. Ares comes to the aid of the Trojans, and Diomedes wounds him, too.
BOOK VI. The Trojan hero Hector drops home during battle to make some sacrifices. His wife Andromache begs him not to leave her a widow, but he goes back to battle anyway. Diomedes and the Trojan hero Glaucus discover that their fathers were friends and exchange armor-- Diomedes gets the better of the bargain, giving his bronze armor in return for golden armor.
BOOK VII. Hector wreaks havoc, and Apollo keeps Athena from helping the Greeks. Ajax is chosen to face Hector in single combat; they fight till night without result. Priam's brother-in- law Antenor advises the Trojans to give up Helen, but Paris refuses. The Greeks build a wall and dig a moat to protect their ships.
BOOK VIII. Guided by Zeus, Hector leads a Trojan rout of the Greeks, but nightfall keeps them from climbing the walls and burning the ships.
BOOK IX. Advised by Nestor, Agamemnon finally agrees to return Briseis to Achilles and give him other great gifts, but Achilles won't come back. He knows that his glory will mean his death.
BOOK X. Sent to spy on the Trojans, Odysseus and Diomedes capture a Trojan spy and learn about a Trojan ally on his way. They kill him and the spy.
BOOK XI. The next day brings another bloody battle. Nestor carries off one of the wounded. Achilles sends his closest friend PATROCLUS (or Patrokles) to find out who it is, and Nestor urges Patroclus to wear Achilles's armor and lead their men into battle.
BOOK XII. Led by Hector, the Trojans break through the Greek walls. BOOK XIII. Poseidon disobeys Zeus and helps rally the Greeks.
BOOK XIV. Poseidon keeps Agamemnon from calling a retreat to the ships, while Hera (borrowing a magic girdle from Aphrodite) seduces Zeus and lulls him to sleep. Hector is wounded by a stone, and the Trojans are driven back.
BOOK XV. Zeus wakes up mad at his wife and sends Apollo to heal Hector, who comes back and burns the Greek ships.
BOOK XVI. Achilles agrees to let Patroclus wear his armor and lead his men. The Trojans fall back, but Hector kills Patroclus after Apollo stuns him.
BOOK XVII. There is a big fight for the battle of Patroclus. Menelaus goes to tell Achilles his friend is dead.
BOOK XVIII. Achilles weeps and carries on. His mother Thetis promises to buy him some new armor overnight. Just seeing him come out to the field of battle makes the Trojans retreat some.
BOOK XIX. Achilles reconciles with Agamemon and leads the Greeks to battle.
BOOK XX. Zeus allows the gods to join in the battle. The Greeks are supported by Hera, Athena,
Poseidon, Hermes, and Hephaestus; the Trojans, by Apollo, Artemis, Ares, and Aphrodite.
BOOK XXI. The gods quarrel among themselves, while Achilles is winning the day. The Trojans
retreat within their walls.
BOOK XXII. Hector reproaches himself for not having retreated at the first appearance of Achilles. He goes out to meet Achilles in single combat and is slain. Achilles ties his body behind a chariot and drags it off to the Greek ships.
BOOK XXIII. Funeral games are part of the magnificent burial Achilles gives Patroclus.
BOOK XXIV. As part of his mourning, Achilles keeps dragging the body of Hector around the tomb. Zeus insists that he give the body back, and the gods help Hector's father Priam sneak into the Greek camp to beg for it. Achilles holds the war off while funeral rites are held for Hector. Homer's epic ends with Hector mourned by his wife Andromache, his mother Hecuba, and even Helen, to whom he had been kinder than most Trojans, many of whom understandably resented her role in bringing on the war.
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The Iliad summary by book and commentary
Iliad Plot Summary
Since we read excerpts, this summary is designed to fill in the holes. It is NOT a substitute for reading the text.
Book 1
The book opens with Homer’s traditional call for the muse to inspire him. His story starts in the middle of the war, while Troy is under siege by the Greeks. The first aspect of the war we hear about is the visit of Chryses, a priest of Apollo, to the Greek camp. His daughter Chryseis has been taken prisoner as Agamemnon’s “prize” and he hopes to ransom her. Agamemnon not only refuses, he cruelly taunts him. Chryses pleads with Apollo for revenge, and Apollo responds by sending a plague upon the Greek troops. Realizing the plague is probably the result of a god’s anger and hoping that at the very least an appeal to the gods will help alleviate the suffering, Achilles calls an assembly. He orders the seer Calchas to inquire of the gods and tell him why they are angry. Calchas is at first fearful to say what he learned, but at Achilles’ assurances of protection, he gives the reason as Agamemnon’s sin. Achilles confronts Agamemnon and demands he give up the woman. Agamemnon feels he must do so because it is the god’s will, but he is still angry at Achilles for daring to confront him. To punish Achilles, he demands Achilles’ “prize” Briseis. Achilles is furious. He wants to kill Agamemnon despite old man Nestor’s arguments for peace, but Athena intervenes and convinces him otherwise.
Briseis is dragged from Achilles; both are distraught. Achilles even sheds tears over her when he is alone. His heart is broken, his pride is hurt, and his anger is fierce. He decides to withdraw himself and his contingent from the battle. In order to ensure that his withdrawal is visibly damaging to the Greeks, he calls on his mother Thetis to ask Zeus to make the Greeks suffer heavy losses. As Odysseus leaves the Greek camp to return Chryseis to her father, Thetis heads off to Mount Olympus to plead for her son. She is successful by reminding Zeus of how she helped him in the past. Hera is doubly displeased when she sees what is going on – not only is Zeus listening to another woman, he is going to help Troy, the city she hates. Hera argues with Zeus as the gods eat dinner together, but after various gods agree with Zeus, she finally shuts up – for now.
Book 2
Zeus immediately gets to work sabotaging the Greeks. He starts by giving Agamemnon a false dream that victory for the Greeks is certain. Delighted, Agamemnon tells the leaders of the army his dream. He also proposes the rather questionable idea of testing the soldiers’ dedication by announcing they are returning home. To his dismay, the soldiers eagerly run to the ships. However, with the help of Athena, Odysseus is able to shame them into coming back to the camp. After they assemble, a man named Thersites loudly proclaims that the soldiers should indeed go home because Agamemnon is using them for nothing more than to increase his own glory. Odysseus reminds the Greeks that the gods have promised victory. Nestor chimes in to remind the troops that they must be truth to their oaths and retrieve Helen. After the troops have been re-assembled for battle, Homer lists all of them, troop by troop, in what is known as the “Catalog of the Ships.” He does the same for the troops of Troy as they come out to meet the Greeks in battle.
Book 3
Paris reappears to challenge any Greek to a duel. He says that Helen will go to the winner. When Helen’s ex Menelaus happily volunteers to fight, Paris realizes he is overmatched and takes off running. Hector has to chase him down and he and his father Priam shame Paris into returning. After a visit from the goddess Iris filling her in one what is going on, Helen goes to Priam to watch the duel from the walls. After Priam reassures her that this war is not really her fault, Helen points out the most famous of the Greek soldiers. She notes that Achilles is not among them. After she is done, Priam goes down to the battlefield in order to swear an oath to keep the terms of the contest. The fight begins. Paris is quickly wounded and taken prisoner (unsurprising considering he is not exactly known for his battle skills). Aphrodite helps out Paris by spiriting him away to his bedroom – a fitting place for loverboy, but everyone else is disgusted. Even Helen is reluctant to respond to Aphrodite’s call to join Paris in the bedroom. When Aphrodite threatens to take away Helen’s beauty, though, she changes her mind and obeys. That does not mean she is pleased with Paris. In the bedroom, she condemns him for being such a coward and challenges him to go back and fight a real duel with Menelaus. Still, Paris is quite sexy, and is able with Aphrodite’s help to get Helen to forget her anger long enough to have sex with him. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Greeks obviously want their prize. No one can claim Paris won that duel. If the Trojans keep to the terms and surrender Helen, the war will be over.
