HEROES STUDY GUIDE
INTODUCTION TO THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY
This is Prof. Nagy's 7 page introduction. It contains some things that Professor Nagy said in class, but it is also useful as a
reminder of what he considers important. There are a few quotes in the end which might be worth looking over as possible
identifications.
Summary (sorry about the length—the writing is dense)
-The Iliad and Odyssey are cornerstones of Greek civilization and were thought of in this way even when they were written. An
epic is "an expansive poem of enormous scope, composed in an archaic and superbly elevated style of language, concerning the
wondrous deeds of heroes." In particular, the Iliad "sets the standard for the definition of the word epic."
-Heroes: are descendants of gods; have superhuman abilities; are mortal, though they can be immortalized
-"Mortality is the dominant theme in the stories of ancient Greek heroes, and the Iliad and Odyssey are no exception"
 The Odyssey is an extended narrative about immortalization
 The Iliad forces the issue of mortality through graphic battle scenes
-Greek epics are often based on hero worship and religious practices
 Animal sacrifice rituals were reenactments of the deaths of heroes
 Yet the Iliad and Odyssey do not depict these rituals except in a very stylized way. Instead, they very graphically
depict the death of their heroes.
-The Iliad and Odyssey provide heroic portraits of Achilles and Odysseus, respectively
-Achilles: monolithic and fiercely uncompromising, man of unbending principle, experiences sorrow and anger
 Achilles' anger starts as a passive force. When Patrocles dies it becomes active.
 The Iliad is the story of Achilles' anger (and pain) – the first word tells us this.
-Odysseus: The subject of the Odyssey is "man" – this is the first word in the epic
 Many-sided man experiencing losses and sorrows
-Similarities and symmetry of the two works
 Strict adherence to the rules of introducing in Greek song
 Counterbalance: both follow a steady rhythmic flow of verses focusing on developing their primary hero, but
Odysseus' many-sidedness and cunning contrasts directly with Achilles' single-mindedness and physical strength
 Mutually comprehensive: combined, they incorporate all stories worth retelling
-Homer: little is known about him, but Classical Greeks believed he was a master singer who wrote the Iliad and Odyssey.
Greeks considered him and Hesoid to be their first and primary authors, who laid a basis for their civilization
 Homer may have been reconstructed and imagined by ancient Greeks
 Evidence suggests that Homeric song culture evolved over about 1000 years
 By the 5th C, Greeks considered Homer a primary culture hero
-Subject matter: The Iliad is a tale of heroes in general. It is "a larger-than-life cultural construct of what [greeks] imagined
themselves to have been in the distant age of heroes." By contrast, The Odyssey is "an autobiography of the people."
-City-states: Greeks had these, not nations. "Each city-state, or polis, was a social entity unto itself with its won government,
customary laws, religious practices, and dialect." City-states in Homers time showed very few instances of cultural cohesion.
Keeping this in mind, The Homeric epics "can be viewed as a marvel of cultural synthesis, integrating the diverse institutional
heritage of this plurality of the city-states, this kaleidoscopic Greek-speaking world, into a unified statement of cultural
identity, of civilization."
– The Iliad and Odyssey are universal works that define the history of Greek Civilization, particularly through their synthesis
of divergent religious beliefs.
-If the Iliad and Odyssey define Greek civilization, then the heroes (esp. Achilles) depicted in these works, are focal points of
their civilization.
 Modern readers don't empathize with Achilles, but he is the idealized bridegroom and a representation of unfulfilled
promise due to untimely death Achilles is the subject of many beautiful songs. In Greek culture, sorrow is expressed
through song culture. Being immortalized (particularly through song) is a hallmark of a hero. By contrast: Odysseus'
kleos is his nostos.
-Plato's Ion gives a portrait of a performer of Classical Greek drama. He describes the emotion and intensity that overcame the
audience when the Iliad and Odyssey were performed. This speaks to their importance and impact in Ancient Greek
civilization.
HOMER, ILIAD
Scroll 1
This scroll begins with Chryses, Apollo’s priest, arriving with a ransom to free his daughter, yet Agamemnon refuses. Chryses
calls upon Apollo for aid, who begins to reign arrows at the Achaeans. Calchas the seer tells Achilles, after being promised
protection, that Apollo is angry at Agamemnon for the dishonor. They therefore send her back to her father, but Agamemnon
takes Achilles prize, Briseis, in his anger. Achilles considers killing him, but stops when Athena promises him gifts if he
refrains. Achilles vows that if the Achaeans ever need him again he will not fight. Achilles then calls for his mother, Thetis,
who vows to seek restitution from Zeus for Achilles against Agamemnon. Odysseus returns Chryses daughter to him and
makes a sacrifice while Achilles broods.
Thetis asks Zeus to give victory to the Trojans until the Achaeans need to beg Achilles to rejoin the fight. Zeus promises to do
so.
Scroll 2
Zeus begins by sending a false dream, in the form of Nestor the wisest man in Agamemnon’s mind, to Agamemnon to make
him believe that the gods will all grant him victory. He hatches a plan to make it seem like he wants them to leave, but then
Athena gets Odysseus to stop everyone from fleeing. Calchas declares that there is a sign from Zeus, and that the men should
thus stay until the city has been taken. Agamemnon, Nestor, Idomenus, the 2 Ajaxes, the son of Tydeus, Odysseus, and
Menelaos all sacrifice a bull to Zeus. Then there’s a list of obscure characters involved in the fight and the number of ships
that each had.
Scroll 3
Under those banners they began their advance. Paris and Menelaos are set to face off with the winner receiving Helen.
Together they make a sacrifice. Menelaos has Paris and is going to kill him, but Aphrodite obscures him and took him away.
Then she summoned Helen to him. Agamemnon declares victory for Menelaos and demands Helen be brought forth.
Scroll 4
Hera & Athena are planning mischief for the Trojans, and then question Zeus as to his motives. Athena then goes to find
Pandaros, a Trojan, and convinces him to shoot at Menelaos thus breaking the truce. Thanks to the gods this only draws blood,
rather than killing him. Agamemnon then sends for the physician Asklepios for his brother. Agamemnon then goes around
inciting people to join the battle. Then the battle starts for real, with Antilokhos killing Echepolus. Then Odysseus becomes
enraged at the death of Leucus and killed Demokoon. The scroll ends with the information that many Trojans and Achaeans
were killed on that day.
Scroll 5
As the battle rages, Pandarus wounds the Achaean hero Diomedes. Diomedes prays to Athena for revenge, and the goddess
endows him with superhuman strength and the extraordinary power to discern gods on the field of battle. She warns him,
however, not to challenge any of them except Aphrodite. Diomedes fights like a man possessed, slaughtering all Trojans he
meets. The overconfident Pandarus meets a gruesome death at the end of Diomedes’ spear, and Aeneas, the noble Trojan hero
immortalized in Virgil’s Aeneid, likewise receives a wounding at the hands of the divinely assisted Diomedes. When Aeneas’s
mother, Aphrodite, comes to his aid, Diomedes wounds her too, cutting her wrist and sending her back to Mount Olympus.
Aphrodite’s mother, Dione, heals her, and Zeus warns Aphrodite not to try her hand at warfare again. When Apollo goes to
tend to Aeneas in Aphrodite’s stead, Diomedes attacks him as well. This act of aggression breaches Diomedes’ agreement with
Athena, who had limited him to challenging Aphrodite alone among the gods. Apollo, issuing a stern warning to Diomedes,
effortlessly pushes him aside and whisks Aeneas off of the field. Aiming to enflame the passions of Aeneas’s comrades, he
leaves a replica of Aeneas’s body on the ground. He also rouses Ares, god of war, to fight on the Trojan side.
With the help of the gods, the Trojans begin to take the upper hand in battle. Hector and Ares prove too much for the
Achaeans; the sight of a hero and god battling side by side frightens even Diomedes. The Trojan Sarpedon kills the Achaean
Tlepolemus. Odysseus responds by slaughtering entire lines of Trojans, but Hector cuts down still more Greeks. Finally, Hera
and Athena appeal to Zeus, who gives them permission to intervene on the Achaeans’ behalf. Hera rallies the rest of the
Achaean troops, while Athena encourages Diomedes. She withdraws her earlier injunction not to attack any of the gods except
Aphrodite and even jumps in the chariot with him to challenge Ares. The divinely driven chariot charges Ares, and, in the
seismic collision that follows, Diomedes wounds Ares. Ares immediately flies to Mount Olympus and complains to Zeus, but
Zeus counters that Ares deserved his injury. Athena and Hera also depart the scene of the battle.
Scroll 6
With the gods absent, the Achaean forces again overwhelm the Trojans, who draw back toward the city. Menelaus considers
accepting a ransom in return for the life of Adrestus, a Trojan he has subdued, but Agamemnon persuades him to kill the man
outright. Nestor senses the Trojans weakening and urges the Achaeans not to bother stripping their fallen enemies of their
weapons but to focus instead on killing as many as possible while they still have the upper hand. The Trojans anticipate
downfall, and the soothsayer Helenus urges Hector to return to Troy to ask his mother, Queen Hecuba, along with her
noblewomen, to pray for mercy at the temple of Athena. Hector follows Helenus’s advice and gives his mother and the other
women their instructions. He then visits his brother Paris, who has withdrawn from battle, claiming he is too grief-stricken to
participate. Hector and Helen heap scorn on him for not fighting, and at last he arms himself and returns to battle. Hector also
prepares to return but first visits his wife, Andromache, whom he finds nursing their son Astyanax by the walls of the city. As
she cradles the child, she anxiously watches the struggle in the plain below. Andromache begs Hector not to go back, but he
insists that he cannot escape his fate, whatever it may be. He kisses Astyanax, who, although initially frightened by the crest on
Hector’s helmet, greets his father happily. Hector then departs. Andromache, convinced that he will soon die, begins to mourn
his death. Hector meets Paris on his way out of the city, and the brothers prepare to rejoin the battle.
Scroll 7
With the return of Hector and Paris the battle escalates, but Apollo and Athena soon decide to end the battle for the day. They
plan a duel to stop the present bout of fighting: Hector approaches the Achaean line and offers himself to anyone who will fight
him. Only Menelaus has the courage to step forward, but Agamemnon talks him out of it, knowing full well that Menelaus is
no match for Hector. Nestor, too old to fight Hector himself, passionately exhorts his comrades to respond to the challenge.
Nine Achaeans finally step forward. A lottery is held, and Great Ajax wins. Hector and Ajax begin their duel by tossing spears,
but neither proves successful. They then use their lances, and Ajax draws Hector’s blood. The two are about to clash with
swords when heralds, spurred by Zeus, call off the fight on account of nightfall. The two heroes exchange gifts and end their
duel with a pact of friendship.
That night, Nestor gives a speech urging the Achaeans to ask for a day to bury their dead. He also advises them to build
fortifications around their camp. Meanwhile, in the Trojan camp, King Priam makes a similar proposal regarding the Trojan
dead. In addition, his advisor Antenor asks Paris to give up Helen and thereby end the war. Paris refuses but offers to return all
of the loot that he took with her from Sparta. But when the Trojans present this offer to the Achaeans the next day, the
Achaeans sense the Trojans’ desperation and reject the compromise. Both sides agree, however, to observe a day of respite to
bury their respective dead. Zeus and Poseidon watch the Achaeans as they build their fortifications, planning to tear them down
as soon as the men leave.
Scroll 8
After prohibiting the other gods from interfering in the course of the war, Zeus travels to Mount Ida, overlooking the Trojan
plain. There he weighs the fates of Troy and Achaea in his scale, and the Achaean side sinks down. With a shower of lightning
upon the Achaean army, Zeus turns the tide of battle in the Trojans’ favor, and the Greeks retreat in terror. Riding the Trojans’
surge in power, Hector seeks out Nestor, who stands stranded in the middle of the battlefield. Diomedes scoops Nestor into his
chariot just in time, and Hector pursues the two of them, intent on driving them all the way to the Greek fortifications, where he
plans to set fire to their ships. Hera, seeing the Achaean army collapsing, inspires Agamemnon to rouse his troops. He stirs up
their pride, begs them to have heart, and prays for relief from Zeus, who finally sends a sign—an eagle carrying a fawn in its
talons. The divine symbol inspires the Achaeans to fight back.
As the Achaeans struggle to regain their power, the archer Teucer fells many Trojans. But Hector finally wounds him,
reversing the tide of battle yet again. Hector drives the Greeks behind their fortifications, all the way to their ships. Athena and
Hera, unable to bear any further suffering on the part of their favored Greeks, prepare to enter the fray, but Zeus sends the
goddess Iris to warn them of the consequences of interfering. Knowing that they cannot compete with Zeus, Athena and Hera
relent and return to Mount Olympus. When Zeus returns, he tells them that the next morning will provide their last chance to
save the Achaeans. He notes that only Achilles can prevent the Greeks’ destruction.
That night, the Trojans, confident in their dominance, camp outside their city’s walls, and Hector orders his men to light
hundreds of campfires so that the Greeks cannot escape unobserved. Nightfall has saved the Greeks for now, but Hector plans
to finish them off the next day.
Scroll 9, key chapter
Menelaus sends an envoy of Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus to plea for Achilles help. Achilles re-entrance into war would help
bring about the prophecy of Troy’s defeat but also lead Achilles to a short but glorious life (death gives him the kleos to be
remembered throughout eternity). Achilles still refuses the pleas of noble warriors who even used the poignant story of
Meleager because his anger concerning Agamemnon’s early argument with him is too great.
Scroll 10
Odysseus and Diomedes volunteer for a scout mission, kill some men and returns.
Scroll 11
Warfare close to ships: Odysseus and Diomedes receive wounds. Hector has brush with death, he is unhurt though. Machaon
encourages Patroklos to get Achilles to fight, or at least have Patroklos dress in Achilles armor.
Scroll 12
Hector and Trojans charges the Achaens and the Achaens are afraid, despite an omen which dooms the assault to fail. Gods
also agree with Poseiden that Achaen fortifications must be destroyed after the war.
Key Points of Scrolls 9-12:
1.) Achilles obstinacy reflects his absolute obedience towards ensuring kleos for himself. Agamemnon’s argument with
Achilles insults Achilles and decreases his kleos. Kleos is all Achilles has to live for.
2.) Parallel situation of the Micro-narrative of Meleager within the macro-narrative of the story of Achilles. Phoenix mentions
how Meleager doesn’t fight to protect his home until the enemy has entered the city walls despite fact that leaders would have
given him riches. Achilles still refuses the pleas of Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus which claim that the Achaens will give
Achilles timê if he fights now rather than when ships are burning. Achilles says he has timê from Zeus himself, doesn’t need
honor from the Achaeans.
Scroll 13
“Poseidonead” Poseidon rouses the Achaeans to hortatory speeches. This book shows that the gods are good fighters and good
speakers. Idomenus emerges as a principle fighter, the battle climaxes giving Idomenus his aristeia for holding off the Trojans.