Watching from above, Zeus notes this incident might very well end the war and spare Troy. Of course, Hera and Athena do not like the sound of that. Hera proclaims that she does not just want the Greeks to win, she wants Troy decimated. Zeus agrees to let her have her way, but only after extracting a promise that she will not interfere if he ever wants to destroy a city she loves. Too vindictive to see the danger in such a promise, Hera agrees. Athena is sent off to break to truce; she does so by getting one of the Trojans, Pandaros, to shoot an arrow at Menelaus. It works – Menelaus is wounded (slightly) and the outraged troops, at Agamemnon’s urging, being the fighting again.
Book 5
This book deals with Diomedes. He is the youngest of the famous Greek warriors, but he is powerful, brave, and wise – slow to anger, he takes it with a grain of salt when the blustering Agamemnon yells at him. This book recounts Diomedes’ valor in battle as he takes down Trojan after Trojan. When he attacks the famous solider Aeneas and starts beating him, Aeneas’ mother Aphrodite arrives to help. Diomedes wounds her in the hand, causing her to drop her son and run off to Mount Olympus to protest her treatment at his hands (he had been allowed by Athena to attack Aphrodite). When Apollo goes to help Aeneas, carrying him away from the battle, Diomedes goes after him as well. Apollo simply blinds him with light whenever he gets close. Realizing he does not stand much of a chance, Diomedes backs off. He does the same when he realizes Ares, the war god, is fighting alongside Hector. Athena and Hera see what is happening and enter the fray. Athena helps Diomedes injure Ares, who takes off back for Mount Olympus to whine to Zeus. Zeus gives him no pity. Without Ares’ help, the Trojans are driven back. Athena and Hera also return to Mount Olympus.
As the battle wears on, Nestor and Hector attempt to encourage their respective forces. Some one-on-one conflicts occur within the larger battle. The Greeks gain ground. Hector goes back to Troy in order to ask the women of the city to plead the case of the Trojans to Athena. He hopes desperately that Athena will stop aiding the Greeks. He also stops by Helen and Paris’ room and excoriates Paris for running from the battle. Paris now spends all his time with Helen, making love and being lazy. Helen, anguished at what her life has become, curses herself for being the impetus to this war. Before leaving for battle, Hector returns to say goodbye to his wife, Andromache, and their baby Astyanax. Andromache pleads for him to say, but he explains that it is his duty to fight despite his love for his family. He takes his baby into his arms and, after holding him a little while longer, says his goodbyes.
Book 7
Athena and Apollo agree that the war must be ended, and through a Trojan see, they advice Hector to attempt another truce by duel. Aias is chosen to represent the Greeks, but neither can win. Finally, night falls and the fighting stops. A temporary truce is called so that the dead, currently strewn across the battlefield, can be buried with funeral rites. The Greeks also take the opportunity to strengthen their position and fortify their camp by building a wall to protect the beach. Poseidon sees this and complains to Zeus that the Greeks should have sacrificed to him first. They determine that the walls will be knocked down once the war is over.
Book 8
The next day, the two sides resume fighting. This time, at the command of Zeus, the gods are not a part of the action. Without the help of the gods, the Greeks lose ground. Seeing this, Hera decides to help out anyway. She gets Agamemnon to sacrifice to Zeus. Pleased, Zeus nods that he will give the Greeks a break. That does not mean that he no longer cares if the gods intervene. When Athena also attempts to join the battle, he sends his messenger to them to warn them to stay out of it. Once they return to Mount Olympus, Zeus lectures them on their disobedience. They agree to behave – at least for the time being. Meanwhile, Hector decides to try a risky move in order to end the war. The Trojans camp outside of their famous walls and prepare to make their most powerful charge yet.
While Hector is making his plans with the Trojans, the Greek leaders also meet. Agamemnon, who had been so full of himself before, now wants to go home after their defeat that day by the Trojans. Wise Nestor and the bold Diomedes manage to convince him and the troops to stay. Nestor also persuades Agamemnon to give back Briseis in addition to other gifts in order to get Achilles to return and fight for them. He agrees and sends emissaries to Achilles, but the resentful Achilles refuses their offer. He does not even listen when his old mentor, Phoenix, attempts to persuade him. After learning of Achilles’ refusal, Diomedes encourages the Greeks to fight well regardless.
In order to make it easier to get an advantage, the Greeks decide to send spies to the Trojan camp – Diomedes and Odysseus. On their way, they meet up with a Trojan spy named Dolon who had been sent to do a little espionage as well. He is a coward. Cringing and begging for mercy, he tells them what they want to know. They kill him anyway. They do not stop there, however. Before heading back to their camp, they sneak into Rheseus’ tent and kill him along with twelve of his men. They also steal his horses, fulfilling a prophesy that the Greeks could not win until they had the horses of Rheseus.
Book 11
The battle begins the next morning. At first, things look good for the Greeks. Agamemnon comes out fighting and leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. Then, Agamemnon is wounded, Hector re-enters the battle, and it starts to go badly for the Greeks. Some of their most famous soldiers get wounded – Odysseus and Diomedes, for example – and they have to retreat for a while. Achilles is watching from afar and asks Patroclus to descend to the battle to see who is wounded. While he is down on the field, Nestor talks to him. He begs him to convince Achilles to help the Greeks once more, and encourages Patroclus to help out even if Achilles refuses.
Book 12
The battle continues. The Trojans push hard to destroy the wall of the Greek camp, but it holds. Despite this, Hector pushes on, fighting practically in a frenzy. Finally, he is advised to try to storm the walls on foot. He does so, followed by five battalions – one of which is lead by the erstwhile Paris. One general, Asius, refuses to get off of his chariot and is promptly killed. Zeus helps Hector so that he and his troops are able to gain ground, but the Greek archers return fire effectively. Despite this, Hector manages to breach the Greek fortifications. Zeus sends an omen – a bird is flying through the air with a snake, but must drop it when it fights back. The Trojan seer Polydamas tells Hector it means the Trojans will win the battle but the Greeks will win the war. Hector does not listen. He is positive it means victory for the Trojans and calls Polydamas a coward. Finally, the Trojans are able to storm the Greek camp. They are able to drive the Greeks back to their ships.
Book 13
The Greeks make a comeback with the help of Poseidon, but the Trojans refuse to retreat as Hector works to keep their courage up. Even Paris is fighting bravely. However, when the Trojans begin to suffer losses, Hector once again berates Paris for being the cause of the war. He goes back into battle and comes across the Greek Aias, who tells him that he has seen an omen that the Greeks will win. Hector insults him and promises to kill him once the Trojans have won.
Book 14
Still, the Greeks are not out of danger. Nestor comes down to check on the battle and is appalled by the carnage. He meets up with Agamemnon, who again is wailing that they should go back to Greece. Zeus intends to help the Trojans; however, Hera seduces him with the help of Aphrodite in order to distract him, then gets the god of sleep to put him under afterwards. Poseidon takes the opportunity to help the Greeks, and they gain back ground. Hector is wounded.
Book 15
Zeus wakes up, notices what is going on, and is angered by Hera’s tricks. She is apologetic and he forgives her. He then tells her that he had only been helping the Trojans because Achilles had asked him to do so in order to make Agamemnon pay for insulting him. However, he reveals that Achilles will soon re-enter the battle on the Greek side because his friend Patroclus will be killed by Hector. The gods are once again admonished to stay out of the battle, but Apollo is allowed to help Hector recover and encourage him to keep fighting. The Trojans advance and push the Greeks back to the ships once more, even setting fire to some of them.
Book 16
Despite his anger, Achilles can’t help but feel bad for the Greeks as he watches the ships burn. Still, he refuses to join the battle. In spite of this, Patroclus decides to re-enter the battle on the side of the Greeks. He convinces Achilles to let him wear his armor, knowing it will give courage to the Greeks if they think that Achilles has joined them. It works. The Greeks see Patroclus, think he is Achilles, and make another comeback. Patroclus even kills the son of Zeus, Sarpedon. Sarpedon begs his fellow warrior Glaucus to ensure that his armor will not be stripped from his body. Glaucus calls Hector and the Trojans rally to protect the body of Sarpedon and push the Greeks back. The advance is only temporary, however. Now helping the Greeks, Zeus intervenes and the Trojans are forced to retreat. Patroclus chases them, despite Achilles’ earlier warning that he not do so. Apollo then goes into action to sabotage Patroclus and enable Hector to kill him. He zaps off Achilles’ armor and Patroclus is naked to attack. Hector kills him, but the dying Patroclus mocks the fact that Hector only was able to kill him with direct intervention from a god.
Book 17
Once Patroclus has been killed, the two armies fight over who can claim his corpse and armor of Achilles. In the midst of the fighting, Hector grabs the armor and puts it on himself. As soon as the Trojans begin to push forward, however, Zeus and Athena help the Greeks repel them. Zeus does not want to help them too much, however. After the Greeks push forward, Zeus makes a mist descend in order to give the Trojans time to regroup and push ahead once more. To end the stalemate, Ajax sends word to Achilles that his friend is dead. Then, in a last rush, the Greeks are able to reclaim Patroclus’ body.
Once Achilles hears about Patroclus’ death, he is beside himself. Thetis comforts him. Now, he has a blood lust for the Trojans, especially Hector. He is itching to return to the battlefield. Thetis protests that he cannot go back because he has no armor, but she tells him she can get some from the smithy god Hephaistos. Ignoring her, Achilles arrives at the battlefield, screaming a battle cry enhanced by Athena. The Trojans are unnerved and fall back. The Trojan leaders meet on the battlefield to discuss this new and disturbing development. Hector refuses to retreat.
That night, Achilles mourns his friend. He also gets the special armor. Now that he is back, he announces that he and Agamemnon’s quarrel will no longer keep him from fighting. Eager to make up, Agamemnon says their argument was the fault of the gods and returns Briseis as well as giving Achilles other treasures. The Greeks all mourn Patroclus. Achilles must be nourished by the gods because he is too upset to eat. Even though the gods sustain him, his death is foretold in a prophesy (straight from the horses’ mouth – literally. They talk to him). It is coming soon.
Zeus tells the gods they can all go down and help out their favorites. Achilles fights Aeneas (the man who was the son of Aphrodite), but he is rescued divinely again – this time by Poseidon. Apollo warns Hector not to engage Achilles directly, but when Achilles kills Hector’s brother Polydorus, Hector throws a spear at him anyway. Athena makes sure it does not hit, and Achilles advances on Hector. Apollo, still on the side of Hector, wraps him in a protective mist. Achilles realizes Hector has a god helping him out and he lays off for the time being, fighting and killing other Trojans instead.
Book 21
Achilles goes ballistic on the Trojans and slaughters them left and right. There are twelve he fights and kills specifically for a sacrifice to Patroclus, and he does so standing in the Xanthos river. When the corpses start clogging up the river, Xanthos rises in protest and even shakes the ground underneath Achilles. This time it is Achilles who is rescued by the gods. Up on Mount Olympus, the gods get into it. Those who are helping Troy fight those who are helping the Greeks. It gets ugly. Meanwhile, The Trojans are driven back behind the walls of the city.
Book 22
In Troy, Priam and Hecuba implore their son Hector to stay in the city and not return to battle. Despite their pleas, he is determined to fight Achilles. When he comes down and sees Achilles, though, he panics and tries to run. Achilles chases him, and Athena helps ensure Hector’s death by taking the form of his brother Deiphobos and encouraging him to turn and fight. He does, and is killed by Achilles since Achilles has Athena backing him and Hector does not even have someone to hand him a second spear. To the horror of the Trojans, Hector is killed and dragged behind Achilles’ chariot as Achilles speeds around the walls of the city again and again. Hector’s parents and wife watch it all and know that without Hector, Troy is doomed.
That night, Patroclus appears to Achilles in a dream. He tells him to be sure and hold the proper funeral for him ASAP so he can rest in peace. Achilles does so, holding games in his honor as well as giving him all the necessary rites.
Book 24
After Achilles continues to regularly drag Hector’s body for twelve more days, Zeus decides to intervene. Even the gods are offended by such a display. They inspire Priam to ransom the body of his son, and they soften Achilles’ heart so that he is open to the idea. In a moving moment, as Priam begs for his son, Achilles is reminded of his own father. They cry together, sharing their mourning for lost loved ones, and Hector’s body is returned. As it passes through the city, the Trojans grieve, especially Hecuba, Andromache, and Helen. Finally, the Trojans give him a proper burial, assuring him rest.
Source : http://www.nkerns.com/worldlit/handouts/IliadPlotSummary.doc
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The Iliad summary by book and commentary
In General: This is a poem about the Greek hero Achilles and his relationship with his own people (the Achaeans = Greeks) and his enemies (the Trojans). Try to decipher what you can about “family and community” as you read this epic. Note throughout the interaction between the gods and the mortals.
Book 1
a) What causes Achilles’ wrath?
b) Who is Chryses, and what is his relationship with the Achaean army? With Agamemnon specifically? Through Chryses, what god has an antagonistic relationship with Agamemnon?
c) What is your impression of the character of Agamemnon? Of Achilles? What kind of relationship do these two warriors have on the social level?
d) Who is Thetis? What does she want from Zeus? How does she ask for it? What is the society of gods like compared with human society?
e) Describe the relationship between Hera & Zeus as described here.
Book 2
a) Describe the relationship between Zeus & Agamemnon on as many levels as you can.
b) Look for similes. Keep a list of your favorites. Check out 2.104 as a start. Notice how many similes involve images from nature.
c) Who is Thersites? What is his role in this book? Hint: notice what he gets hit with on the shoulders. What is this object’s function/significance?
d) How do heroes communicate with and consult the gods? Describe the ways in detail. How do the divine contact heroes? Keep track of the approaches and methods you encounter.
e) How does the so-called “Catalog of Ships” begin? Who is invoked and why? Why is this catalog included here?
Book 3
a) Compare Menelaus and Paris on as many levels as you can: as warriors, husbands, etc. How do they get along with their respective brothers (Agamemnon & Hector)
b) Describe typical battle strategy. How is war fought in Homer? What tactics are employed? What weaponry? Keep track of significant descriptions as you read the epic.
c) Helen of Troy (or is it Sparta?): What does her weaving of the “red folding robe” (149ff) signify? What story does it tell?
d) Describe Helen’s relationship with Aphrodite. With Priam? With Paris? With Hector? What does she think of her former Greek compatriots (in the teikoscopia or “view from the wall” in lines 200ff)? How does she describe them? Why is this teikoscopiaimportant?
e) Note the "arming" scene (lines 383ff). There are three other descriptions of arming exactly like this one in the poem. Can you find them? They are examples of formulaic language employed in poetry that is orally composed.
Book 4
a) What is a council of the gods like? Describe.
b) How are Zeus and Hera getting along now?
c) How do the gods talk about and get involved with humans and their cities? Describe. Get straight which god supports which hero/city.
d) About battle: how do the warriors rouse themselves? How do they encourage their companions-at-arms? What techniques are used?
e) How does a hero die in battle? Pick a couple of examples. What do heroes die for?
Book 5
a) Compare Diomedes and Ares, paying special attention to their man-to-god combat (lines 955ff)
b) Read 431ff carefully. What is Dione’s attitude toward mortals? (Note: only in Homer does Aphrodite have a mother, Dione--elsewhere she is born from the severed testicles of the Sky God, Ouranos)
Book 6
a) Describe the meeting of Glaucus & Diomedes as an example of xenia ‘hospitality’. Who gets the better deal in the gift exchange? Why?
b) Notice how myths are used within myths. Example: the story of Bellerophon in line 212ff. Watch for older myths about heroes’ grandparents elsewhere in the poem.
c) Helen again: Describe her feelings about herself (lines 405ff) and her relationship with Hector.
d) Describe the relationship between Hector and his mother, his wife, and his child. How is Hector’s persona different when he is at home versus out on the battlefield?
e) What kind of women are Hecuba and Andromache? What kind of life do they have?
Book 7 (summary only)
Hector & Ajax duel, but Zeus calls it off. The two heroes exchange friendship gifts. A temporary truce for the burial of the dead is agreed upon by both sides. Paris offers to give the Greeks all the loot that he took from Sparta, except, of course, Helen. The Greeks reject the offer.