Scroll 14
Great battle scene. Zeus is tricked by Hera. Aphrodite gives Hera a provocative sash. Zeus in turn woos Hera with stories of his
past sexual conquests. Meanwhile, the Greek warriors are exchanging their armor, “giving the best the best.” This action serves
for to stratify the soldiers, rather than to unite them.
Scroll 15
The second great surge by the Trojan occurs in this book. Zeus awakens to the Achaean rally and presents the outcome of the
battle. In this book Patroklos become a major player. First he tries to persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle, but after failing to
do so, he gets permission for himself to go. Achilles stand during this conversation shows that he is unsure about what he
should do, wanting to rejoin battle but cannot do to his previous oath. The gods rejoin the battle, with Apollo giving Hektor
renewed effort.
Scroll 16
Patroklos begs to be allowed to wear Achilles’ armor. While Achilles is considering, the Achean ships go up in flames
indicating Trojan success. With this Achilles consents but warns Patroklos to “do no more than rescue the ships.” The Trojans
panic thinking Achilles has rejoined the battle and flee to Troy. Patroklos pushes the Trojans all the way back to the wall with
great heroic valor. Unfortunately for Patroklos, Apollo decides to rejoin the fighting as an ally of Hektor and hits Patroklos so
hard that he is daze. In this daze, a Trojan warrior strikes Patroklos. When Patroklos tries to hide, Hektor rams a spear through
him and kills him. With his dying breath Patroklos says that it is not Hektor that has killed him but rather the gods and “deadly
Destiny.”
Scroll 17
Book 17 of the Iliad begins directly after the death of Patroklos, when Menelaos learns of his death. Not wishing to face Hektor
and the Trojans alone, he runs to find Ajax and calls him to come and fight the Trojans to avenge Patroklos’ death and regain
his body. A fight begins between the Acheans and the Trojans. The gods, including Apollo, Ares, Zeus, and Athena, intervene
at various points during the battle. Hektor dons Patroklos’ armor to join the fray. He becomes angry when Menelaos slays
Podes son of Eetion. Finally Menelaos and Meriones get the body of Patroklos and bear it away toward the Achean ships.
Scroll 18
Book 18 opens with the news of Patroklos’ death reaching Achilles at his ships. Distraught from grief and anger, he collapses
in his hysteria. Thetis, hearing his cries, comes to him to ask him why he is so upset. Telling her of Patroklos’ death, he tells
her that he must reenter the battle, thereby confirming his doom. She asks him to wait until she brings him a new set of armor
from King Hephaistos. The battle continues over the body of Patroklos, and the goddess Iris comes to Achilles to hasten him to
the battle to win the body before anything should happen to it. Achilles goes to the battle, but does not fight yet. But the troops,
seeing him, change their moods. The Trojans are dismayed and the Acheans are heartened by the sight of the hero once more.
The sun sets on a drastically different battlefield. The Acheans finally have Patroklos’ body back, and Achilles directs the
proper burial rites. Thetis goes to Hephaistos for the armor. Hephaistos forges new armor for Achilles, including the shield
containing the scene of the two cities which we discussed in web discussion and a great many details that encompass the world
on Achilles’ shield.
Scroll 19
Book 19 opens when the sun rises on the next day of the battle, and Achilles will join the fray. Achilles and Agamemnon settle
their feud and Agamemnon offers Achilles gifts of repent, including the girl who started the whole fight, Briseis. Achilles is
glad to get her back, even though at the beginning of the book he says it would have been better if Artemis had just shot her
dead and the whole thing never would have happened. Men are fickle. Go figure. Anyway, though he has made up with
Agamemnon and received the armor from his mother, Achilles continues to mourn Patroklos, refusing to eat or drink. Athena
comes down to sate his hunger. As he dons his new god-sent armor, Xanthos once more warns him that by stepping into battle
he will go to his death. He tells him that he need not warn him, that he knows by reentering the war he will die, but wishes to
avenge his friend’s death.
Scroll 20
Book 20 opens as Achilles and the Acheans and Hektor and the Trojans prepare for battle and Zeus calls the gods into a
council. He tells them that now that Achilles has rejoined the fight, it is no longer as fair a combat as it was before, for the
Trojans will never be able to hold out against Achilles. He sends the gods to take whatever side they please and help the
mortals. It is for this reason only that the Trojans withstand Achilles’ ire for as long as they do. Hektor, fighting with his men,
is approached by Apollo, who warns him that if he should meet Achilles in one-to-one combat he will die. Hektor avoids this
as best he can, even as Achilles is bent on meeting him. Gods protect Hektor, deflecting Achilles’ spears. Achilles then goes
after other Trojans in lieu of Hektor, exerting his rage on Hektor’s comrades.
Scroll 21
Achilles is in his aresteia – he cuts the forces of the Trojans in two, driving one half to towards the city and one half into the
river. A mist is sent by Hera to bewilder those retreating to the city. Achilles goes after those going toward to river, and in one
of the bloodiest scenes in the Iliad, he kills an atrocious number of men with his sword. He sees Lykaon, one of Priam’s sons
whom he had captured and sold into slavery in the past. His family has paid a lot of money to buy him back, and he has only
been home for twelve days. He again asks Achilles to spare him; Achilles says that only while Patroklos lived did he care at all
about sparing Trojan life. Because Patroklos, who was better than Lykaon, died and Achilles will die too, Lykaon will die.
Lykaon accepts his fate and is killed by Achilles, who boasts over his body by saying that to pay for Patroklos’s death all
Trojans will be massacred.
The river god Xanthus gets pissed off because of all the blood in his river and how mercilessly the Trojans are dying. He helps
Asteropaeus of Paeonia, whose grandfather Axios was another river god, by giving him courage to wound Achilles, but
Achilles kills him anyway. More of Asteropaeus’s people, who are running away in horror, are then killed by Achilles.
Xanthus tells Achilles to stop filling his water with corpses – there are so many that the river cannot flow into the sea. In reply
to this, Achilles says he will stop, but only when he has killed Trojans back to the city walls and when Hektor has fallen.
When Achilles goes back into the river, Xanthus attacks him, and the corpses are tossed onto the shore while the he protects the
living in the water. He attacks Achilles with his waves. Achilles runs away over the plain, pursued by the water in attempts to
drown him. Achilles prays to Zeus, worrying about the possibility that he will not achieve his glory in battle and instead die
like a drowned child. Athena and Poseidon help him. They reassure him, and instruct him to push the Trojans back to the city,
kill Hektor, and return to his encampment. Athena gives Achilles speed to run away from the river. Xanthus asks another
water god Simoeis to help him. Afraid for Achilles, Hera asks Hephaestus to fight Xanthus. Hephaestus (the god of fire)
unleashes flames on the river. The flames burn the corpses on the plain, the plans burst into flame, and the animals in the river
begin to die. Xanthus stops fighting, but the water itself begins to boil. When Xanthus vows not to help the Trojans anymore,
Hera tells Hephaestus to stop.
All this god action gets the other gods worked up and there is fighting amongst them. Ares attacks Athena, intending to pay
her back for the time she helped Diomedes to wound him, but Athena blocks his blow and strikes him down with a boulder.
Aphrodite attempts to carry Ares away to safety, but Athena, at Hera’s urging, punches Aphrodite in the bosom and knocks her
down. Poseidon taunts Apollo, bringing to mind how they were both maltreated by Laomedon, Priam’s father, but Apollo
sides with Troy. Apollo will not fight Poseidon because he is his father’s brother and very strong. Artemis, Apollo’s sister,
accuses him of being a coward, and Hera beats her for saying that. Hermes refuses to fight with Leto, who picks up the bow
and arrows of her daughter Artemis and goes to comfort her. Artemis has fled back to Olympus in tears, crying to her father
Zeus who chuckling comforts her.
Apollo goes to Troy to prevent the Achaeans from taking the city for its time. All the other gods go back to Olympus. Priam
watches his army getting destroyed and orders them to close the gates quickly as soon as everyone is inside. Apollo gives
Agenor, son of Antenor, courage to try to stop Achilles. Agenor wounds Achilles in the leg with his spear, but does not break
through Achilles’ armor. Apollo then spirits Agenor away to prevent him from dying. Apollo pretends to be Agenor, taunting
Achilles and luring him away from the city, so that the Trojans have enough time to get inside the walls.
Key points for analysis in Scroll 21:
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With Patroklos dead, Achilles’ compassion has been destroyed by his grief and rage. He acts cold and
inhumane, despite the fact that Patroklos was gentle and compassionate.
Lykaon thinks his family’s wealth will save him, but it won’t.
Achilles’ mortality is brought to light by the river almost killing him, despite the fact that he is taking the
lives of those he kills more lightly than the immortal gods would.
The battles between the gods are somewhat comical, because the gods have nothing at stake when they fight
– only men can have dignity in battle because men can die.
The nobility of the Trojans, their courage and concern.
Scroll 22
Hektor stands outside the gates of Troy, guarding it from Achilles, who is now aware that Apollo has tricked him. Achilles is
pissed off, but futilely because he cannot hurt a god. Priam sees him approaching Troy, and tells Hektor to come inside
because so many of his sons have already been killed by Achilles. Hektor refuses despite his fear at facing Achilles because he
is more afraid of facing Poyldamas, to whose advice he did not listen at the cost of many lives. At the sight of Achilles
approaching him, Hektor runs and is chased around the city walls. Zeus asks if the gods should save Hektor because of his
loyalty to the gods, but Athena convinces him not to save Hektor.
Achilles keeps chasing Hektor and prevents him from getting back into the city. He tells the Achaeans not to fire arrows or
spears so as not to take away from Achilles’ glory. Achilles chases Hektor around Troy three times, and Athena tells him she
will bring Hektor to face him. Achilles trusts her and stops running. Athena pretends to be Hektor’s brother Deiphobus and
tells him to face Achilles. Thinking that his brother will help him fight Achilles, Hektor does as she says. He entreats Achilles
to vow with him not to disrespect the body of he that is slain. Infamously, Achilles replies that there are no covenants between
men and lions, wolves and lambs. He tosses a spear and missed Hektor, but Athena returns it to him. Hektor keeps talking,
speaking of how he will help his people if he kills Achilles. He throws a spear at Achilles which sticks in Achilles’ shield.
Hektor asks his brother for another spear, but he is no longer there. Hektor realizes he has been tricked into a fight he cannot
win. He charges Achilles with his sword drawn, and Achilles charges back with his spear, which he drives through Hektor’s
neck. Hektor’s dying wish is that Achilles will treat his body with respect, but Achilles refuses brutally. He wishes that he
could eat Hektor’s raw flesh. Hektor predicts that Paris and Apollo will kill Achilles. Hektor’s soul goes to Hades, and
Achilles boasts over his body.
Achilles takes Hektor’s armor, and the Acheans take turns stabbing the body. Achilles pierces Hektor’s feet between the heel
and the ankle (Achilles tendon) and draws a leather strap through the hole. He then drags Hektor behind his chariot with his
head dragging in the dust around the city of Troy. Hektor’s parents watch in horror. The Trojans watching on the ramparts are
distraught. Hektor’s wife Andromakhe hears them and knows Hektor is dead. She faints when she gets up to the top of the
wall and sees Hektor being desecrated. When she wakes, she mourns her son’s fate because without a father his future is
uncertain. She also mourns Hektor’s own fate. She weeps as she speaks, the women join her in mourning.
Key points for analysis:
- Hektor’s pride, which makes him stay outside the gates, but conflicted with his role as a selfless defender of his
people, yet he is sacrificing himself for the people’s safety for his own glory – he doesn’t want to look like a coward.
- The change in Achilles’ feelings towards the Trojans – at the beginning he didn’t have anything against them, now
that they’ve killed Patroklos, he does. However, because Apollo was the one who urged Hektor to kill Patroklos, the
issue is complicated by divine intervention.
- Achilles hatred – the hatred of a god, menis – is self-destructive. His wish to eat Hektor’s flesh is like wanting to
become an animal.
- Hektor is wearing Achilles’ old armor that he took from Patroklos – just as Patroklos was a mirror image of Achilles,
so is Hektor here. Achilles is killing a likeness of himself.
Scroll 23
The Trojans are grieving for Hektor, and all the Achaeans, except the Myrmidons who are mourning Patroklos, go back to their
ships. Achilles leads a passionate lament, and they slaughter a lot of animals for a big feast. The chieftains convince Achilles
to meet with Agamemnon, but they can’t get him to clean himself from the day of fighting. He refuses to wash until Patroklos
has been properly interred, at which time Achilles also cuts his hair and everyone has a feast.
Achilles falls asleep and Patroklos’ ghost visits him, asking that his body be buried. Patroklos’ spirit can’t enter Hades until he
is buried. Patroklos reminds Achilles that he will die soon. He requests that their ashes be put in the same urn so that their
bodies can be together just as they grew up together from boyhood. Achilles vows to fulfill his requests, and asks him if they
can embrace and share their sorrow, but Patroklos is just vapor when he reaches out to hold him.
The following day, a pyre is built for Patroklos’ cremation. The men cut their hair and cover his body with it. Achilles has
grown one long lock to cut for the river Spercheios when he returns home safely, but he cuts it off for Patroklos because he
knows that he won’t be going home. Achilles tells Agamemnon to dismiss the men because he only wants those closest the
Patroklos, the chieftains, to deal with his body. Achilles sacrifices animals and twelve captured Trojan youths.
Achilles has left Hektor’s body for the dogs, but Aphrodite has protected the body by anointing it with rosy immortal oil so that
the flesh will not be destroyed. Apollo protects his body from the sun with mist.
Achilles cannot light the pyre until he remembers to pray to the north and west winds Boreas and Zephyrs. Iris carries this
message to the winds, and they help to spread the flame. Achilles stays by the pyre all day and night, mourning and making
drink offerings. At dawn he collapses but is awakened by the chieftains. He tells Agamemnon to put the flame out with wine.
The put Patroklos’ ashes in a golden urn and put it in a small funeral mound, but plan to expand it into a great mound after the
war when they have more time. Achilles then hosts funeral games. He offers prizes from his own possessions, and doesn’t
participate in the competition but just watches. Diomedes wins the chariot race, Epeus wins in boxing, Ajax and Odysseus tie
in wrestling, with Athena’s help Odysseus wins the footrace, Ajax and Diomedes tie in combat, Polypoetes wins the discus
event, Meriones wins in archery, and Agamemnon wins the spear throw because he is the king. All of them receive prizes
from Achilles.
Key points for analysis:
- Patroklos’ ghost does not offer a comforting view of the afterlife, which is depicted throughout the Iliad as grim
and bleak. All go to the dark world of Hades. There is a lot of importance put on the treatment of the body.
Patroklos seems more comforted by the idea of his and Achilles’ remains being together than of meeting him in
the afterlife. Life is the most important for the ancient Greeks.
- Achilles’ cutting of his hair symbolizes that he chooses to stay and lose his life for glory.
- The funeral games to honor Patroklos are symbolic of the importance the Greeks place on commemorating the
deaths of their heroes and loved ones. We see a different side of Achilles here – civilized, diplomatic. This
complicates his image as a killing machine.
Scroll 24
Achilles continues his mourning for Patroklos, spending sleepless nights and abusing Hektor’s body to comfort himself.
Apollo’s intervention is the only thing protecting Hektor’s body from being completely desecrated, and all the gods except
Poseidon, Hera, and Athena are appalled at his treatment of the corpse. Hera and Athena hate Troy because Paris picked
Aphrodite over them in a beauty contest. Apollo convinces Zeus to send Iris to summon Thetis (Achilles’ mother). He wants
Thetis to convince Achilles to accept Priam’s ransom for Hektor’s body so that the Trojans can give Hektor a fitting burial.
Achilles agrees when Thetis asks him, and Zeus sends Iris to tell Priam. Hermes himself is to escort Priam and one herald
safely to Achilles. Hekuba does not want him to go, but Priam is determined. He prepares the ransom and verbally abuses his
remaining sons as they help him get ready. Before leaving, Hekuba asks him to perform proper rituals to Zeus for a safe return,
and he does as she asks. Zeus sends a good omen and Priam sets off. Hermes joins him on the plain disguised as a Myrmidon.
Hermes puts the sentries to sleep so they can make it to Achilles safely.
Priam enters Achilles presence and Achilles men stare at him with surprise. Achilles hadn’t expected Priam himself to arrive.
Priam prostrates himself in front of Achilles, reminding him of his own father. Priam had fifty sons, many of whom were
killed in battle, many by Achilles. Hektor was the best son he had, and Achilles killed him. He asks Achilles to take pity on
him. Achilles thinks about his own father, and how his father will grieve when he does not return. He understands the
suffering his has caused and he weeps for his father and Patroklos. He asks Priam to stay with him so that they can mourn
together, but he initially refuses. Achilles gets mad and Priam agrees. Achilles has Hektor’s body prepared and Priam gives
Achilles his gifts. They eat together, and they respect each other. Priam is exhausted and asks if Achilles can provide him with
a bed. Achilles gives him one, and then asks how long he needs to mourn his son. Priam asks for eleven days of peace, to
which Achilles agrees. Priam and his herald go to sleep but Hermes wakes them in the middle of the night and warns them to
return to Troy so they do.
Once back at Troy, the people mourn Hektor, and Andromakhe, Hekuba, and Helen give speeches praising and mourning
Hektor. They mourn for nine days, then cremate Hektor on the tenth day. On the eleventh day, they bury his remains, all the
while conscious of the Achaeans. They then honor Hektor with a funeral feast. The end of the Iliad is just the simple
statement: “Such was their burial of Hektor breaker of horses.”
Key points for analysis:
- Homer finally tells us why Hera and Athena hate Troy so much (the beauty contest where Paris chose Aphrodite,
not them, because Aphrodite bribed him with the gift of Helen). The motive is petty in contrast to the suffering
in the rest of the Iliad. Homer’s placement is too suggestive to be accidental – intending to convey how petty the
gods are. Humans live in a capricious and cruel universe.
- Achilles transformation – end of his rage, demonstrated in his empathy for Priam. He has found compassion.
The movement of the spirit is a central point of the Iliad – Achilles is the only character who experiences a
transformative change in his understanding of himself and his world.
-
Homer closes with the burial of Hektor, leaving us with a feeling of great loss. Hektor has glory, but his people
are doomed. The tone is sorrowful. Instead of depicting the victorious Achaeans, the last thing we see is a
mourning and doomed people.
HOMER, ODYSSEY
Scroll 1: Athena Inspires the Prince
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Homer opens The Odyssey with an invocation to the Muse of epic poetry and asks for her guidance in telling the story
of a man who has experienced many twists and turns of fate and has suffered many hardships. Odysseus, the reader is
told, is the only Greek survivor of the Trojan War who has not yet returned home or died trying. He is being held
captive on the island Ogygia by the “bewitching nymph” (1.17) Calypso who wants him for her husband. Odysseus
has incurred the wrath of Poseidon, god of the sea, by blinding his son Polyphemus the Cyclops. Meanwhile,
Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, is besieged by suitors at his home in Ithaca.
At a divine council on Mount Olympus, Athena pleads with her father, Zeus, to take pity on Odysseus and allow him
to return home. She suggests that Zeus dispatch Hermes to liberate Odysseus from Calypso while Athena visits Ithaca
to advise King Odysseus’ son, Telemachus.
Disguised as Mentes, an old friend of Odysseus, Athena counsels Telemachus. She predicts that his father will return
and insists that the prince must stand up to the suitors and seek more information about Odysseus.
Scroll 2: Telemachus Sets Sail
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When the assembly gathers the next day, wise old Aegyptius points out that the group has not met in session since
King Odysseus left for the Trojan War some 20 years before. He commends the citizen who was bold enough to call
for the meeting. Encouraged, Telemachus effectively makes his case against the suitors and asks them to desist.
Silence falls across the gathering as most of the men seem moved by the prince’s plea.
Insolently, Antinous, the leading suitor, denies responsibility and puts the blame on that “queen of cunning,” Penelope
(2.95). He tells the legendary tale of the shroud that Penelope wove for the eventual funeral of Odysseus’ father,
Laertes, the former king now living on a farm where he grieves his son’s absence.
Considering the attack on his mother, Telemachus remains surprisingly calm in his rebuttal. But he foreshadows later
events by appealing to Zeus for assistance in vengeance. Dueling eagles suddenly swoop near the assembly, which the
seer Halitherses interprets as a sign of Odysseus’ return. Eurymachus, the other leading suitor, rudely interrupts the
aging prophet and threatens Telemachus. Mentor speaks for Telemachus, but the assembly reaches no clear decision
and dissolves. With the aid of Athena, who poses as Mentor and sometimes as Telemachus himself, the prince secretly
prepares and sets sail for Pylos.
Scroll 3: King Nestor Remembers
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As Telemachus and Athena (still disguised as Mentor) arrive at Pylos, they come upon a huge ceremony in which
some 4,500 people offer 81 bulls in sacrifice to Poseidon. Telemachus feels awkward and embarrassed by his youth
and inexperience, but under Athena/Mentor’s guidance, he makes a favorable impression on King Nestor, oldest of the
Greek chieftains. Nestor’s situation and, indeed, the whole state of affairs in Pylos stand in stark contrast to Odysseus’
and Ithaca. Through these experiences in Pylos and with Athena’s guidance, Telemachus learns how to comport
himself as the son and heir to a great king.
Nestor talks of the old days and significantly elaborates on the story of Agamemnon’s murder. He has little to offer
regarding Odysseus, having last seen Ithaca’s king shortly after the victory at Troy, but he suggests that Telemachus
and Nestor’s son Pisistratus proceed to Sparta to visit Menelaus, Agamemnon’s brother, who may be of more help to
the guests. Athena returns to the ship to instruct the crew before she leaves on other errands. After another sacrificial
feast, Nestor provides a chariot and team of steeds for the two princes’ journey to Sparta.
Scroll 4: The King and Queen of Sparta
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When they arrive at Sparta, Telemachus and Pisistratus are warmly welcomed. Telemachus is moved to tears by
Menelaus’ recollections of his friend Odysseus. The king and queen recall some of Odysseus’ exploits at Troy but
postpone serious talk until the next day. In the morning, Menelaus expresses outrage at the behavior of Penelope’s
suitors and encourages Telemachus by telling him that Odysseus is alive and a captive of Calypso.
Back in Ithaca, the suitors have discovered that Telemachus is gone and plan to ambush his ship on its return.
Penelope is distraught to learn of her son’s trip and the planned assassination but is soothed by a vision sent by
Athena. Homer leaves the plot of Telemachus dangling as selected suitors board a vessel to set up the surprise attack.
Scroll 5: Hermes tells Calypso to Free Odysseus
- In a council of the gods, Athena describes sufferings of Odysseus to Zeus; Zeus says it was her idea
- Hermes is the messenger sent by Zeus to tell Calypso that Odysseus must achieve his nostos and return home: Hermes
finds Calypso at her loom, who offers him refreshments and asks why he is here
- Calypso reacts with wrath: “you gods ought to be ashamed of yourselves… always jealous, etc.” She emphasizes the
double standard that gods have on men and women with their lovers.
- Odysseus is weeping on the beach for his homecoming, and he is tired of Calypso
- Calypso tells him to make a raft of wood, and that she will give him clothes, a bronze axe with olive-wood handle
- Poseidon creates a storm; Ino gives Odysseus a protective veil
- Athena puts a spell of sleep on him
Scrolls 6-8: Visit to King Alkinoos and Queen Arete at the Phaeacian Island
- Athena goes to Nausicaa (daughter to King Alkinoos of the Phaeacians) and tells her to wash by the river the next day
- Odysseus wakes up to the sound of nymphs
- He asks Nausicaa to lead her to town and clothe him; she responds by saying she will introduce him to her father
- Odysseus prays to Athena that they will be hospitable towards him
- Athena puts a mist around Odysseus to protect him from the rudeness of others
- Odysseus praises Queen Arete
- Alkinoos is convinced that he is an immortal; Odysseus defends Nausicaa for not bringing him directly to the house
by saying that he was nervous that he might be displeased
- Alkinoos offers his daughter’s hand in marriage
- Athena takes the form of Alkinoos’ servant and assembles people around the town to come listen to the stranger that
looks like an ‘immortal god’ (she makes him look GOOD)
- Alkinoos plans to entertain the guest with feast and Demodokos the famous bard
- Odysseus begins to weep at the sound of Demodokos’ singing of the glories of heroes
- Races begin, and Laodamas hopes that Odysseus will enter an athloi (competition) but he declines
- Euryalos insults him saying that he has no athletic ability about him
- Odysseus says: you are insolent… his good looks are not crowned with verbal grace (kharis); you are empty with
respect to noos, I excel in many athletic exercises  throws a disc, and begins to say how he excels at all athletics
- Bard sings of loves of Ares and Aphrodite: how she cheated on Hephaistos with Ares
- King is delighted when Odysseus compliments the dancing talent of his people
- Alkinoos and Arete give him beautiful chest, best golden goblet
- Odysseus compliments Demodokos for his singing talent, is emotionally affected
- Alkinoos announces Demodokos to stop singing his song because O is in great distress (akhos) and asks him to
explain who he is and where he is from
Scroll 9
Reluctantly, Odysseus tells the Phaeacians the sorry tale of his wanderings. From Troy, the winds sweep him and his men to
Ismarus, city of the Cicones. The men plunder the land and, carried away by greed, stay until the reinforced ranks of the
Cicones turn on them and attack. Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship. A storm sent by Zeus
sweeps them along for nine days before bringing them to the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the natives give some of
Odysseus’s men the intoxicating fruit of the lotus. As soon as they eat this fruit, they lose all thoughts of home and long for
nothing more than to stay there eating more fruit. Only by dragging his men back to the ship and locking them up can Odysseus
get them off the island.
Odysseus and his men then sail through the murky night to the land of the Cyclopes, a rough and uncivilized race of one-eyed
giants. After making a meal of wild goats captured on an island offshore, they cross to the mainland. There they immediately
come upon a cave full of sheep and crates of milk and cheese. The men advise Odysseus to snatch some of the food and hurry
off, but, to his and his crew’s detriment, he decides to linger. The cave’s inhabitant soon returns—it is the Cyclops
Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon. Polyphemus makes a show of hospitality at first, but he soon turns hostile. He devours two
of Odysseus’s men on the spot and imprisons Odysseus and the rest in his cave for future meals.
Odysseus wants to take his sword to Polyphemus right then, but he knows that only Polyphemus is strong enough to move the
rock that he has placed across the door of his cave. Odysseus thus devises and executes a plan. The next day, while
Polyphemus is outside pasturing his sheep, Odysseus finds a wooden staff in the cave and hardens it in the fire. When
Polyphemus returns, Odysseus gets him drunk on wine that he brought along from the ship. Feeling jovial, Polyphemus asks
Odysseus his name. Odysseus replies that his name is “Nobody” (9.410). As soon as Polyphemus collapses with intoxication,
Odysseus and a select group of his men drive the red-hot staff into his eye. Polyphemus wakes with a shriek, and his neighbors
come to see what is wrong, but they leave as soon as he calls out, “Nobody’s killing me” (9.455). When morning comes,
Odysseus and his men escape from the cave, unseen by the blind Polyphemus, by clinging to the bellies of the monster’s sheep
as they go out to graze. Safe on board their ships and with Polyphemus’s flock on board as well, Odysseus calls to land and
reveals his true identity. With his former prisoners now out of reach, the blind giant lifts up a prayer to his father, Poseidon,
calling for vengeance on Odysseus.
ANALYSIS
Books 9 through 12 are told as flashbacks, as Odysseus sits in the palace of the Phaeacians telling the story of his wanderings.
These books thus give background not only to Odysseus’s audience but to Homer’s as well. Providing some of the richest and
most celebrated examples of Odyssean cunning, they speak as much to the resourcefulness of the poet, who uses Odysseus’s
voice to render a more complete picture of his hero’s wanderings, as to that of the hero himself. The foreboding that Odysseus
feels as he heads toward the cave, which seems to prompt him to take the wine along, foreshadows his upcoming encounter
with Polyphemus and the need for trickery to prevail. Once Homer establishes the conflict between Odysseus and Polyphemus,
he unveils Odysseus’s escape plan slowly and subtly: the significance of Odysseus’s blinding of Polyphemus becomes clear
when Polyphemus lets his sheep out to graze the next morning; similarly, Odysseus’s curious lie about his name seems
nonsense at first but adds a clever and humorous twist to the necessity of keeping the other Cyclopes from rescuing
Polyphemus.
Odysseus’s eventual revelation of his identity to Polyphemus ultimately proves foolish, and, because it embodies a lack of
foresight, stands in stark contrast to the cunning prudence that Odysseus displays in his plan to escape from the cave. Though
his anger at Polyphemus for devouring his shipmates is certainly understandable, and though Polyphemus’s blind rockthrowing fury eggs him on, Odysseus’s taunts are unnecessary. By telling Polyphemus his name, Odysseus pits his mortal
indignation against Poseidon’s divine vengeance. This act of hubris, or excessive pride, ensures almost automatically that
Odysseus will suffer grave consequences. Indeed, his eventual punishment costs him dearly: Poseidon’s anger wipes away the
very thing that he gains by cleverly obscuring his name—the safety of his men.
The form that Odysseus’s revelation of his identity takes is interesting, as it represents the cultural values of ancient Greece.
Odysseus doesn’t simply utter his name; rather, he attaches to it an epithet, or short, descriptive title (“raider of cities”), his
immediate paternal ancestry (“Laertes’s son”), and a reference to his homeland (“who makes his home in Ithaca”) (9.561–562).
This manner of introduction was very formalized and formulaic in Homeric Greece and should seem familiar to readers of the
Iliad. Odysseus is here going through the motions of confirming his kleos (the glory or renown that one earns in the eyes of
others by performing great deeds). He wants to make sure that people know that he was the one who blinded Polyphemus,
explicitly instructing Polyphemus to make others aware of his act. Like the heroes of the Iliad, Odysseus believes that the
height of glory is achieved by spreading his name abroad through great deeds.
For all of his stupidity and brutishness, Polyphemus strikes some commentators as vaguely sympathetic at the end of Book 9.