Book 8 (summary only)
Zeus begins the day by weighing the fate of the Achaeans & Trojans on his scale—the Achaeans lose, so he turns the tide of battle toward the Trojans for the day. Zeus prevents the Olympian gods from interfering in the battles.
Book 9
a) Who is included in the embassy to Achilles? What characteristic does each warrior possess that makes him ideal for the job?
b) Describe the approach each ambassador uses to persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle. What mythical exemplum does Phoinix use in his approach and how does it work?
c) What does Achilles’ mother tell him about his fate?
Book 10 (Summary only)
Called the "Doloneia" (Story of Dolon) after the Trojan scout captured, pumped for information, and then killed during a spying mission by Odysseus and Diomedes. Dolon's name means "cunning," a word often applied to Odysseus.
Book 11
a) What do we learn in this book about Agamemnon's fighting ability? Remember in Book I when Achilles accused the commander of being a coward and "never fighting in the first ranks?" Does this charge hold up?
b) Explain the role of prophecy and the power of Zeus in this book.
c) Analyze the crucial conversation between Nestor and Patroclus. Who is Patroclus? What are his feelings toward the war? Toward Achilles?
Book 12 (summary only)
Hector and the Trojans storm the Achaean ramparts; an omen prophesizes failure, but Hector continues anyway. They break through and terrorize the Achaeans.
Book 13 (summary only)
Poseidon takes advantage of Zeus' absence to interfere in the battle, helping the Achaeans enormously. Aristeia 'best fighting' day for the two Ajaxes. A glimpse of Aeneas on the battlefield.
Book 14
a) Analyze Hera's seduction of Zeus and the marital relationship of these two gods. Keep in mind the gifts of Pandora, as explained by Hesiod in the Theogony. How does Hera employ each of these gifts to get what she wants?
Book 15 (summary only)
Zeus wakes up from his love fest with his wife to find havoc on the battlefield. He reminds Hera that Troy is fated to fall and that Hector will be killed by Achilles. Nothing she or anyone else does will change that. It is important to note that the gods cannot change what is fated (the Fates are gods much older than the Olympians—look at the Theogony family tree); Hector and his men reach the Achaean ships.
Book 16
a) Who first suggested that Patroclus wear Achilles’ armor in battle, back in what book? Note the clever use of foreshadowing...
b) Describe the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. Just how close of friends are they?
c) There is a good example of the relationship between Fate and the gods in this book (lines 511ff). Describe it.
d) How does Sarpedon die? How does his body leave the battlefield and where does it go?
e) Describe in minute detail the death of Patroclus. Take it step by step. What ritual act does his death resemble? Compare to death of Enkidu in The Epic of Gilgamesh
Book 17
a) Hector is roused for battle four times in this book. Find the places. Why does he need all this encouragement?
b) Pay close attention to what Patroclus tells Hector with his dying breath. What does it mean?
c) Why does Hector take Patroclus’ armor?
Book 18
a) The shield (Greek: sêma) of Achilles is an ekphrasis 'description', in microcosm, of the entire Greek cosmos. Study all its component parts carefully and interpret. What does it tell you about Homeric heroes? About mankind? About the Greek view of the world? Finally, why is Achilles entitled above all others to wear this great shield ?
Book 19
a) What is different about Achilles now that Patroclus is dead? Describe & compare his former and present behavior. Has he improved? Has his anger abated, or increased?
b) What excuse does Agamemnon give this time for his mistakes?
c) Describe Briseis reaction to the death of Patroclus. Why does she react this way? How do women lament in Homer? Describe in detail. How does Achilles lament?
Book 20
a) How do Aeneas and Hector do when they challenge Achilles?
b) Analyze Achilles' behavior toward humanity.
Book 21 (summary only)
Achilles fills the Scamander river (a real river) with so many Trojan corpses that the river (known to the gods as the divinity Xanthus) protests. Achilles attacks him, and the river wins, almost killing Achilles, who has to be rescued by Hephaistos, who boils the river (god) until he relents. A fabulous image!
Book 22
a) How does Hector die? Describe in minute detail, step by step. How is his death different from a normal hero’s death? What are heroes able to do at the last moment before they die, that they couldn’t do before? (check out 418 ff & compare with an earlier death scene...)
b) Describe the character of king Priam. What are his emotions, his attitudes toward a) his children, b) his wife, c) his city, d) Helen? Find passages here and in earlier books that help you answer (Perseus 1.0 is great for this kind of search).
c) Zeus wants to spare his mortal children from death, but doesn’t. What stops him?
(ex: lines 200 ff, repeated almost verbatim earlier for Sarpedon)
d) Describe Andromache’s reaction to Hector’s death. Describe her lament. She foreshadowed his death earlier in this book? Where? What are her fears now that he is gone?
Book 23
a) What or who gives Achilles the idea of holding the funeral games now? Describe.
b) Why are funeral games held? Where are they held (on what ground?) How do they begin? How do they end?
c) Where is Hector during the funeral games?
d) What does a hero’s grave look like?
e) Pay close attention to old Nestor’s advice to his son about how to win a chariot race. (348 ff) His advice is in the form of a riddle (Greek: ainos). What is the deeper message? Study the instructions carefully. What different meanings does the turning post (sema) have, according to Nestor?
Book 24
a) Describe the meeting of Achilles & Priam. What effect does this meeting have on Achilles? What does Priam say that effects a change in Achilles? Ponder the meaning of Achilles’ name: he whose laos (people) have akhos (grief). How does this book reveal the true nature of Achilles?
b) How does grieving effect a positive result from a negative situation? How does the ritual of grieving in Homer differ from our own American attitude towards the expression of grief?
c) Notice how the entire epic ends. Why does it end with women’s laments for Hector? What does this do for Hector? Does it bring proper closure to the epic?
Source : http://sun.iwu.edu/~classics/Iliad101.doc
Web site link: http://sun.iwu.edu/~classics
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The Iliad summary by book and commentary
THE ODYSSEY |
SUMMARIES |
Summary: Book 1
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.
The narrator of the Odyssey invokes the Muse, asking for inspiration as he prepares to tell the story of Odysseus. The story begins ten years after the end of the Trojan War, the subject of the Iliad. All of the Greek heroes except Odysseus have returned home. Odysseus languishes on the remote island Ogygia with the goddess Calypso, who has fallen in love with him and refuses to let him leave. Meanwhile, a mob of suitors is devouring his estate in Ithaca and courting his wife, Penelope, in hopes of taking over his kingdom. His son, Telemachus, an infant when Odysseus left but now a young man, is helpless to stop them. He has resigned himself to the likelihood that his father is dead.
With the consent of Zeus, Athena travels to Ithaca to speak with Telemachus. Assuming the form of Odysseus's old friend Mentor, Athena predicts that Odysseus is still alive and that he will soon return to Ithaca. She advises Telemachus to call together the suitors and announce their banishment from his father's estate. She then tells him that he must make a journey to Pylos and Sparta to ask for any news of his father. After this conversation, Telemachus encounters Penelope in the suitors' quarters, upset over a song that the court bard is singing. Like Homer with the Iliad, the bard sings of the sufferings experienced by the Greeks on their return from Troy, and his song makes the bereaved Penelope more miserable than she already is. To Penelope's surprise, Telemachus rebukes her. He reminds her that Odysseus isn't the only Greek to not return from Troy and that, if she doesn't like the music in the men's quarters, she should retire to her own chamber and let him look after her interests among the suitors. He then gives the suitors notice that he will hold an assembly the next day at which they will be ordered to leave his father's estate. Antinous and Eurymachus, two particularly defiant suitors, rebuke Telemachus and ask the identity of the visitor with whom he has just been speaking. Although Telemachus suspects that his visitor was a goddess in disguise, he tells them only that the man was a friend of his father.
Summary: Book 2
When the assembly meets the next day, Aegyptius, a wise Ithacan elder, speaks first. He praises Telemachus for stepping into his father's shoes, noting that this occasion marks the first time that the assembly has been called since Odysseus left. Telemachus then gives an impassioned speech in which he laments the loss of both his father and his father's home—his mother's suitors, the sons of Ithaca's elders, have taken it over. He rebukes them for consuming his father's oxen and sheep as they pursue their courtship day in and day out when any decent man would simply go to Penelope's father, Icarius, and ask him for her hand in marriage.