They point to the pitiful prayer that he offers to his father, Poseidon, and his warm treatment of his beloved sheep, who are
soon to be devoured by Odysseus and his men. He caresses each wooly back as it passes out of his cave, and it is difficult not
to pity him when he gives special attention to his faithful lead ram. Homer notes that, “[s]troking him gently, powerful
Polyphemus murmured, / ‘Dear old ram, why last of the flock to quit the cave?’” (9.497–498). The juxtaposition of “gently”
and “powerful” and the poetically stated question illustrate that, despite his monstrousness, Polyphemus is somewhat
tenderhearted. Additionally, in pondering why the ram is the last to leave the cave, Polyphemus attributes a human capacity for
sympathy to him (“Sick at heart for your master’s eye” [9.505]). His tenderness is all the more endearing for his ignorance—he
is wholly unaware of Odysseus’s cunning. Though Homeric culture praised Odysseus for his characteristic cunning, others
have criticized him for this quality, perceiving his tactics as conniving, underhanded, dishonest, and even cowardly.
Scroll 10
The Achaeans sail from the land of the Cyclopes to the home of Aeolus, ruler of the winds. Aeolus presents Odysseus with a
bag containing all of the winds, and he stirs up a westerly wind to guide Odysseus and his crew home. Within ten days, they
are in sight of Ithaca, but Odysseus’s shipmates, who think that Aeolus has secretly given Odysseus a fortune in gold and
silver, tear the bag open. The winds escape and stir up a storm that brings Odysseus and his men back to Aeolia. This time,
however, Aeolus refuses to help them, certain that the gods hate Odysseus and wish to do him harm. Lacking wind, the
Achaeans row to the land of the Laestrygonians, a race of powerful giants whose king, Antiphates, and unnamed queen turn
Odysseus’s scouts into dinner. Odysseus and his remaining men flee toward their ships, but the Laestrygonians pelt the ships
with boulders and sink them as they sit in the harbor. Only Odysseus’s ship escapes.
From there, Odysseus and his men travel to Aeaea, home of the beautiful witch-goddess Circe. Circe drugs a band of
Odysseus’s men and turns them into pigs. When Odysseus goes to rescue them, Hermes approaches him in the form of a young
man. He tells Odysseus to eat an herb called moly to protect himself from Circe’s drug and then lunge at her when she tries to
strike him with her sword. Odysseus follows Hermes’ instructions, overpowering Circe and forcing her to change his men back
to their human forms. Odysseus soon becomes Circe’s lover, and he and his men live with her in luxury for a year. When his
men finally persuade him to continue the voyage homeward, Odysseus asks Circe for the way back to Ithaca. She replies he
must sail to Hades, the realm of the dead, to speak with the spirit of Tiresias, a blind prophet who will tell him how to get
home.
The next morning, Odysseus rouses his men for the imminent departure. He discovers, however, that the youngest man in his
crew, Elpenor, had gotten drunk the previous night, slept on the roof, and, when he heard the men shouting and marching in the
morning, fell from the roof and broke his neck. Odysseus explains to his men the course that they must take, which they are
displeased to learn is rather meandering.
Scroll 11
Odysseus travels to the River of Ocean in the land of the Cimmerians. There he pours libations and performs sacrifices as Circe
earlier instructs him to do to attract the souls of the dead. The first to appear is that of Elpenor, the crewman who broke his
neck falling from Circe’s roof. He begs Odysseus to return to Circe’s island and give his body a proper burial. Odysseus then
speaks with the Theban prophet Tiresias, who reveals that Poseidon is punishing the Achaeans for blinding his son
Polyphemus. He foretells Odysseus’s fate—that he will return home, reclaim his wife and palace from the wretched suitors,
and then make another trip to a distant land to appease Poseidon. He warns Odysseus not to touch the flocks of the Sun when
he reaches the land of Thrinacia; otherwise, he won’t return home without suffering much more hardship and losing all of his
crew. When Tiresias departs, Odysseus calls other spirits toward him. He speaks with his mother, Anticleia, who updates him
on the affairs of Ithaca and relates how she died of grief waiting for his return. He then meets the spirits of various famous men
and heroes and hears the stories of their lives and deaths.
Odysseus now cuts short the tale and asks his Phaeacian hosts to allow him to sleep, but the king and queen urge him to
continue, asking if he met any of the Greeks who fell at Troy in Hades. He relates his encounters there: he meets Agamemnon,
who tells him of his murder at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra. Next he meets Achilles, who asks about his son,
Neoptolemus. Odysseus then tries to speak with Ajax, an Achaean who killed himself after he lost a contest with Odysseus
over the arms of Achilles, but Ajax refuses to speak and slips away. He sees Heracles, King Minos, the hunter Orion, and
others. He witnesses the punishment of Sisyphus, struggling eternally to push a boulder over a hill only to have it roll back
down whenever it reaches the top. He then sees Tantalus, agonized by hunger and thirst. Tantalus sits in a pool of water
overhung by bunches of grapes, but whenever he reaches for the grapes, they rise out of grasp, and whenever he bends down to
drink, the water sinks out of reach. Odysseus soon finds himself mobbed by souls wishing to ask about their relatives in the
world above. He becomes frightened, runs back to his ship, and immediately sails away.
ANALYSIS10-11
The mortal tendency to succumb to temptation manifests itself throughout Book 10. Just as Odysseus taunts the blinded
Polyphemus in book 9 by boasting about his defeat of the Cyclops, the members of his crew prove unable to resist looking into
Aeolus’s bag, and their greed ends up complicating their nostos, or homeward voyage. As important and illustrative of weakmindedness, however, is that Odysseus lets a year waste away in the arms of the goddess Circe. While his crew certainly seems
not to mind the respite, Odysseus particularly enjoys it, even though his wife is waiting for him. The drunk Elpenor’s death as
the men are about to depart from home constitutes another instance of overindulgence in personal appetite.
Only when his crew “prod[s]” him and calls his delays “madness” is Odysseus persuaded to leave Circe’s realm (10.519–520).
The crew members’ lukewarm feelings for the place are understandable—after all, they have to suffer the humiliation of being
transformed, initially, into pigs and receive no recompense comparable to the love of a goddess. Indeed, in Book 10, for the
first time we hear the crew criticize its leader. Refusing repeatedly to return to Circe’s halls after the other scouts are
transformed into pigs, the crew member Eurylochus issues an especially stinging reproach of Odysseus for foolishly leading his
crew to its destruction. He presents the death of their comrades at the hands of Polyphemus as evidence of Odysseus’s
imprudence: “thanks to [Odysseus’s] rashness they died too!” (10.482). Though Odysseus checks his anger and restores calm,
the unrest illustrates the holes in his authority.
With the appearance of the various heroes and lesser divinities, Book 11 gives the modern reader an extraordinary anthology of
mythological lives. Homer’s audience would already have been familiar with the stories of such figures as Heracles, Minos,
Achilles, Agamemnon, Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and people turned to them for authoritative versions of the Greek myths even in
the later ancient period. For the modern reader, they provide invaluable insight into early Greek mythology. Again, by
juxtaposing Odysseus’s wanderings to the woes of these legendary figures, Homer both broadens the scope of his poem and
further entrenches his hero in his culture’s mythology. In even being allowed to enter Hades, Odysseus attains a privileged,
transcendent status.
Odysseus’s conversation with Achilles reveals a nuanced view of warfare and kleos, or glory, which is harder to find in the
Iliad. Achilles’ declaration, “I’d rather slave on earth for another man / . . . / than rule down here over all the breathless dead,”
alludes to his dilemma, depicted in the Iliad, of choosing between earning glory on the battlefield but dying young and living
out a long, uneventful life (11.556–558). Whereas the Iliad, which celebrates the glory of warfare, wholeheartedly endorses
Achilles’ choice of glory over long life, Achilles’ lament in Book 11 of the Odyssey issues a strong caveat to this ethic of kleos.
This change in Achilles’ sentiment from one poem to the next is understandable, given that, as we have seen with Odysseus,
the Odyssey tends to focus on characters’ inner lives. Yet Achilles doesn’t wholly shun the idea of kleos. Though he turns away
somewhat from his warrior ethos, he still rejoices to hear that his son has become a great warrior. Kleos has thus evolved from
an accepted cultural value into a more complex and somewhat problematic principle.
Positioned near the very heart of the epic, the underworld segment ties together the poem’s various settings. Anticleia recalls
those pining away for Odysseus in Ithaca. Agamemnon and Achilles shift our thoughts back to Troy. Elpenor ties in the near
past on Circe’s island and the present responsibilities that Odysseus has to his crew. Finally, the interruption in Odysseus’s
account reminds us of where he is now—in the palace of the Phaeacians. The interruption seems to have no other function, and
it doesn’t make much sense within the context of the plot. It is hard to believe, for instance, that Odysseus would want to go to
sleep before describing the most important conversations he had in Hades, and, in fact, he doesn’t go to sleep—the history of
his wanderings goes on for another book and a half. The interruption is transparently used to break the long first-person
narrative into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Scroll 12
Odysseus returns to Aeaea, where he buries Elpenor and spends one last night with Circe. She describes the obstacles that he
will face on his voyage home and tells him how to negotiate them. As he sets sail, Odysseus passes Circe’s counsel on to his
men. They approach the island of the lovely Sirens, and Odysseus, as instructed by Circe, plugs his men’s ears with beeswax
and has them bind him to the mast of the ship. He alone hears their song flowing forth from the island, promising to reveal the
future. The Sirens’ song is so seductive that Odysseus begs to be released from his fetters, but his faithful men only bind him
tighter.
Once they have passed the Sirens’ island, Odysseus and his men must navigate the straits between Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla
is a six-headed monster who, when ships pass, swallows one sailor for each head. Charybdis is an enormous whirlpool that
threatens to swallow the entire ship. As instructed by Circe, Odysseus holds his course tight against the cliffs of Scylla’s lair.
As he and his men stare at Charybdis on the other side of the strait, the heads of Scylla swoop down and gobble up six of the
sailors.
Odysseus next comes to Thrinacia, the island of the Sun. He wants to avoid it entirely, but the outspoken Eurylochus persuades
him to let his beleaguered crew rest there. A storm keeps them beached for a month, and at first the crew is content to survive
on its provisions in the ship. When these run out, however, Eurylochus persuades the other crew members to disobey Odysseus
and slaughter the cattle of the Sun. They do so one afternoon as Odysseus sleeps; when the Sun finds out, he asks Zeus to
punish Odysseus and his men. Shortly after the Achaeans set sail from Thrinacia, Zeus kicks up another storm, which destroys
the ship and sends the entire crew to its death beneath the waves. As had been predicted, only Odysseus survives, and he just
barely. The storm sweeps him all the way back to Charybdis, which he narrowly escapes for the second time. Afloat on the
broken timbers of his ship, he eventually reaches Ogygia, Calypso’s island. Odysseus here breaks from his story, stating to the
Phaeacians that he sees no reason to repeat to them his account of his experience on Ogygia.
ANALYSIS
Like much of the Odyssey, Book 12 generates excitement through the tension between goals and obstacles. Some of these
obstacles are simply unpleasant: Odysseus would rather avoid Scylla and Charybdis altogether, but he cannot—they stand in
his way, leaving him no choice but to navigate a path through them. But many of these obstacles are temptations. Unlike Scylla
and Charybdis, the island of Thrinacia poses no immediate threat to Odysseus or his men. While the cautious Odysseus
advocates resisting the urge even to land on Thrinacia, the crew’s instincts and desires drive them to slaughter the Sun’s flocks
even after promising Odysseus that they wouldn’t do so. Even Odysseus’s experience with the Sirens is a study in temptation, a
temptation that Odysseus keeps in check through foresight. The picture that Homer paints of Odysseus strapped to the mast,
begging to be released, is symbolic of many of his and his crew’s experiences on the seas. Immediate, visceral desires distract
him from his nostos, or homeward journey, but a deeper longing and a more intellectual understanding of his mission’s
importance keep him tied to his course.
Scroll 13:
In Scroll 13 Odysseys has just finished telling the Phaecians the story of his travels (he washed up on Scheria, the home of the
Phaecians, after Zeus punished the rest of his crew and killed them for eating the Sun’s cattle). Alcinous, the king, loads many
gifts into a ship that takes Odysseus to Ithaca. He sleeps throughout the entire journey (“almost deathlike slumber”) and is left
on the shore with his gifts. Poseidon gets angry when he finds out the Odysseys has made it back to Ithaca and gets Zeus to
allow him to destroy the Phaecians ship by turning it to stone (fulfilling the prophecy from the end of Scroll 8). This makes the
Phaecians decide to no longer give lost strangers escorts home. When Odysseys wakes up he does not recognize where he is
because Athena makes it a foggy day. At first he thinks that the Phaecians have left him in the wrong place but then Athena,
disguised as a young shepard, tells him that he is indeed in Ithaca. Odysseus does not reveal his true identity to the shepard
until he realizes that it is Athena. She tells him that he should not tell anyone that he is home yet and should hide with
Eumaeus, the shepard and plan his revenge against the suitors. She makes him look like an old man so that he will not be
recognized. Athena also tells him about Telemakhos’ journey to find out Odysseus’ fate and then goes to fetch Telemakhos.
Scroll 14:
Odysseus travels to Eumaeus’ hut and although Eumaeus does not recognize Odysseus. He says that he became a beggar later
when he went to Egypt and was taken in by the Egyptians and then later forced into slavery by a Phoenician. Odysseus tells
Eumaeus that during his time with the Thespriotians he heard that Odysseus was still alive. Eumaeus refuses to believe the
stranger. Eumaeus tells Odysseus of his fondness for his old master (Odysseus) and complains about the suitors. Odysseus tries
to tell Eumaeus that his master will return but Eumaeus writes him off as another beggar looking to take advantage of Penelope
by telling her false news of Odysseus’ return. Eumaeus gives him a nice meal (theme of hospitality!). Eumaeus allows
Odysseus to spend the night with him and even gives him a cloak to help him stay warm.
Scroll 15:
Athena goes to Telemakhos (who is still in Menelaus’ palace) and appears to him in a dream. She tells him that he must go
home to keep the suitors from taking over the household he left behind and warns him of the suitors plan to kill him. She also
instructs him that upon reaching Ithaca he should go straight to Eumaeus’ home and should send Eumaeus to tell Penelope that
he has returned safely. Telemakhos wants to leave right away but Peisistratos (Nestor’s son) tells him that he must wait until
Menelaus can give him gifts. So the next morning Menelaus and Helen have a meal for Telemakhos and give him gifts. As
Telemakhos and Pesistratos leave in the chariot an eagle flies over with a white goose in its talons. Helen believes that it is an
omen that means that Odysseus will return to take his revenge upon the suitors. Telemakhos and Peisistratos spend the night
Pherae and the next morning Telemakhos is dropped off at his ship because he does not want to have to go visit with Nestor.
While Telemakhos is preparing the ship Theoclymenus, a seer who was fleeing from Argos because he killed a man, comes to
him and asks if he can join him on his voyage so that he will not be killed.
Meanwhile back in Ithaca Odysseus decides to test Eumaeus. Odysseus tells Eumaeus that he does not want to be a burden to
him any longer and will go to the suitors the next day and ask them for work. Eumaeus warns him that this is not a wise idea
because the suitors will treat him badly. Eumaeus then tells Odysseus of what has become of Odysseus’ parents: Laertes is still
alive and misses his son and his wife who died from sorrow for her son. Eumaeus then tells Odysseus how he found his way to
Ithaca: he was the song of the king of Syrn and was kidnapped by Phoenician pirates who eventually sold him to Laertes. He
was brought up by Laertes’ wife.
The next day Telemakhos arrives in Ithaca. He gets off the ship and tells the crew to take the ship to the city. As they part a
hawk flies overhead carrying a dove. Theoklymenos interprets the omen as a sign that Telemakhos will remain powerful and
there will be no “house in the district more royal that your own.”
Scroll 16:
Telemakhos makes his way to Eumaeus’ hut where he finds a stranger with the Shepard. Eumaeus tells Telemakhos the
stranger’s story and tells him to do with him what he wants. Telemakhos is afraid of what the suitors would do to them.
Telemakhos then send Eumaeus to go and tell Penelope that he has returned safely. Athena then goes to Eumaeus’ hut and
reveals herself to Odysseus and tells him to speak to her outside of the hut. Athena removes Odysseus disguise and tells him to
reveal himself to his son. Telemakhos and Odysseus reunite and weep. Odysseus and Telemakhos then begin to plan their
revenge on the suitors. The plan is that Odysseus will go to the palace disguised as a beggar and Telemakhos will hide the
weapons so that the suitors can no use them. The two of them will then slaughter the suitors. Eumaeus reaches the palace to tell
Penelope of Telemakhos’ return at the same time as the crew from the ship arrives and tells the whole palace that Telemakhos
has returned. The suitors are upset that they have not successfully killed Telemakhos and start to plan their next move.
Antinoos thinks that they should kill Telemakhos right away. Amphinomos says that they should not kill Telemakhos but
should instead wait for a sign from the gods. The rest of the suitors are convinced by Amphinomos and return to the palace.
Penelope then yells at Antinoos for his plan to kill her son (she learned of it from Medon). Eurmakhos clams down Penelope
by pretending that they would never hurt Telemakhos.
Scroll 17
Odysseus receives a welcome from Penelope and the nurse Eurycleia. Telemachus tells Penelope the news he received of
Odysseus in Pylos and Sparta, but he doesn’t reveal that he has seen Odysseus. Theoclymenus then speaks up and swears that
Odysseus is in Ithaca at this very moment. Meanwhile, Eumaeus and Odysseus set out toward town. The suitors do not receive
him well in the palace, and Antinous goes out of his way to insult him and attack him. Penelope asks to have the beggar
brought to her so that she can question him about Odysseus. Odysseus, however, doesn’t want the suitors to see him heading
toward the queen’s room. Eumaeus announces that he must return to his hut and hogs, leaving Odysseus alone with
Telemachus and the suitors.
Scroll 18
Another beggar, Arnaeus (nicknamed Irus), challenges him to a boxing match. Athena gives Odysseus extra strength and
stature. Odysseus stops just short of killing him. The suitors congratulate Odysseus. He predicts to Amphinomus, one of the
suitors that congratulates him, that Odysseus will soon be home and warns him to return to his own land. But Amphinomus
doesn’t depart because Athena has bound him to death at the hands of Telemachus. Athena now convinces Penelope to make
an appearance before her suitors. The goddess gives her extra beauty to inflame their hearts. When Penelope speaks to the
suitors, she lies and says that Odysseus had told her to take a new husband if he should fail to return before Telemachus began
growing facial hair.The suitors shower her with gifts and Odysseus instructs the maidservants to go to Penelope. The
maidservant Melantho insults him as a drunk; Odysseus then scares them off with threats. Athena now inspires Eurymachus to
insult him, which ends up in a riot. Telemachus ends up intervening.
Scroll 19
When the suitors leave, Telemachus and Odysseus remove the arms as planned. Telemachus tells Eurycleia that they are
storing the arms to keep them from being damaged. Telemachus then leaves and Odysseus is joined by Penelope. She knows
that he has claimed to have met Odysseus, and she tests his honesty by asking him to describe her husband. Odysseus describes
himself perfectly which brings Penelope to tears. He then tells the story of how he met Odysseus and eventually came to
Ithaca.. He tells Penelope that he is alive and predicts that Odysseus will be back within the month.
Penelope offers the beggar a bed to sleep in but he declines. As Eurycleia washes his feet, she notices a scar. She immediately
recognizes it as the scar that Odysseus received when he went boar hunting with his grandfather Autolycus. She throws her
arms around Odysseus, but he silences her while Athena keeps Penelope distracted. Eurycleia promises to keep his secret.
Penelope describes to Odysseus a dream that she has had in which an eagle swoops down upon her twenty pet geese and kills
them all; then it says that he is her husband who has just put her lovers to death. Odysseus explains it to her. But Penelope
decides that she will marry the first man who can shoot an arrow through the holes of twelve axes set in a line.
Scroll 20
Odysseus worries that he and Telemachus will never be able to conquer so many suitors, but Athena reassures him that through
the gods all things are possible. Penelope wakes and prays for Artemis to kill her as she worries about having lost her husband
and now her decision to remarry. Her distress wakes Odysseus, who asks Zeus for a good omen. Odysseus and Telemachus
meet the next day in the palace. The suitors enter, once again plotting Telemachus’s murder. Athena keeps the suitors
antagonistic all through dinner to prevent Odysseus’s anger from losing its edge. Ctesippus, a wealthy and arrogant suitor,
throws a cow’s hoof at Odysseus, in response to which Telemachus threatens to run him through with his sword. The suitors
laugh, failing to notice that they and the walls of the room are covered in blood and that their faces have a ghostly look—all of
which Theoclymenus interprets as portents of inescapable doom.
Scroll 21: (Trial of the bow)
 Athena helps convince Penelope to get Odysseus’s old bow (given to him
by Iphitus) out from the store room. At the sight of Odysseus’ bow, the stockman and the swineherd shed tears.
 Penelope announces to the suitors that she will marry whichever suitor strings the bow most easily and can send it
through twelve axes.
 Telemakhos then tries to string the bow, and though he is about to succeed on his fourth try, he is stopped by
Odysseus’s command. All the suitors fail one by one.
 Odysseus reveals his identity to Eumaios and Philoetius (two faithful servants who help Odysseus in his fight against
the suitors in scroll 22) and promises to treat them as Telemakhos’s brothers or friends if they help him fight against
the suitors, and they agree.
 When Odysseus returns inside, Eurymakhos tries to string his bow, but he also fails and feels miserable because he
knows it makes him inferior to Odysseus.
 The suitors finally decide to retire for the night and try the next day after praying to Apollo, but Odysseus suggests
letting him try before they end.
 Since the suitors are afraid that Odysseus will be able to string it, they tell him the
wine has gone to his head. Nevertheless, Telemakhos orders Eumaios to
give Odysseus the bow, and he strings it easily and sends it through all twelve axes.
Notes:
 Kleos: achieved by Odysseus and Telemakhos (who almost succeeded)
 Athlos: Scroll dedicated in great parts to contest (athlos)
 Telmakhos exerts his authority: “mother I am the only man either in Ithaca or in the islands that are over against
Elis who has the right to let anyone have the bow or to refuse it.”(343)
 Cunning Odysseus: tests his stockman and his swineherd (Eumaios and Philoetius) and asks them what they think
of Odysseus
 Recognition scene (Eumaios and Philoetius)
 Dramatic Irony in situations of disguise: Antinoos says that he remembers Odysseus from his childhood when
Odysseus (disguised) is standing right beside him.
 Foretelling by Homer: Antinoos will be the first to be killed by Odysseus
“this is what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas
in fact he was to be the first that should taste of the arrows from the hand of Odysseus whom he was dishonoring his
own house.” (96)
Scroll 22: (Odysseus’s battle with the suitors)
 Begins with the killing of Antinoos (as predicted) and ending with the fumigation of the house halls. There is a very
graphic description of Antinoos’ death scene.
 Odysseus reveals himself to the suitors and tells them that they will be punished for their disloyalty.
 After Antinoos dies, Eurymakhos pleads to Odysseus saying Antinoos was the only bad suitor, but Odysseus says he
will spare no one and proceeds to kill Eurymakhos next, then Amphinomos.
 Meanwhile, Telemakhos goes to get weapons from the storeroom for Eumaeus and Philoetius but forgets to lock it and
Melanthios gets weapons for the suitors.
 During the battle Athena encourages Odysseus to fight and saves Odysseus from the suitors. Her shield [aegis]
appears aloft and scares the suitors.
 Odysseus stops Eurykleia from revealing his identity to Penelope.
 After the defeat of the suitors, Odysseus asks for Eurykleia to separate the loyal servants from the disloyal ones.
Disloyal women servants are hanged by Telemakhos and Odysseus fumigates the house.
Notes:
 Again, Athlos: scroll of contest between Odysseus and the suitors
 Scroll of violent revenge: Odysseus slays all the suitors who have betrayed him. Telemakhos will not let the
disloyal women servants have a clean death. (He hangs them).
 Incredible battle scene: Telemakhos, Odysseus and the two faithful servants fight against more than forty men.
 Cunning Odysseus: Odysseus does not want to reveal himself to Penelope just yet.
 Athena’s interference in the battle: only in crucial moments to encourage and save Odysseus. “This made Athena
still more furious, so she scolded Odysseus very angrily… how comes it that you are so lamentably less valiant
now that you are on your own ground, face to face with the suitors in your own house? (224)

Importance of Truth (aletheia) in deciding who is to be saved and who is to be killed. Eurykleuia says “Ï will tell
you the truth, my son” when Odysseus asks for which of the women in the house have misconducted themselves.
Scroll 23: (Penelope recognizes Odysseus)
 Eurykleia goes upstairs to tell Penelope the good news that Odysseus has finally come home and has exacted his revenge
on the suitors. Penelope does not believe her
 Eurykleia tells her about the sema of the scar and she descends from her room.
 Penelope sits opposite Odysseus, unable to recognize him through his rags. Telemakhos reproaches his mother for having
a heart of stone.
 Everyone cleans up—Eurynome washes and anoints Odysseus and gives him clean clothes, and Athena makes him appear
taller, stronger, and younger.
 Phemios sings and plays his lyre, so that it sounds to those outside that Penelope has remarried.
 Odysseus then goes to his wife and says that he will sleep alone that night, and Penelope instructs Eurykleia to bring his
bed outside of the chamber.
 Odysseus gets angry because the bed is immovable. Since no one except the two of them and a maidservant knows about
the bed, he proves his identity to Penelope. Both Odysseus and Penelope weep together in their joy.
 Odysseus tells Penelope about the Teiresias’ prophecy, and how he must still undergo many trials. They go to bed
together.
 In the morning, Athena wakes Odysseus, and he sets off to visit Laertes with Telemakhos, Philoitios, and Eumaios
(covered in a cloud of darkness) to prepare to defend himself against the suitors’ families and reclaim all they have taken
from him.
Notes:
 Recognition through sema (sign): Odysseus proves his identity through the sêma of the bed; the bed is immovable
and thus is a symbol of Penelope and Odysseus’ love, and no one has seen it except the two of them and a single
maidservant.
“She said this to him, but Odysseus was very angry and said ‘Wife, I am much displeased at what you
have just been saying…There is no man, however strong and in his prime, who could move it from its place. For it
was wrought to be a great sign [sêma]; it is a marvelous curiosity which I made with my very own hands. There was a
young olive growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigor, and about as thick as a bearing post. I built my
room round this with strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the doors strong and well-fitting.
….So you see I know all about this sign [sêma], and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether any one has
been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its roots.”
 Any sema will not do: Penelope needs a more powerful sema than the scar.
 Olive tree imagery: (link to general vegetation imagery) symbolic of Penelope’s justice.
Scroll 24 (Odysseus meets Laertes)
 Hermes summons the psukhai of the murdered suitors and leads them to the underworld. Achilles, Agememnon, Patroklos,
Antilokhos, and Ajax are all conversing about their demises.
 Achilles tells Agememnon that he pities him having such an early and ignoble death.
 Learn about Achilles’ funeral rites. They mourned for 17 days, and on the 18 th they burned him and placed his bones in a
golden vase that Hephaistos had fashioned with the bones of Patroklos. They also built a great tomb over the open
Hellespont, so that his kleos would live on forever
 The suitors come up and recognize the heroes of the Trojan War, and Agememnon likewise recognizes one of the suitors.
 Odysseus and companions arrive at Laertes’ house, and Odysseus goes to meet his father in the orchard, while his
companions go to the house to prepare dinner.
 Odysseus decides to also test his father by appearing old and ragged. He pretends to be Eperitus, from Alybas, who once
entertained Odysseus at his home and is now coming to Ithaca to pay Odysseus a visit.
 Laertes is much sorrowed at hearing this, and sheds tears in memory of his beloved son, at which point Odysseus reveals
himself to his father
 Odysseus must once again use a sêma to get his father to believe him—he uses the scar as well as naming all of the trees in
the vineyard which Laertes had given him years before. Laertes is overjoyed.
 The people of Ithaca find out about the suitors’ deaths, and come looking for Odysseus to seek revenge. They come to
Laertes’ house, and there is a brief skirmish between the townspeople and Odysseus and his companions.
 Athena decides (after consulting Zeus) that it is time for peace to reign, and so tells the men of Ithaca to stop fighting. In
fear, they all obey.
Notes:
 Again, recognition scene with sign (sema). Odysseus says “First observe this scar, which I got from a boar’s tusk
when I was hunting on Mount Parnassus…Furthermore, I will point out to you the trees in the vineyard which
you gave me, and I asked you all about them as I followed you round the garden….Laretes’ strength failed him
when he heard the convincing signs which his son had given him.”
 Again, plant imagery. Laertes, the excellent gardener, as the proponent of justice.

Union of three generations: Laertes, Odysseus and Telemakhos. Laertes is happy that both Odysseus and
Telemakhos are “vying with one another in the matter of valor.”
PROCLUS, THE EPIC CYCLE
This reading is basically just a collection of Proclus' summaries of the events that occur before and after the Iliad. The reading
is pretty short, but here is an even more shortened version:
Summary of Cypria, which comes before the Iliad
-Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite compete to see who is most beautiful. Aphrodite wins by promising Alexandros [Paris?] Helen
-Alexandros sails to Sparta and steals Helen away, with Aphrodite's help, while Menelaos is gone
-Menelaos plots revenge with Nestor. The Achean kings prepare for war.
-They hear their fortune, attack the wrong island and get lost in a sea storm
-Agammemnon kills a deer and Angers Artemis, further impeding their progress
-They finally get to Ilian and demand Helen back, resulting in a the war with the Trojans
-The Acheans, including Achilles, fight well and take ransoms.