Antinous blames the impasse on Penelope, who, he says, seduces every suitor but will commit to none of them. He reminds the suitors of a ruse that she concocted to put off remarrying: Penelope maintained that she would choose a husband as soon as she finished weaving a burial shroud for her elderly father-in-law, Laertes. But each night, she carefully undid the knitting that she had completed during the day, so that the shroud would never be finished. If Penelope can make no decision, Antinous declares, then she should be sent back to Icarius so that he can choose a new husband for her. The dutiful Telemachus refuses to throw his mother out and calls upon the gods to punish the suitors. At that moment, a pair of eagles, locked in combat, appears overhead. The soothsayer Halitherses interprets their struggle as a portent of Odysseus's imminent return and warns the suitors that they will face a massacre if they don't leave. The suitors balk at such foolishness, and the meeting ends in deadlock.
As Telemachus is preparing for his trip to Pylos and Sparta, Athena visits him again, this time disguised as Mentor, another old friend of Odysseus. She encourages him and predicts that his journey will be fruitful. She then sets out to town and, assuming the disguise of Telemachus himself, collects a loyal crew to man his ship. Telemachus himself tells none of the household servants of his trip for fear that his departure will upset his mother. He tells only Eurycleia, his wise and aged nurse. She pleads with him not to take to the open sea as his father did, but he puts her fears to rest by saying that he knows that a god is at his side.
Summary: Book 3
At Pylos, Telemachus and Mentor (Athena in disguise) witness an impressive religious ceremony in which dozens of bulls are sacrificed to Poseidon, the god of the sea. Although Telemachus has little experience with public speaking, Mentor gives him the encouragement that he needs to approach Nestor, the city's king, and ask him about Odysseus. Nestor, however, has no information about the Greek hero. He recounts that after the fall of Troy a falling-out occurred between Agamemnon and Menelaus, the two Greek brothers who had led the expedition. Menelaus set sail for Greece immediately, while Agamemnon decided to wait a day and continue sacrificing on the shores of Troy. Nestor went with Menelaus, while Odysseus stayed with Agamemnon, and he has heard no news of Odysseus. He says that he can only pray that Athena will show Telemachus the kindness that she showed Odysseus. He adds that he has heard that suitors have taken over the prince's house in Ithaca and that he hopes that Telemachus will achieve the renown in defense of his father that Orestes, son of Agamemnon, won in defense of his father.
Telemachus then asks Nestor about Agamemnon's fate. Nestor explains that Agamemnon returned from Troy to find that Aegisthus, a base coward who remained behind while the Greeks fought in Troy, had seduced and married his wife, Clytemnestra. With her approval, Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon. He would have then taken over Agamemnon's kingdom had not Orestes, who was in exile in Athens, returned and killed Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Nestor holds the courage of Orestes up as an example for Telemachus. He sends his own son Pisistratus along to accompany Telemachus to Sparta, and the two set out by land the next day. Athena, who reveals her divinity by shedding the form of Mentor and changing into an eagle before the entire court of Pylos, stays behind to protect Telemachus's ship and its crew.
Summary: Book 4
In Sparta, the king and queen, Menelaus and Helen, are celebrating the separate marriages of their son and daughter. They happily greet Pisistratus and Telemachus, the latter of whom they soon recognize as the son of Odysseus because of the clear family resemblance. As they all feast, the king and queen recount with melancholy the many examples of Odysseus's cunning at Troy. Helen recalls how Odysseus dressed as a beggar to infiltrate the city's walls. Menelaus tells the famous story of the Trojan horse, Odysseus's masterful gambit that allowed the Greeks to sneak into Troy and slaughter the Trojans. The following day, Menelaus recounts his own return from Troy. He says that, stranded in Egypt, he was forced to capture Proteus, the divine Old Man of the Sea. Proteus told him the way back to Sparta and then informed him of the fates of Agamemnon and Ajax, another Greek hero, who survived Troy only to perish back in Greece. Proteus also told him news of Odysseus—that he was still alive but was imprisoned by Calypso on her island. Buoyed by this report, Telemachus and Pisistratus return to Pylos to set sail for Ithaca.
Meanwhile, the suitors at Odysseus's house learn of Telemachus's voyage and prepare to ambush him upon his return. The herald Medon overhears their plans and reports them to Penelope. She becomes distraught when she reflects that she may soon lose her son in addition to her husband, but Athena sends a phantom in the form of Penelope's sister, Iphthime, to reassure her. Iphthime tells her not to worry, for the goddess will protect Telemachus.
Summary: Book 5
The gods have gathered again on Olympus. Poseidon is notably absent, and Athena once more advocates Odysseus' case. Zeus agrees to send his son Hermes immediately to Ogygia in order to liberate the king of Ithaca from Calypso. Zeus advises Athena to help Telemachus return home unharmed, escaping the suitors' ambush.
On Ogygia, Calypso, aware that she must not cross Zeus, begrudgingly agrees to follow Hermes' directions. She provides a raft and supplies for Odysseus but no escort.
The hero himself is first seen weeping on a beach " . . . as always, / wrenching his heart with sobs and groans and anguish, / gazing out over the barren sea through blinding tears" (5.93–95). Odysseus wants to go home. At first understandably skeptical of Calypso's offer of freedom, he soon joins preparations for his departure.
Poseidon, returning from a visit to Ethiopia, spots Odysseus on the open sea, raises his trident, and sends a swamping storm that nearly drowns him. With the help of Athena and a sea nymph named Leucothea, Odysseus makes it ashore on the island of Scheria, home of the Phaeacians.
Summary: Book 6
That night, Athena appears in a dream to the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa, disguised as her friend. She encourages the young princess to go to the river the next day to wash her clothes so that she will appear more fetching to the many men courting her. The next morning, Nausicaa goes to the river, and while she and her handmaidens are naked, playing ball as their clothes dry on the ground, Odysseus wakes in the forest and encounters them. Naked himself, he humbly yet winningly pleads for their assistance, never revealing his identity. Nausicaa leaves him alone to wash the dirt and brine from his body, and Athena makes him look especially handsome, so that when Nausicaa sees him again she begins to fall in love with him. Afraid of causing a scene if she walks into the city with a strange man at her side, Nausicaa gives Odysseus directions to the palace and advice on how to approach Arete, queen of the Phaeacians, when he meets her. With a prayer to Athena for hospitality from the Phaeacians, Odysseus sets out for the palace.
Summary: Book 7
On his way to the palace of Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians, Odysseus is stopped by a young girl who is Athena in disguise. She offers to guide him to the king's house and shrouds him in a protective mist that keeps the Phaeacians, a kind but somewhat xenophobic people, from harassing him. She also advises him to direct his plea for help to Arete, the wise and strong queen who will know how to get him home. Once Athena has delivered Odysseus to the palace, she departs from Scheria to her beloved city of Athens.
Odysseus finds the palace residents holding a festival in honor of Poseidon. He is struck by the splendor of the palace and the king's opulence. As soon as he sees the queen, he throws himself at her feet, and the mist about him dissipates. At first, the king wonders if this wayward traveler might be a god, but without revealing his identity, Odysseus puts the king's suspicions to rest by declaring that he is indeed a mortal. He then explains his predicament, and the king and queen gladly promise to see him off the next day in a Phaeacian ship.
Later that evening, when the king and queen are alone with Odysseus, the wise Arete recognizes the clothes that he is wearing as ones that she herself had made for her daughter Nausicaa. Suspicious, she interrogates Odysseus further. While still withholding his name, Odysseus responds by recounting the story of his journey from Calypso's island and his encounter with Nausicaa that morning, which involved her giving him a set of clothes to wear. To absolve the princess for not accompanying him to the palace, Odysseus claims that it was his idea to come alone. Alcinous is so impressed with his visitor that he offers Odysseus his daughter's hand in marriage.