Summary of Aithiopis, which follows the Iliad
- Achilles kills an Amazon woman, causing him to leave Troy to find forgiveness
-Memnon, who owns Hephaistos' armor, fights for the Trojans
-Achilles kills Memnon, but Achilles is killed by Paris and Apollo
-There is a fight over Achilles' corpse, but Ajax takes it back to the Achean ships
-During the funeral rites, Thetis (Achilles' mother) takes him from the funeral pyre
Summary of Little Iliad, which follows Aithiopis
-Odysseus wins Achilles armor
-Odysseus captures Helenos and hears a prophecy
-More battle, death, and funeral rites occur
-Deiphobos marries Helen
-Achilles' ghost appears, and still more battle and death of heroes occurs
-The Acheans put Troy under siege
-Odysseus enters Troy as a spy and works with Helen while the Acheans build the Trojan horse, burn their things, and pretend
to sail away
Summary of the Ilioupersis, which follows the Little Iliad
-The Trojans accept the horse and celebrate
-The Achean soldiers exit the horse, kill Trojans, and return on their ships
-The Acheans take Troy by force in a battle where many more die
-Menelaus takes Helen back to an Achean ship
-The Acheans burn Troy and kill more Trojan heroes
-The Acheans take their war spoils and sail away
Summary of the Nostoi, which follows Ilioupersis
-Athena causes Agamemnon and Menelaos to quarrel; they part ways
-Some return home safely (Diomedes and Nestor)
-Menelaos sails; some of his ships are wrecked but he reaches Egypt before ultimate safe return
-Others travel by land, which is safer (esp Neoptolemos, who meet Odysseus before returning home)
-Agamemnon's men are approached by Achilles' ghost and warned not to continue
-Agamemnon is murdered by Clytenmnestra and Aigisthos
SAPPHO
There are several Saphho poems, a collection of fragments, and related passages. These are certainly all possible quote ID's,
and they are all very different, so I am not going to try to summarize them. Here are some important points about Sappho.
-female poet (one of the first)
-lived in the 600s BC (tliad and Odyssey were already seen as hallmarks of Greek culture)
-lived on the island of Lesbos, a cultural center at the time, and traveled throughout Greece
-frequently wrote of an unrequited love for Achilles, who is the ultimate bridegroom
-her style is sensual and reflective
-among the first to write of her love, yearning and their affect on her in first person
-a lyricist, which means here poem were written to be accompanied by a lyre
-she developed her own meter, the "Sapphic meter"
-she was honored in antiquity; Plato elevated her to muse status
ALCMAN, PARTHENEION
This is a Spartan song sung and danced by a chorus of maidens. The leads are two competing choral leaders (Hagesikhora and
Agido), who are older. This is important because it is a surviving script which would have been sung in a local ritual.
-The maidens sing of the gods and celebrate Agido's beauty.
-Then they note the beauty of Hagesikhora.
-The leads are described as two exotic race horses; both are very beautiful, but they are also on opposite extremes. The thought
of racing them (i.e. comparing the women) is mind-boggling.
-The virgin choral singers express their lust and desire for these older beauties, whom they compare to godesses
HERODOTUS
Overview (partially extracted from the Grene text and prepared for a woman's book discussion group)
To read The History (Herodotus' only book) is to seek one's roots as a member of Western democratic civilization. It is in part
a gripping and much revered tale of colossal confrontation between freedom-loving Greek-speaking peoples (the Athenians,
Spartans, and others) and the seemingly unstoppable forces of the Persians. The Asiatic "Great King" Xerxes, who followed in
the footsteps of Cyrus and Darius and assembled a military force numbered in the millions, was intent on enslaving the Greeks
as he had so many other countries in the region- Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, Babylonia, etc. The heroic battles near Athens- at
Marathon (490 BCE), Thermopylae, Salamis, and finally Plataea (479 BCE) were classical Greek's crowning military
achievements, and Herodotus was determined to record these great deeds for future generations (particularly in view of the
ignominious and disastrous Peloponnesian Wars that followed).
Yet his writing is remarkably even-handed, providing many examples of good and evil acts on both sides. He is a great
humanist who sees and respects the universal in the experience and actions of humankind underlying the idiosyncracies of
regional customs and religious beliefs. This was apparently the first recorded work to which the name "history" was applied- in
fact the English word "history" derives from the similar Greek word meaning "research" or "inquiry" because of this work.
Herodotus tries in 700 pages to sum up all that a well-informed Greek such as himself could learn about the real world, at least
its geography, nations, cultures, flora and fauna, and mythical origins. He often speaks from firsthand experience gleaned from
his extensive travels, and supplements where necessary with secondary sources, always carefully distinguishing the two. Many
of his "facts" are fantastical or bizarre (and can be enjoyed as fables or tall tales). Yet much of what he describes has apparently
stood the test of time, particularly when it is recognized that Herodotus places great emphasis on the importance of myth as a
shaper of civilizations, regardless of its objective "truth". His descriptions of ancient and extraordinarily diverse cultures are
remarkably detailed and just plain fun to read, and in many instances, are the only source of written knowledge left for future
generations. This is a lengthy work, and some of the sections describing various peripheral cultures perhaps might be skimmed,
yet the substantial time required to read it carefully will be amply rewarded. He sees a great interconnectedness in the events of
history and begins in mythical times in order to explain the roots of his own civilization and what led up to the Persian Wars.
There are many fine and sobering morality tales to be enjoyed, such as that of Croesus, King of Lydia, who was advised by the
oracle: "if he made war on the Persians he would destroy a mighty empire." Rivaling any best-selling potboiler of today, there
are numerous depictions of savage and barbaric acts, of arrogance and hubris winning out over caution, of rage, envy, lust,
greed, corruption, insanity, and other human failings that make up the fabric of history. Who can forget the despot Xerxesordering the waters of the Hellespont to be whipped and harnessed with a yoke of fetters (after a storm wrecks his vital bridge),
or commanding that Pythias' son be sliced in half and left behind (after Pythias asks for the son's release from the army to care
for him in his old age.) But there are also tales of love, passion, suffering, spirited debate, innovation and invention, heroism,
devotion to duty, determination, and self-sacrifice- tales which can inspire and guide us even after these many centuries.
Women do not play much of a role in this book written some 2420 years ago [c. 425 BCE]. There are a few great Queens,
priestesses, and heroines, and some villainesses and seductresses, but for the most part this is a story about the deeds of men,
and women tend to be depicted more as property and accessories than as principals. He is writing from the male perspective at
a time when humankind was viewed as subject to the unknowable mysteries of Divine purpose and fate, and life was pretty
grim even for the men. Take the time to study the maps in the back of Grene's translation as you read this book, in order to
make sense of the sometimes arcane geographical details that are so important to the full understanding of The History. I hope
you enjoy this great work as much as I have.
Major Themes
(1) Relatedness and unity of historical events over many generations
(2) Variety and universality of human experience and existence
(3) Incomprehensible destiny and interrelationships among diverse things
(4) Respect for others beliefs and in the sacred
(5) Desire to preserve the great events of heroism
(6) Disunity of the Greeks
(7) Triumph of free peoples over slaves
(8) Folly of empire building, hubris, and ignoring cautionary warnings
Book 1
Lydia, Medes, Persia, Cyrus
Mythical Origins of Conflict between Greeks and Asiatic peoples
* Phoenicians abduct Io (Isis) daughter of king of Argos to Egypt (or did she go willingly?).
* Abduction of Tyre (in Phoenicia) king's daughter Europa by Greeks (Cretans)
* Abduction of Colchis king's daughter Medea by Greeks (Jason)
* Abduction of Helen of Lacedaemonia by Alexander (Paris) of Troy and subsequent destruction of Troy [34]
Croesus Of Lydia (560-546)
* First to subdue and enslave Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians in Asia Minor. Ruled at peak of Lydian empire from Sardis
* Predecessor Candaules displays his wife to Gyges, who kills Candaules at her insistence
* Delphic Pythia foretells vengeance in the 5th generation of Gyges descendants [38]
* Tale of Arion saved by the dolphin [42]
* Visit of Solon of Athens: Tales of the men "most blessed of all" [45] "So, Croesus, man is entirely what befalls him... To me
it is clear that you are very rich ..., but I cannot say of you of yet until I hear that you have brought your life to an end
well."[47] Croesus sends him away.
* Croesus' son Atys killed by Adrastus accidentally in boar hunt, after Atys insists in going along. [51]
* Croesus seeks oracle whether of invade Persia- Delphi replies that "if he made war on the Persians he would destroy a mighty
empire" [55] and that "whenever a mule [Cyrus] become sovereign king of the Medians" he should flee.
* Croesus inquires of status of Greek cultures to win friendship with- digression on Athenian Pisistratus [57-61] &
Lacedaemonians/Spartans [61-5]
* Croesus ignores warning [65]
* Cr invades Syrian Cappadocia & is captured by Cyrus {546} [66-69]
* Tale of Scythians feeding Cyaxeres boy's meat and fleeing to Lydia [67]
* Sardis captured [72], Croesus' dumb son speaks out to save his father [73]
* Cyrus spares Croesus life when he calls out "Solon" on the burning pyre and tells his story [73]
* Croesus counsels Cyrus
* The Pythia clarifies the oracles [76-7]
* Lydian customs and "facts"
Assyrian/Median/Persian History
* Assyrians ruled 1229-709
* Medes revolt & is united by Deioces ruling from Ecbatana (modern Iran) {704-647}
* Phraortes {647-625}
* Cyaxeres {625-585} (Scythians rule for 28 years {634-606})
* Astyages (Median, rules {585-529}) fears a dream and marries his daughter to a Persian, Cambyses. Astyages orders her son
(Cyrus) to be slain by Harpagus, but he turns Cyrus over to a shepherd.
* Young Cyrus acts like a king, is brought to Astyages. Harpagus is fed his son when Astyages learns of the deception.[88]
* Harpagus incites Cyrus to revolt against Media {559}
* Persian customs
Persian Empire Expansions:
* Cyrus threatens the 12 Ionian cities of Panionium, first attacking Phocaea (attack led by Harpagus)- they flee to
Corsica.[107]. Ionia enslaved by 545.[110]
* Carians, Caunians, Lycians
* Cyrus attacks Assyria including Babylon (established 612 after fall of Nineveh, captured 538)
* Babylonian rulers: Semiramis, Nitocris
* Babylonian customs- compulsory sex at the temple of Aphrodite
* Cyrus attacks the Massagetae (on the Asian steppes W of the Caspian); their customs (get drunk on fruit). Queen Tomyris
warns Cyrus as does Croesus, but he ignores them and is slain (529)
Book 2
Egyptian And African History, Customs, Geography
* Cambyses, son of Cyrus, assumes rule in Persia. Attacks Egypt
* Egyptian religious beliefs [132]
* The Nile delta is the gift of the Nile- silting over geologic time periods [135].
* Why does the Nile flood? [139]
* Source of the Nile = "Libya" [141]
* Unusual African customs [145]
* Gods- Isis [148], phallic procession, Greek gods came from the Egyptians [153] and some rituals from the Pelasgians. Homer
and Hesiod 400 yrs earlier [155]
* Skepticism of magic
* Festivals of Bubastis, Ares, Busiris [158]
* Animals [160]- hippos, crocs, Phoenix, winged serpents [163]
* Astrology, funeral customs [165]
* Ancient history [171]
* Circumcision came from Egypt.[173]
* Helen in Egypt acc. to the Egyptians with Proteus- tale rejected by Homer [178]
* The thief steals from King Rhampsinitus [181] and is trapped, his body is rescued by his brother, is married to the kings
daughter
* Immortality of the soul through a 3000 yr cycle [185]
* Pyramids of Cheops [186]
* Mycinergus' incest with his daughter
* Invasion by Ethiopia
* Sennacherib of Assyria defeated by mice [193]
* Psammetichus {663}, Necos {609} (tries to build canal to Red Sea), Psammis, Apries
* Amasis {569} loved the Greeks and granted the town Naucratis
Book 3
Cambyses Conquers Egypt; Cambyses' Death; Smerdis;
Darius; 20 Persian Satrapies
* Cambyses conquers Egypt and Amasis' son Psammenitus, ostensibly because Amasis sent him a spurious daughter for
marriage. {525}
* The captured King Psammenitus shows pity on a beggar [216]
* Cambyses failed expedition against Ethiopia [219]
* Cambyses goes mad, kills his brother Smerdis and his sister-wife, has epilepsy, slays Prexaspes' son, tries to kill Croesus,
opens tombs
* Greek vs. Indian funeral custom- burying vs eating the dead. [228]
* Polycrates of Samos, allied with Amasis of Egypt, is attacked by Lacedaemonians, invites alliance with Cambyses.
Polycratres sends untrusted exiles to Egypt ostensibly to help Cambyses. They instead escape to Lacedaemonia & plead for
help to the taciturn Spartans.
* Sparta sends expedition against Samos (first Laced. exped. to Asia). Corinthians join because of grudge over Samian rescue
of Corcyrean boys being sent to Persia for castration by Periander of Corinth (Corinth had colonized Corcyra) [233].
* Periander's despotism, kills wife, exiles his son Lycophron, who is later killed by Corcyreans
* Magis plot against Cambyses with a false Smerdis
* Cambyses wounds himself and dies; "Smerdis" succeeds but later is discovered because he has no ears.
* Prexaspes reveals the deception and kills himself.
* Darius slays the magis and Smerdis
* Debate over whether to have a democracy or a tyranny [247]. Darius is elected king by his horse! {521} [251]
* 20 Persian satrapies summary- Indians eat their dead, ants as big as foxes, ...
* Oroetes of Sardis (a Persian) kills Polycrates [264] and is later killed on the order of Darius.
* Greek doctor Democedes heals Darius' twisted ankle
* Atossa, Darius' wife, urges him to attack Greece. He sends a spy mission to Greece- Democedes escapes.
* Darius orders attack against Samos. Otanes slaughters citizens after Charilaus fights back. Maeandrius of Samos appeals to
Sparta for help to no avail.
* Babylon revolts and is recaptured by Darius thanks to Zopyrus' heroism and self-sacrifice by self-mutilation
Book 4
Europeans; Darius Fails To Conquer Scythia;
Greek Colonies In Libya (Cyrene, Barca); Persia Invades Libya
* Scythia, nomadic, dependence on horses, mythical origins (Heracles and the half-woman half-snake have son Scythes),
conflicts with Cimmereians and Massagetae. Other peoples: Issedones, Hyperboreans [290], goat-footed men, harsh winters,
snow [290],
* Herodotus' world view, Phoenicians circumnavigate Africa [296], the Ister (Danube) [298],
* Scythian customs [302]- human sacrifice, scalping, blood oaths, funeral of the kings, cannabis, fear of Greek culture
* Darius invades Scythia (N of the Black "Euxine" Sea & N of the Danube-Ister) [311]. Bridging the Bosporus with boats
(Euxine Sea> Bosporos> Propontis> Hellespont). The Taurians [318], Neuri werewolves, Man-Eaters [319], Amazons [321],
warrior women Sauromatians. Scythians stay ahead of Darius [325] and taunt him [327]. Darius sneaks back to the Ister.
Histaeus prevents the Ionian guards from breaking up the bridge over the Ister (urged by the Scythians) and Darius escapes
[311].
* Libyan colonial history [332]. Theras of Lacedaemonia colonizes Thera (in Cyclades); Battus of Thera colonizes Libyan
coast 7th century - Cyrene.
* Conflict between Cyrene and Libyans, Arcesilaus killed [343], his mother Pheretime appeals to Persian viceroy of Egypt
Aryandes for help
* Sexual promiscuity of Libyans [344], Lotophagi [346]
* Inland Libyans: Ammonians, ..., Atlantes (near Mt Atlas); nomadic customs [350]
* Aryandes sends an expedition to conquer Libya [354], besieges Barca. Pheretimes commits atrocities and meets a bad end.
Book 5
Persia Conquers Thrace, Paeonians;
Ionian Revolt Under Aristagoras Of Miletus;
Former Athens-Sparta Conflicts;
Athenian Tyrants & Democracy;
Conflict Between Athens And Darius Begins
* Megabazus lead invasion of Thrace [357], the "biggest nation of all"
* Thracian customs- sacrifice of favorite wives
* Paeonians are enslaved and transported to Asia [361]
* Persians envoys are slain in the court of the Macedonian king Amyntas [364]
* Greek origins of the Macedonians [364]
* Darius moves to Susa
* Otanes succeeds Megabazus as general and captures Byzantium, Lemnos, etc.
* Ionian revolt: Begins in Naxos and Miletus: Aristagoras asks Artaphrenes of Persia to invade Naxos, led by Megabates.
Megabates warns the Naxians. Aristagoras plans to revolt from the Persians, encouraged by a secret messenger from Histaeus
of Miletus [371]. Arist. Heads to Sparta for help from Cleomenes
* Sparta history
* Sparta refuses to help Aristagoras invade Persia [375]
* The road to Susa [376]
* Aristagoras appeals to Athens [378]. History of Athens Pisitratids
* Origin of the Greek alphabet from Phoenicians [379]
* Past attacks of Sparta on Athens X4 [381-7], Athens attack on Boeotia and Chalcis
* Athens value democracy [389]
* Origins of Enmity of Aegina and Athens [390]
* Corinth- Periander [397] {625}, the corruption of absolute power
* Sparta tries to weakens Athens by forcing the return of the Pisistratid Hippias to power in Athens through Artaphrenes'
intervention, but Athens refused and became enemies of Persia.
* Aristagoras appeals to Athens and wins their support to send ships fight the Persians. Aristagoras attacks and burns Sardis.
* The Ionians are defeated and Athens gives up supporting them. [402]. Cyprus revolts, defeated {497}
* Darius vows revenge on Athens
* Aristagoras dies in Thrace
Book 6
Miletus Conquered & Ionian Revolt Quelled;
Thrace, Athos, Macedonia Fall;
Rivalry Between Spartan Clemenes & Demaratus;
Athens-Aegina Conflict;
Athens & Plataeans Defeat Persia At Marathon Under Miltiades
* Histiaeus flees from Darius to Chios
* Persians attack Miletus. Problems of democracy and amateur fighters vs. Persian Military discipline [413]. Samos falls to
Persia. Miletus falls {494}, women and children enslaved and taken to Susa. Ionians for the 3rd time are enslaved
* Histaeus captured by Harpagus and killed [420]
* Miltiades, son of Cimon, rules the Chersonese
* Mardonius launches land force {492}, enslaves Macedonia, shipwrecks at Athos, returns ingloriously
* Darius demands submission from Greeks- Aegina submits (gave earth and water)
* Digression on Spartan kings' rights [428], Spartan descent from Egypt ?, Spartan culture
* Rivalry of Demaratus and Cleomenes, kings of Sparta [432]. Demaratus flees to Persia [426] and Leotychides succeeds him.
Cleomenes' madness [438]
* Athens-Aegina conflict {490-480}, war {488-6}
* Darius sends 600 warships under Datis and Artaphrenes son of Artaphrenes against Athens and Eretria, enslave Naxos,
Delos, Eretria (on Euboea) [449]
* Battle at Marathon: Persians are guided by Hippias, son of Pistratus, to Attica, landing at Marathon. Athenians are led by
Miltiades son of Cimon and 11 other generals. Athens appeals to Sparta [450], but they are preoccupied with a festival.
Plataeans come to Athens aid. Miltiades persuades the other generals to fight. The Greeks charge the Persians at a run and win
the victory {490}. Spartans arrive too late to help
* Lineage of the Alcmaeonidae [458]- Cleisthenes of Sicyon, Alcmaeon, Megacles, Cleisthenes, Pericles etc.
* Miltiades' futile attack on Paros, later dies
Book 7
Darius Dies--Xerxes King;
Invasion Of Thrace, Thessalia;
Athens And Sparta Unite;
Shipwrecks Of Persians;
Leonidas' Defeat At Thermopylae
* Darius is enraged at Athenian victory and vows to march on Greece
* Demaratus (from Sparta) promotes Xerxes to succeed his father Darius on Darius' death {485} Mardonius also promotes war
on Greece.
* Egyptian revolt quelled
* Xerxes vows to conquer Greece. Artabanus counsels against this [471] - "for the god loves to thwart whatever is greater than
the rest... there is good in hesitation...." Xerxes angrily denounces this advice.
* A vision call Xerxes to war [474] and also comes to Artabanus
* Campaign to Greece begun {480}. Out of arrogance, X. orders digging of a channel separating Mt. Athos from the mainland
[478]. March to Sardis. Sends heralds to Greece demanding earth and water. Bridging the Hellespont at Abydos [482] ends in
destruction. Xerxes punishes the waters with lashes and fetters and beheads the supervisors! Pythius the Lydian asks to have
his son left behind, and X orders he be cut in half. X comes to tears as he meditates on the shortness of life while viewing his
great army and ships. [486] Artabanus voice of caution, warning of the Ionians lack of loyalty. X prefers to take risks.
* Hellespont crossed [p. 489] {490}
* The army [492], the navy [498] includes Artemisia - 5,000,000 men in all [503]
* Thessaly [510], Thebans, Melians pledge loyalty to the Persians ("Medize")
* Spartans prefer freedom to slavery [513] but Herodotus ascribes the saving of Greece to the Athenians [514]
* Oracle says a wall of wood and Salamis will save Athens- Themistocles orders ship building
* Greeks peoples unite (mostly) [518] (Argos sides with Persia; Gelon of Syracuse (Sicily) refuses to help unless he can lead,
which offends the Spartans, leading to his final refusal; Corcyra dissembles [528], Crete refuses)
* Greeks decide to fight (against overwhelming odds) at the narrow pass of Thermopylae
* Storm wrecks 400 Persian ships on coast of Magnesia [537]
* Battle of Thermopylae {480} c. 6000 Greeks (no Athenians) commanded by Leonidas, King of Sparta. Xerxes' spies are
amazed that the Greeks are making their heads beautiful in preparation for war. Hydarnes leads forces around the mountains to
encircle the Greeks. Free Greeks fight slaves [550]. Leonidas dies. Aristodemus of Sparta survives but is scorned at home.
Book 8
Battle At Artemesium;
Attacks On Phocis, Boeotia, Delphi, Plataea, Athens;
Victory At Salamis
* More Persian shipwrecks off Euboea. Sea fights near Artemisium (concurrent with Thermopylae) {480}
* Themistocles appeals to the Ionians and Carians fighting for Persians [564]
* Persians pillage Phocis, Boeotia Medizes [568]. Attack on Delphi [569]. Greeks flee Athens and navy gathers at Salamis.
Thespiae and Plataea burned, Athens captured [573], Acroplis burned [574]
* Themistocles advocates battle at Salamis rather than Isthmus of Corinth
* Artemisia tries to stop Mardonius from wasting his ships in battle.
* Peoples of the Peloponnese [581]
* Battle of Salamis: Greeks debate their desperate situation [582], surrounded by the enemy at Salamis. {490}. Battle of
Salamis. Artemisia rams her own allies but Xerxes thinks she has rammed an enemy. Xerxes fears for his safe return [591],
sends ships to guard the bridge at the Hellespont. Greeks decide not to follow in pursuit.
* Xerxes retreats with his army, leaving Mardonius to winter in Thessaly and his ships to overwinter in Cyme and Samos
* Mardonius tries to persuade the Athenians to Medize
Book 9
Greek Victories At Plataea (Mardonius Killed); Greeks Attack Thebes; Victory At Mycale, Siege Of Sestos
* Mardonius reinvades Boeotia {479}, retakes Athens and burns it. Sparta delays in helping but finally sends troops under
Pausanias
* Battle at Plataea {479} 110,000 Greeks against 700,000 barbarians + 50,000 allies. Greeks squabble. Mardonius' hubris.
[638] Mardonius killed. Artabazus flees. Persians retreat to their fort and are massacred. Pausanius refuses to desecrate the
body of Mardonius. The booty is divided, including concubines.
* Greeks attack Thebes because they had supported Persia
* Battle of Mycale won by the Greeks
* Xerxes wife Amestris' atrocities against Masistes' wife whom Xerxes had fallen in love with)
* Athenians besiege Sestos
* Athenians return home
* Recollection of warning from Cyrus not to overexpand the empire when advised to move his people from their rocky lands"from soft lands come soft men"
NOTES ON ATHENIAN TRAGEDY
City Dionysia
 This festival in honor of the god Dionysus was the central context for the evolution of traditions in poetry, song, and
dance in Athens
 Festival was open to the whole Hellenic world, advertised the wealth, power, public spirit, and artistic/literary
leadership of Athens
 The festival featured three days each with three tragedies, one satiric drama, and one comedy
Anatomy of the Chorus / Khoros
 Ensemble that sang and danced to the musical accompaniment of a reed
 Chorus-leader was differentiated as a non-performer who organized and subsidized the composition and the
performance
 A performing chorus-leader was a “first actor” – used to be the same as the composer
 Aeschylus started the concept of a “second actor”
 Sophocles started the concept of a “third actor”
Dramatic function of the Chorus
 “Go-between” or “twilight zone” between the heroes and the audience—between the “then” and “now”
 Chorus reacts both as the audience and as eyewitness contemporaries of the heroes
Members of the Chorus
 Young elite, pre-adult males not yet of civic age
 Act out marginal members of Athenian society (old men, young girls, prisoners of war, etc.) who witness the suffering
of the heroes
Drama, Audience, and the Hero
 Active drama = sacrifice and performance of ritual, action experienced by the hero
 Audience is the outer world that becomes engaged in the drama, participates in the inner world of the hero
 Audience reacts to the hero through the chorus, brings the world of the hero in synch with present day society—they
share common life-cycle events and ordeals
Mimesis
 Mimesis = reenactment, through ritual, of the events of myth

Can occur through speech alone or speech + bodily movement
AESCHYLUS, AGAMEMNON
The watchman opens the scene by asking for release from his ordeals, and stating that he is waiting for the flaming signal
bringing news from Troy. He can’t sleep, and so he cries in fear and sorrow for the misfortunes of this house. Suddenly there
is a flash of fire, signaling that Troy was taken. The watchman says that he’ll tell Agamemnon’s Queen the good news. He’s
eager for his master to come home.
The Chorus—comprised of the old men of the city—tells us that this is the 10th year since Menelaus and Agamemnon, the sons
of Atreus, left for Troy with an army of 1,000 ships. The Chorus asks Queen Clytemnestra why she has commanded the whole
city to sacrifice to the gods. Then the Chorus tells the history of the Greek force, and describes the favorable omen (two kingly
birds devoured a hare) which a seer interpreted as meaning that the two sons of Atreus would seize Troy. They were hit by
strong winds, which the seer interpreted as an angry sign from Artemis (goddess of the hunt). Agamemnon announced that he
must sacrifice a virgin in order to stop the storm, so he killed his daughter Iphigenia.
Clytemnestra enters, joyous about the Greeks taking Troy. She tells the Chorus about the series of beacons of light that spread
the good news. She imagines the scene of the despairing, vanquished Trojans, and hopes that the Greeks don’t screw things up
by pillaging (and thus angering the gods). The Chorus thanks Zeus for the victory and says that Troy was punished for the
arrogance of Paris. The Chorus describes the grief of Menelaus’ household once she left, and the greater grief of all the Greek
households who lost their loved ones in the war. The Chorus also warns about the dangers of too much glory and prosperity.
A herald approaches with the happy news that Agamemnon has returned. He describes the hardships that the men endured, and
says that they’ve earned everlasting glory for their victory. Clytemnestra says she is excited to welcome back her husband and
declares her loyalty to him. The Chorus asks after Menelaus, and the herald responds that they got separated from him during a
powerful storm and don’t know what happened to him. The Chorus talks about the trouble that Helen has caused—Hell to
ships, Hell to men, Hell to city—death and destruction to the men who fought for her. The Chorus then states the conventional
wisdom that good people end up suffering, and states its own position that good people are rewarded, evil is punished, and dike
triumphs.
Agamemnon and Cassandra enter. The Chorus hails Agamemnon, and Agamemnon tells of the victory in Troy. He also
promises to keep the city under honest rule. Clytemnestra talks about her suffering as she waited at home and kept hearing
gruesome rumors about her husband. She sent their son Orestes away in fear of a revolt at home. She had cried herself out, but
now she’s hailing his return. She orders that a purple tapestry be put down in his path, and although Agamemnon protests it as
improper for a mortal to walk on such fine tapestry, she insists, and he reluctantly submits. He asks that they take good care of
Cassandra, his foreign slave girl, and they go inside.
Meanwhile, the Chorus is nervous and senses impending doom. Clytemnestra returns and tells Cassandra to get down from the
car and not to worry, since her masters will be nice to her. Cassandra doesn’t react; the Chorus suggests that she might not
understand the language. Clytemnestra is aggravated and leaves, and Cassandra calls out to Apollo in woe for having brought
her to “a house that knows many a horrible butchery of kin, a slaughter-house of men and a floor swimming with blood.” She
denounces Clytemnestra for planning to kill her husband and bemoans her own suffering and the suffering of her city, Troy.
The Chorus asks how she knows these things, and she says that Apollo made her a prophet in exchange for her promise to bear
him a child. She broke her word, and in punishment, she’ll keep giving warnings that no one will heed. She announces that
Clytemnestra will kill Agamemnon and her (i.e. Cassandra), and that Orestes will return home to avenge his father’s death.
Cassandra announces that she’s resigned to die, since all her friends and family have died as well. She finally asks that her
death be avenged as well, since a slave is an easy target. She enters the palace.
The Chorus stands outside and a shriek is heard. Agamemnon announces that he’s been “struck with a mortal blow.” The
Chorus debates among itself what to do—should they rally the townspeople or burst in right now, to catch the murderers
redhanded? Clytemnestra is now seen standing by the bodies and announces that she has now shame for having killed
Agamemnon, as it was done with dike. The Chorus expresses its horror, but she responds that this is retribution for
Agamemnon killing her daughter. Now he lies here with his whore, Cassandra. The Chorus blames Helen for causing
Agamemnon’s death, but Clytemnestra says not to blame Helen. The Chorus laments his death, but she reaffirms that he got
what he deserved, since he killed Iphigenia. The Chorus foresees more bloodshed, and asks who will lament Agamemnon’s
death. Clytemnestra thinks the cycle of violence is over.