Summary: Book 8
The next day, Alcinous calls an assembly of his Phaeacian counselors. Athena, back from Athens, ensures attendance by spreading word that the topic of discussion will be the godlike visitor who recently appeared on the island. At the assembly, Alcinous proposes providing a ship for his visitor so that the man can return to his homeland. The measure is approved, and Alcinous invites the counselors to his palace for a feast and celebration of games in honor of his guest. There, a blind bard named Demodocus sings of the quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles at Troy. Everyone listens with pleasure except Odysseus, who weeps at the painful memories that the story recalls. The king notices Odysseus's grief and ends the feast so that the games can begin.
The games include the standard lineup of boxing, wrestling, racing, and throwing of the discus. At one point, Odysseus is asked to participate. Still overcome by his many hardships, he declines. One of the young athletes, Broadsea, then insults him, which goads his pride to action. Odysseus easily wins the discus toss and then challenges the Phaeacian athletes to any other form of competition they choose. The discussion becomes heated, but Alcinous diffuses the situation by insisting that Odysseus join them in another feast, at which the Phaeacian youth entertain him and prove their preeminence in song and dance. Demodocus performs again, this time a light song about a tryst between Ares and Aphrodite. Afterward, Alcinous and each of the young Phaeacian men, including Broadsea, give Odysseus gifts to take with him on his journey home.
At dinner that night, Odysseus asks Demodocus to sing of the Trojan horse and the sack of Troy, but as he listens to the accomplished minstrel he again breaks down. King Alcinous again notices and stops the music. He asks Odysseus at last to tell him who he is, where he is from, and where he is going.
Book 9
After identifying himself to the Phaeacians at the feast, Odysseus tells the story of his wanderings. Following the victory at Troy, he and his men sail to Ismarus, the stronghold of the Cicones. With apparent ease, they sack the city, kill the men, enslave the women, and enjoy a rich haul of plunder. Odysseus advises his men to leave immediately with their riches, but they ignore his warnings. The Cicones gather reinforcements, counterattack, and eventually rout the Greeks. Odysseus and his men retreat by sea. Storms blow the ships off course, but they finally arrive at the land of the Lotus-eaters. The inhabitants are not hostile; however, eating the lotus plant causes Odysseus' men to lose memory and all desire to return home. Odysseus barely gets them back to sea. The next stop is the land of the Cyclops, lawless one-eyed giants. One of them, Polyphemus, traps Odysseus and a scouting party in his cave. Only the Greek hero's wily plan allows escape.
Book 10
Having escaped the Cyclops, Odysseus and his men arrive at the home of Aeolus, master of the winds, where they are greeted warmly and hosted for a month. Eager to move on, Odysseus receives an ox-skin pouch from Aeolus. In it are captured all the winds that might drive the ships off course. Only the West Wind is left free to blow them toward Ithaca. After ten days of sailing, the Greeks are so close to home that they can actually see men tending fires on their island. Exhausted, Odysseus falls asleep. Curious and suspicious, his men open the ox skin expecting to find treasure and inadvertently release heavy squalls that blow them right back to Aeolus' island. The wind god refuses to help them further.
With no favoring wind at all, the Greeks must row, and they come upon the land of the Laestrygonians, cannibalistic giants who suddenly attack and devour the seamen, hurling boulders at the ships and spearing the men like so many fish. Only Odysseus' vessel escapes. It sails to the island of Aeaea, home of the beautiful but dangerous goddess Circe, whom Odysseus can overcome only through the intervention of Hermes, messenger of the gods and son of Zeus.
Book 11
The Land of the Dead is near the homes of the Cimmerians, who live "shrouded in mist and cloud" (11.17), never seeing the sun. Odysseus follows Circe's instructions, digging a trench at the site prescribed and pouring libations of milk, honey, mellow wine, and pure water. He ceremoniously sprinkles barley and then sacrifices a ram and a ewe, the dark blood flowing into the trench to attract the dead.
First to approach is Elpenor, one of Odysseus' men who died just before the crew left Circe's home. Elpenor had spent the last night in a drunken stupor on Circe's roofs, breaking his neck as he fell off when he arose at dawn. Because of the urgency of Odysseus' journey to the Land of the Dead, Elpenor was left unburied, and his spirit requests proper rites when the Greeks return to Aeaea. Others are drawn to the blood: Odysseus' mother, Anticleia; Tiresias the prophet; and old comrades Agamemnon and Achilles, among others.
Book 12
True to his word, Odysseus returns to Aeaea for Elpenor's funeral rites. Circe is helpful once more, providing supplies and warnings about the journey to begin the next dawn. First the Greeks must get past the Sirens whose irresistible songs lure sailors into their island's coastal reefs. Next they must avoid the Clashing Rocks (called "Wandering Rocks" or "Rovers" in some translations), which only the ship of the Argonauts ever escaped.
must confront either Scylla or Charybdis. The first is a six-headed monster lurking in an overhanging, fog-concealed cavern. She cannot be defeated in battle, and she will devour at least six of the Greeks, one for each of her hideous heads that feature triple rows of thickset fangs. No more than an arrow shot away is Charybdis, a monster whirlpool that swallows everything near it three times a day.
If the Greeks survive these terrors, they will meet the most dangerous test of all: the temptation of the island (Thrinacia) of the Sungod Helios. Whatever they do, the seamen must not harm the sacred cattle of the sun. If they resist temptation, they can return home safely; if, on the other hand, they harm any sacred animal, the ship and men will be destroyed. Odysseus alone may survive, but he will return home late and alone, a broken man. This last caveat (12.148–53) echoes the curse of the Cyclops (9.590–95) and the prophecy of Tiresias (11.125–35). Circe's warnings prove to be a foreshadowing of the true events.
Books 13 & 14 –Ithaca at Last, the Royal Swineherd
Odysseus’ account of his wanderings is complete. The Phaeacians know the rest. They are silent for a few seconds until Alcinous speaks to assure Odysseus that he will be returned safely to his home and to insist on even more gifts for the guest. Odysseus will arrive in Ithaca with treasure surpassing his fair share from Troy, which has long since been lost. Consistent with their custom, the Phaeacians provide the wanderer safe passage home. This annoys Poseidon who complains to Zeus. The gods agree on Poseidon’s vengeance against the Phaeacians.
Athena meets Odysseus on Ithaca and disguises him as an old beggar so that he can gain information without being recognized. He meets his loyal swineherd, Eumaeus, and is pleased with the man’s hospitality as well as his devotion to his master, whom he does not recognize.
Books 15 & 16 - The Prince Sets Sail for Home; Father and Son
Eumaeus and the beggar/Odysseus continue their conversations, the swineherd proving a perfect host and loyal servant. He tells the story of his life and how he came to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Athena guides Telemachus safely past the suitors’ ambush; she tells him to go directly to the pig farm upon arrival at Ithaca. Eumaeus is sent to tell Penelope of her son’s safe return. Athena takes this opportunity to alter Odysseus’ appearance once more, turning him into a strapping image of his former self; he looks like a god to the shocked and skeptical Telemachus. Odysseus reveals his true identity to his son, and they work out a plan to defeat the suitors.
Meanwhile, Antinous also has a plan and tells the other suitors how they must assassinate the prince. However, Amphinomus, the most decent of the suitors, calls for patience in order to learn the will of the gods before striking. His argument wins the day as the suitors agree to postpone the murder of Telemachus. Penelope confronts the intruders but is cut off by the smooth-talking Eurymachus.
Back at the pig farm, Athena has turned Odysseus back into the old beggar. Among the mortals, only Telemachus knows who he really is.
Book 17 - Stranger at the Gate
Odysseus walks to town the next morning, joined by Eumaeus, who still thinks he is accompanying an old beggar. Telemachus precedes them, cheering his mother with his presence and the stories of his trip. With the prince is a seer, Theoclymenus, who tells Penelope that Odysseus is on Ithaca now, gathering information. The queen wishes that she could believe him, but she cannot.
During the trip to town, Odysseus and his swineherd cross paths with a bully, the goatherd Melanthius, but avoid a fight. In one famously poignant moment, Odysseus and his dying old dog, Argos, quietly recognize each other. In the banquet hall, Antinous bullies the ragged beggar/Odysseus and even throws a footstool at him. Exercising considerable restraint, both the king and his son manage to postpone revenge.
Book 18 - The Beggar-King at Ithaca
As late afternoon turns to evening, another vagabond, named Irus, arrives. He is a portly buffoon who is a comic favorite of the suitors. At the urging of Antinous, Irus picks a fight with beggar/Odysseus, which he soon regrets. As tensions increase, Odysseus tries in vain to warn Amphinomus, the best of the suitors, that trouble is coming and he should leave the group.
In preparation for the meeting with Odysseus, Athena makes Penelope look even more beautiful. The queen chastises her son for permitting a fight and putting their guest at risk.
Odysseus rebukes Penelope’s maidservant Melantho for her neglect of the queen. The impudent girl has been indulging in an illicit affair with Eurymachus, Penelope’s smooth-talking suitor. Odysseus and Eurymachus have a confrontation.
Book 19 - Penelope and Her Guest
The suitors have gone home for the night. Odysseus instructs Telemachus to gather the weapons and hide them where they will not be readily available to the suitors the next day. Melantho, the disrespectful servant girl who sleeps with Eurymachus, confronts the beggar/Odysseus once more.
Finally alone with Penelope, Odysseus offers convincing evidence that he knew her husband. Penelope seems suspicious about his identity. An old nurse, Eurycleia, is assigned the duty of bathing the guest. She innocently comments on how much he resembles her king, whom she raised from early childhood. Stunned, she identifies a scar, over his knee, left by a boar’s tusk, and realizes that she is, indeed, bathing, her master. Odysseus immediately and sternly swears her to silence, forbidding her even to tell Penelope his identity.
After the bath, Penelope rejoins the beggar/Odysseus and reveals that she will conduct a contest the following day to select a husband and satisfy the suitors. The challenge involves a feat that only Odysseus has performed before: stringing his great bow and shooting an arrow through a straight row of twelve axes. Odysseus enthusiastically approves of her plan.
Book 20 - Portents Gather
Odysseus spends a restless night worrying about the impending battle. He angrily notices the maidservants as they sneak out to meet their lovers among the suitors. Suddenly Athena appears and assures him of vengeful victory. Penelope’s room is nearby, and at dawn, he hears the end of her prayer for death if she cannot join her husband. He imagines (20.105) that she recognizes him and that they are together at last. Odysseus prays to Zeus for a sign of support and is answered by a thunderclap.
This day is a special holiday on Ithaca, a festal celebration in honor of Apollo, god of archery. Melanthius, the goatherd, is in town for the celebration and again bullies Odysseus. Eumaeus, the swineherd, continues to earn his master’s trust as does Philoetius, a cowherd. The suitors, talking again of assassinating Telemachus, continue their boorish behavior. One of the lot, Ctesippus, mocks beggar/Odysseus and hurls an oxhoof at the king. Telemachus berates the suitors and lists some of their many offenses. The seer Theoclymenus speaks ominously to them, offering one of their last warnings, but in their arrogance, the suitors respond with derisive laughter.
Book 21 - Odysseus Strings His Bow
Penelope announces the contest and retrieves Odysseus’ great backsprung bow from a secret storeroom deep in the palace. For sport, Telemachus attempts to string the bow and fails three times. He is about to succeed on his fourth try when Odysseus privately signals him to back off. The suitors then take their turns, their early efforts failing dismally. As the suitors contend, Odysseus meets outside with Eumaeus and Philoetius, his faithful servants and reveals to them his true identity and enlists their support in his plan.
Meanwhile, the suitors continue to struggle with the bow. Antinous suggests that the contest be postponed until the next day, but then Odysseus asks if he might give the bow a try, an idea that Penelope strongly supports. Odysseus easily strings the weapon and fires an arrow straight through the axes; then he and Telemachus stand together to face the suitors.
Book 22 - Slaughter in the Hall
Tearing off his beggar rags, Odysseus boldly catapults himself onto the hall’s threshold, utters a brief prayer to Apollo, and fires an arrow straight through a new target: Antinous’ throat. Only after that does he announce his intentions to the suitors in no uncertain terms. Suddenly realizing the danger, Eurymachus tries to talk his way out of the situation, offering repayment for all that has been taken from Odysseus. The king declines the offer, and Eurymachus calls his cohorts to arms, which consist of only the swords they wear. They have no armor. Odysseus rips through Eurymachus’ chest and liver with an arrow. Amphinomus attacks and is killed by Telemachus. The battle is on.
Goatherd Melanthius, who twice assaulted Odysseus in recent days, manages to bring the suitors armor and spears from the storeroom but is caught by Eumaeus and Philoetius on a second attempt and strung up, alive, to be dealt with later. With Athena’s intervention and encouragement, Odysseus wins the day. All suitors are killed. The king then dispenses justice to a few remaining individuals and a dozen servant girls.
Book 23 - The Great Rooted Bed
Now that the battle has ended and the house has been cleaned, good nurse Eurycleia scurries up to Penelope’s quarters to tell her all that has happened. As much as Penelope would like to believe that her husband has returned and vanquished the suitors, she is cautious and goes to the great hall to see for herself. When she expresses ambivalence, Telemachus chides his mother for her skepticism. Odysseus gently suggests that the prince leave his parents to work things out. He also wants Telemachus to gather the servants and the bard and stage a fake wedding feast so that any passersby do not suspect the slaughter that has taken place.
To assure herself of Odysseus’ identity, Penelope tests him. As he listens, she asks Eurycleia to move the bedstead out of the couple’s chamber and spread it with blankets. The king himself had carved the bed as a young man, shaping it out of a living olive tree that grew in the courtyard of the palace. He built the bedroom around the tree and would know that the bed cannot be moved. When Odysseus becomes upset that the original bed may have been destroyed, Penelope is relieved and accepts him as her long-absent husband. For the first time in 20 years, they spend a blissful night together. Athena delays the dawn to grant the couple more time.
Book 24 – Peace
The final book opens with Hermes, the traditional guide, leading the souls of the dead suitors to the Land of the Dead (commonly referred to as Hades). These souls pass such Greek heroes as Achilles and Agamemnon. One of the suitors recites the story of the courtship of Penelope, her resistance to the suitors, and Odysseus’ revenge.
Back on Ithaca, Odysseus arrives at his father’s farm and approaches Laertes, who looks and acts more like a slave than a former king. After identifying himself, Odysseus joins Laertes, Telemachus, and the two faithful herdsmen for a homecoming meal.
Meanwhile, rumor of the slaughter has spread through the city, and Eupithes, father of Antinous (the aggressive leader of the suitors), calls for revenge. More than half of the men follow Eupithes to Laertes’ farm, seeking Odysseus and vengeance. Only the intervention of Athena, again appearing as Mentor, avoids another major battle and perhaps civil war.
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The Iliad summary by book and commentary
Homer, Iliad
Discussion Topics for Hum 101
(skipping Bks 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 21)
CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS AS YOU READ. IMPORTANT: Write in line numbers of passages from the text that help you answer them.
In General: This is a poem about the Greek hero Achilles and his relationship with his own people (the Achaeans = Greeks) and his enemies (the Trojans). Try to decipher what you can about “family and community” as you read this epic. Note throughout the interaction between the gods and the mortals.
Book 1
a) What causes Achilles’ wrath?
b) Who is Chryses, and what is his relationship with the Achaean army? With Agamemnon specifically? Through Chryses, what god has an antagonistic relationship with Agamemnon?
c) What is your impression of the character of Agamemnon? Of Achilles? What kind of relationship do these two warriors have on the social level?
d) Who is Thetis? What does she want from Zeus? How does she ask for it? What is the society of gods like compared with human society?
e) Describe the relationship between Hera & Zeus as described here.
Book 2
a) Describe the relationship between Zeus & Agamemnon on as many levels as you can.
b) Look for similes. Keep a list of your favorites. Check out 2.104 as a start. Notice how many similes involve images from nature.
c) Who is Thersites? What is his role in this book? Hint: notice what he gets hit with on the shoulders. What is this object’s function/significance?
d) How do heroes communicate with and consult the gods? Describe the ways in detail. How do the divine contact heroes? Keep track of the approaches and methods you encounter.
e) How does the so-called “Catalog of Ships” begin? Who is invoked and why? Why is this catalog included here?
Book 3
a) Compare Menelaus and Paris on as many levels as you can: as warriors, husbands, etc. How do they get along with their respective brothers (Agamemnon & Hector)
b) Describe typical battle strategy. How is war fought in Homer? What tactics are employed? What weaponry? Keep track of significant descriptions as you read the epic.
c) Helen of Troy (or is it Sparta?): What does her weaving of the “red folding robe” (149ff) signify? What story does it tell?
d) Describe Helen’s relationship with Aphrodite. With Priam? With Paris? With Hector? What does she think of her former Greek compatriots (in the teikoscopia or “view from the wall” in lines 200ff)? How does she describe them? Why is this teikoscopiaimportant?
e) Note the "arming" scene (lines 383ff). There are three other descriptions of arming exactly like this one in the poem. Can you find them? They are examples of formulaic language employed in poetry that is orally composed.
Book 4
a) What is a council of the gods like? Describe.
b) How are Zeus and Hera getting along now?
c) How do the gods talk about and get involved with humans and their cities? Describe. Get straight which god supports which hero/city.
d) About battle: how do the warriors rouse themselves? How do they encourage their companions-at-arms? What techniques are used?
e) How does a hero die in battle? Pick a couple of examples. What do heroes die for?
Book 5
a) Compare Diomedes and Ares, paying special attention to their man-to-god combat (lines 955ff)
b) Read 431ff carefully. What is Dione’s attitude toward mortals? (Note: only in Homer does Aphrodite have a mother, Dione--elsewhere she is born from the severed testicles of the Sky God, Ouranos)
Book 6
a) Describe the meeting of Glaucus & Diomedes as an example of xenia ‘hospitality’. Who gets the better deal in the gift exchange? Why?
b) Notice how myths are used within myths. Example: the story of Bellerophon in line 212ff. Watch for older myths about heroes’ grandparents elsewhere in the poem.
c) Helen again: Describe her feelings about herself (lines 405ff) and her relationship with Hector.
d) Describe the relationship between Hector and his mother, his wife, and his child. How is Hector’s persona different when he is at home versus out on the battlefield?
e) What kind of women are Hecuba and Andromache? What kind of life do they have?
Book 7 (summary only)
Hector & Ajax duel, but Zeus calls it off. The two heroes exchange friendship gifts. A temporary truce for the burial of the dead is agreed upon by both sides. Paris offers to give the Greeks all the loot that he took from Sparta, except, of course, Helen. The Greeks reject the offer.
Book 8 (summary only)
Zeus begins the day by weighing the fate of the Achaeans & Trojans on his scale—the Achaeans lose, so he turns the tide of battle toward the Trojans for the day. Zeus prevents the Olympian gods from interfering in the battles.
Book 9
a) Who is included in the embassy to Achilles? What characteristic does each warrior possess that makes him ideal for the job?
b) Describe the approach each ambassador uses to persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle. What mythical exemplum does Phoinix use in his approach and how does it work?
c) What does Achilles’ mother tell him about his fate?
Book 10 (Summary only)
Called the "Doloneia" (Story of Dolon) after the Trojan scout captured, pumped for information, and then killed during a spying mission by Odysseus and Diomedes. Dolon's name means "cunning," a word often applied to Odysseus.
Book 11
a) What do we learn in this book about Agamemnon's fighting ability? Remember in Book I when Achilles accused the commander of being a coward and "never fighting in the first ranks?" Does this charge hold up?
b) Explain the role of prophecy and the power of Zeus in this book.
c) Analyze the crucial conversation between Nestor and Patroclus. Who is Patroclus? What are his feelings toward the war? Toward Achilles?
Book 12 (summary only)
Hector and the Trojans storm the Achaean ramparts; an omen prophesizes failure, but Hector continues anyway. They break through and terrorize the Achaeans.
Book 13 (summary only)
Poseidon takes advantage of Zeus' absence to interfere in the battle, helping the Achaeans enormously. Aristeia 'best fighting' day for the two Ajaxes. A glimpse of Aeneas on the battlefield.
Book 14
a) Analyze Hera's seduction of Zeus and the marital relationship of these two gods. Keep in mind the gifts of Pandora, as explained by Hesiod in the Theogony. How does Hera employ each of these gifts to get what she wants?
Book 15 (summary only)
Zeus wakes up from his love fest with his wife to find havoc on the battlefield. He reminds Hera that Troy is fated to fall and that Hector will be killed by Achilles. Nothing she or anyone else does will change that. It is important to note that the gods cannot change what is fated (the Fates are gods much older than the Olympians—look at the Theogony family tree); Hector and his men reach the Achaean ships.
Book 16
a) Who first suggested that Patroclus wear Achilles’ armor in battle, back in what book? Note the clever use of foreshadowing...
b) Describe the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. Just how close of friends are they?
c) There is a good example of the relationship between Fate and the gods in this book (lines 511ff). Describe it.
d) How does Sarpedon die? How does his body leave the battlefield and where does it go?
e) Describe in minute detail the death of Patroclus. Take it step by step. What ritual act does his death resemble? Compare to death of Enkidu in The Epic of Gilgamesh
Book 17
a) Hector is roused for battle four times in this book. Find the places. Why does he need all this encouragement?
b) Pay close attention to what Patroclus tells Hector with his dying breath. What does it mean?
c) Why does Hector take Patroclus’ armor?
Book 18
a) The shield (Greek: sêma) of Achilles is an ekphrasis 'description', in microcosm, of the entire Greek cosmos. Study all its component parts carefully and interpret. What does it tell you about Homeric heroes? About mankind? About the Greek view of the world? Finally, why is Achilles entitled above all others to wear this great shield ?
Book 19
a) What is different about Achilles now that Patroclus is dead? Describe & compare his former and present behavior. Has he improved? Has his anger abated, or increased?
b) What excuse does Agamemnon give this time for his mistakes?
c) Describe Briseis reaction to the death of Patroclus. Why does she react this way? How do women lament in Homer? Describe in detail. How does Achilles lament?
Book 20
a) How do Aeneas and Hector do when they challenge Achilles?
b) Analyze Achilles' behavior toward humanity.
Book 21 (summary only)
Achilles fills the Scamander river (a real river) with so many Trojan corpses that the river (known to the gods as the divinity Xanthus) protests. Achilles attacks him, and the river wins, almost killing Achilles, who has to be rescued by Hephaistos, who boils the river (god) until he relents. A fabulous image!
Book 22
a) How does Hector die? Describe in minute detail, step by step. How is his death different from a normal hero’s death? What are heroes able to do at the last moment before they die, that they couldn’t do before? (check out 418 ff & compare with an earlier death scene...)
b) Describe the character of king Priam. What are his emotions, his attitudes toward a) his children, b) his wife, c) his city, d) Helen? Find passages here and in earlier books that help you answer (Perseus 1.0 is great for this kind of search).
c) Zeus wants to spare his mortal children from death, but doesn’t. What stops him?
(ex: lines 200 ff, repeated almost verbatim earlier for Sarpedon)
d) Describe Andromache’s reaction to Hector’s death. Describe her lament. She foreshadowed his death earlier in this book? Where? What are her fears now that he is gone?
Book 23
a) What or who gives Achilles the idea of holding the funeral games now? Describe.
b) Why are funeral games held? Where are they held (on what ground?) How do they begin? How do they end?
c) Where is Hector during the funeral games?
d) What does a hero’s grave look like?
e) Pay close attention to old Nestor’s advice to his son about how to win a chariot race. (348 ff) His advice is in the form of a riddle (Greek: ainos). What is the deeper message? Study the instructions carefully. What different meanings does the turning post (sema) have, according to Nestor?
Book 24
a) Describe the meeting of Achilles & Priam. What effect does this meeting have on Achilles? What does Priam say that effects a change in Achilles? Ponder the meaning of Achilles’ name: he whose laos (people) have akhos (grief). How does this book reveal the true nature of Achilles?
b) How does grieving effect a positive result from a negative situation? How does the ritual of grieving in Homer differ from our own American attitude towards the expression of grief?
c) Notice how the entire epic ends. Why does it end with women’s laments for Hector? What does this do for Hector? Does it bring proper closure to the epic?
Source : http://sun.iwu.edu/~classics/Iliad101.doc
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