Aegisthus enters, hailing this day of retribution. He tells us his own agenda: Aegisthus’ father, Thyestes, tried unsuccessfully
to usurp the power of Atreus (brother of Thyestes, father of Agamemnon) and was exiled. Upon Thyestes’ return to Argos,
Atreus gave him a hearty welcome—by serving up the meat of two of Thyestes’ children. Then Atreus threw Thyestes out,
along with his third child (Aegisthus, then a baby). Now Aegisthus has killed Agamemnon, his cousin, as revenge.
The Chorus warns Aegisthus that he’ll die in retribution for his sins, and calls him a woman for sitting at home while waiting
for the real men to return from war. The Chorus also taunts him for not having the courage to do the deed himself. The Chorus
and Aegisthus then exchange death threats to each other, and Clytemnestra tells them to chill—there will be no more
bloodshed.
AESCHYLUS, LIBATION BEARERS
The Libation Bearers (also known as Choephoroe) is the second play of the Oresteia. It deals with the reunion of Agamemnon's
children, Electra and Orestes and their revenge.
The play opens with Agamemnon’s son Orestes going to his father’s tomb. He is coming back from being exiled and puts his
lock of hair as an offering to his father. Just then the princess Electra (orestes’s sister), whom in the meantime Clytemnestra
has reduced to the virtual status of a slavegirl, comes in to pour libations on Agamemnons' grave. A group of women (the
libation bearers of the title/ the chorus) are to assist her. The chorus act as the guides to inititae her into the ritual of giving
offerings to her father.
Electra arrives at the grave of her father and comes upon a man by the tombstone. As they start to speak, it gradually becomes
apparent that the man is her brother Orestes, and who has, in her thoughts, been her only hope of revenge. It should be noted
that at one point she calls him her father. This plays a significant role in their relatoinship as ancestry and enacting dike in place
of her father (a ritual substitute). Together they plan to avenge their father by killing their mother Clytemnestra and her new
husband, Aegisthus.
Orestes wavers about killing his own mother, but is guided by Apollo and his close friend Pylades, the son of the king of
Phocis, that it is the correct course of action. He knows the Furies will curse him and haunt him for the rest of his life but he
will still continue with the amtricide. Orestes and Pylades pretend to be ordinary travellers from Phocis, and ask for hospitality
at the palace. They even tell the Queen that Orestes is dead. Delighted by the news, Clytemnestra sends a servant to summon
Aegisthus. Orestes kills Aegisthus first, and then his mother. As soon as he exits the palace, the Furies appear and, being only
visible to him, they begin to haunt and torture him for his crime. He flees in agony.
AESCHYLUS, EUMENIDIES
The Eumenides is the final play of the Oresteia, in which Orestes and the Furies go before a jury of Athenians, the Areiopagos
(Rock of Ares, a flat rocky hill by the Athenian agora where the supreme criminal court of Athens held its sessions), to decide
whether Orestes' murder of his mother, Clytemnestra, makes him worthy of the torment they have inflicted upon him.
Orestes is tormented by the Furies, deities that avenge patricide and matricide. He, at the instigation of his sister Electra, has
killed their mother Clytemnestra, who had in her turn killed their father, King Agamemnon, who had in turn killed his daughter
Iphigenia for safe passage to Troy. This brings in key elements of both dike and of the idea of coming ffull circle with the only
way out of it is through Godly intervention. Orestes finds a refuge and a solace at the new temple of Apollo in Delphi, and the
god, unable to deliver him from the Furies' annoying wrath, sends him along to Athens under the protection of Hermes, while
he casts a drowsy spell upon the pursuing Furies in order to delay them.
Clytemnestra's ghost appears from the woods and rouses the sleeping Furies, urging them to continue hunting Orestes. As
Orestes has clasped Athena's small statue in supplication the Furies close in on him by smelling the blood of his slain mother in
the air. Once they do see him, they can also see rivulets of blood soaking the earth beneath his footsteps.
As they surround him, Athena intervenes and brings in a jury of twelve Athenians to judge her supplicant. Apollo acts as
attorney for Orestes, while the Furies act as spokespersons for the dead Clytemnestra. The trial results in a hung jury and
Athena breaks the tie by voting in favour of Orestes, and then must persuade the Furies to accept her decision. They eventually
submit. Athena then renames them Eumenides (Ladies of Good Will). The Furies will now be honored by the citizens of
Athens and ensure their prosperity. Athena also declares that henceforth hung juries should result in the defendant being
acquitted, as mercy should always take precedence over harshness. This should be important in relation to a new and changing
world of ancient Greece as for one of the first times an impartial God who had no qualms with mortals is able to act as the state
and stop the bloodshep, coinciding with the new Greek judicial system. (Here is what wikipedia says about this fact: The
change from an archaic method of justice by personal revenge to attribution of justice by trial is highly symbolic of the passage
from a primitive society governed by instincts, to a modern society governed by reason: justice is decided by a jury of peers,
representing the citizen body and its societal values, and the gods themselves sanction this transition by taking part in the
judicial procedure, arguing and voting on an equal footing with the mortals. This theme of the polis self-governed by consent
through lawful institutions, as opposed to tribalism and superstition, is a recurring one in Greek art and thought.) Just as Plato
will spark the change for democracy, this is the direct counter balance of such a history. While Plato spoke about changing into
democracy w/o a mentioning of the Gods, in this story the Gods are used as the main reason for a social practice. Another key
thing to point out is that while we have read tragedies that end in suffering (like the Bacchae) this one ends with a happy
ending.
SOPHOCLES, OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
Begin: An old, blind Oedipus and his daughter, Antigone, stop to rest in a sacred space near the city of Athens. A xenos
approaches them and requests that they move, so as not to anger the Goddesses for whom the space is dedicated. He tells them
the space is the “Staff of Athens” dedicated to the Eumenides and the surrounding land worships Colonus (the horse-rider) as
their cult hero. Oedipus refuses to move from his spot and requests to see the king, Theseus, and share with him a vision. The
xenos departs consults the citizens of the land about whether or not Oedipus should be allowed to see Theseus. Meanwhile,
Oedipus cries out that it was proclaimed that he would “close [his] weary life” (90) at this spot and begs for mercy from the
Eumenides.
While the xenos is gone, the chorus comprised of the elders from Colonus approach Oedipus to spy on him. The chorus is
weary of the two traveler’s presence in the space because they fear the Eumenides and therefore fear Oedipus for remaining in
the space. They believe he is evil, mostly because he has been stricken with blindness, and they encourage him to move away
from the space to a rock nearby so they may converse. Oedipus agrees.
At this point, the chorus begins to interrogate Oedipus. While he remains steadfast at first, it is eventually revealed his true
identity and the chorus is shocked. They immediately wish to banish him from their lands so his burdens do not pollute their
polis. Facing yet another banishment, Antigone and Oedipus beg to remain in their protection. The chorus agrees and decides
it best that Theseus decide their fate.
Meanwhile, on the horizon, Antigone sees a familiar figure approaching on a horse. It happens to be her sister Ismene riding
towards them. She was searching for them, facing her own turmoil. She brings with her unhappy news concerning Oedipus’
sons and the trouble they cause. It happens that Oedipus’ youngest son overthrew the throne of his older brother and exiled
him. As a result of a Delphic oracle prophesy, the younger brother wants Oedipus to move near the border of his kingdom,
careful not to set foot back in the land he was banished from, so he can feed off of his father’s power and protect his own future
as king. She also says that Creon will be on his way to convince him as well. Oedipus refuses to listen to this because he says
that when he was exiled, his sons stood by as he was cast away. Therefore, he will not ally with them.
Oedipus uses this as an angel to make the elders of Colonus accept him. He says “you will obtain a great savior for this polis”
(459). The chorus agrees that he shall be accepted, but only following his atonement. He must sacrifice to the Eumenides,
with the help of Antigone and Ismene. While the two girls are off preparing for the ritual, Oedipus reveals more of his history
to the chorus. Oedipus explains to them how he murdered his father, married his mother, and the girls whom he claims as his
daughters are also his sisters.
SOPHOCLES, OEDIPUS TYRANNOS
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Opens with Oedipus questioning the plague that is ravaging his polis – “the city reeks with incense, rings with prayers for
health and cries of woe”
Sends brother-in-law Creon to Apollo to figure out cause, Oedipus deeply saddened by plague
o Creon brings word from Apollo that to rid the city of the plague, they must banish the man who killed Laios, the
previous king of Thebes
o Oedipus ignorant of fact that he indeed is the murderer in question – inquires of Creon details of Laios’ murder,
only one witness remains
o Oedipus immediately devotes himself to the cause of avenging the murder
o Oedipus delivers speech asking anyone to come forward with information about the murderer who pollutes his
house, vows to uphold the cause “as though it were that of my own father”
Teiresias, old blind seer called to Thebes, and refuses to tell Oedipus what he knows- “you will not learn the answers from
me”
o Oedipus angered at his refusal to speak out, Teiresias vows the future will make known the truth
o When Oedipus harshly then accuses the old bind man of being involved in the murder, Teiresias fires back “You
are the accursed defiler of this land!” – promises there is strength in his truth
o Oedipus refuses to understand, Teiresias responds “You are the killer of the man whose slayer you seek” –
Oedipus continues not to believe, calls Teiresias a foolish poor wretch, suspects Creon and his desire for the
throne are behind Teiresias’ words
o Teiresias claims “this day will reveal your birth and bring your ruin”
o Teiresias foreshadows: “A blind man, though now he sees, a beggar, though now rich…he will be discovered to
be at once brother and father of the children with whom he consorts, son and husband for the woman who bore
him, heir to his father’s bed, shedder of his father’s blood” then he exits
Oedipus continues to accuse Creon of evil motives “I have found you a malignant foe”, Creon defends himself, but
Oedipus wants him dead
o Wife Iocasta comes in to see what his the commotion – Oedipus begins to ask detailed question of murder, all of
the known information about it
As details unfold, Oedipus realizes the truth in Teiresias’ words – “I think that I have laid myself under a terrible
curse without realizing it”
o They tell him of one servant witness who fled Thebes at Oedipus’ arrival as king
Oedipus tells his wife his story – father was Polybos of Corinth, mother Dorian Merope (these are not his real parents) –
when Delphi warned him that he would one day kill his father and marry his own mother, Oedipus fled Corinth to avoid
prophecy
o On his journey, came across a band of men, slew every one of them
o Realizes what he’s done now, that he is the reason for plague, vows to banish himself
o Messenger comes to inform Oedipus that his father has died – Oedipus pleased that Delphi’s prophecy then had
been proven false as he was not the slayer of his own father
o But messenger then reveals that Oedipus was not the son of the man and woman who raised him, they had
received him as a gift from the messenger who had been given the baby from a shepherd, believes the shepherd to
have been of the house of Laios
o Despite his wife’s denial, Oedipus wishes to learn entire truth behind his life, he seeks the shepherd – when
shepherd learns that King Oedipus is that same baby he gave to the messenger years prior, he stands in shock, will
not answer questions until finally tells them the baby was the son of Laios
 They had given the baby away after hearing a terrible prophecy
 Truth revealed, Oedipus had killed his father, and married his mother!
 Learn that Iocasta has killed herself after piecing story together, ashamed at what she’s done
Oedipus deeply ashamed: vows it was Apollo who gave telos to these evil sufferings – “the hand that struck my eyes was
none other than my own, wretched that I am!”
o Wants to be led far from the land, hidden from all, for his “woes can rest on no other mortal”
o Puts his life in the hands of the gods: “let my fate go where it will”
 “to the gods I have became most hateful- it is time to lead me away”
 Blinds himself, believes himself to be undeserving of sight
 Asks Creon to take care of his children while he exiles himself from his own land, and resigns himself to
life as a blind beggar
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EURIPIDES, BACCHAE
Dionysus, the god of wine, prophecy, religious ecstasy, and fertility, returns to his birthplace in Thebes in order to clear his
mother's name and to punish the insolent city state for refusing to allow people to worship him. The background to his return is
presented in the prologue, in which Dionysus tells the story of his mother, Semele, once a princess in the royal Theban house
of Cadmus. She had an affair with Zeus, the king of the gods, and became pregnant. As revenge, Zeus's jealous wife Hera
tricked Semele into asking Zeus to appear in his divine form. Zeus, too powerful for a mortal to behold, emerged from the sky
as a bolt of lightning and burnt Semele to a cinder. He managed, however, to rescue his unborn son Dionysus and stitched the
baby into his thigh. Semele's family claimed that she had been struck by lightning for lying about Zeus and that her child, the
product of an illicit human affair, had died with her, maligning her name and rejecting the young god Dionysus.
The action of the play begins with Dionysus's return to Thebes years later. He arrives in town disguised as the stranger,
accompanied by a band of bacchants, to punish the family for their treatment of his mother and their refusal to offer him
sacrifices. During Dionysus's absence, Semele's father, Cadmus, had handed the kingdom over to his proud grandson Pentheus.
It was Pentheus's decision to not allow the worship of Dionysus in Thebes. Dionysus tells the audience that when he arrived in
Thebes he drove Semele's sisters mad, and they fled to Mt. Cithaeron to worship him and perform his rites on the
mountainside.
As the ruler of the state and preserver of social order, Pentheus finds himself threatened by the Dionysian rites bringing the
women from the city into the forest. Unconvinced of their divinely-caused insanity, he sees their drunken cavorting as an illicit
attempt to escape the mores and legal codes regulating Theban society. His response is therefore a political one, as he orders
his soldiers to arrest the Lydian stranger and his maenads, whom he sees as the root of the troubles. Deviously, Dionysus
allows himself to be easily arrested and taken to Pentheus with the others. In the first of three encounters, Dionysus begins the
long process of trapping Pentheus and leading him to his death. The encounter begins with the powerful Pentheus thinking he
has caught the delicate stranger. He orders his androgynous prisoner to be chained, bound, and tortured but soon finds it
impossible to do so. When Pentheus tries to tie Dionysus he ties only a bull, when Pentheus plunges a knife into Dionysus the
blade passes only through shadow. Suddenly an earthquake shakes the palace, a fire starts, and Pentheus is left weak and
puzzled.
In their second exchange, Dionysus tries to persuade Pentheus to abandon his destructive path, but Pentheus does not relent. A
cowherd arrives and describes his sighting of the maddened women of Cadmus. All the women were seen resting blissfully in
the forest, feasting on milk, honey and wine that sprang from the ground. They played music, suckled wild animals and sang
and danced with joy. But when they saw the cowherd, they flew into a murderous rage and chased after him. The cowherd
barely escaped, but the herd of cattle was captured and torn apart by hand by the maenads, including Pentheus's mother Agaue.
Pentheus is left intrigued and excited by the messenger’s marvelous and frightening tale. Dionysus takes note of Pentheus's
interest and offers him a chance to see the maenads for himself, undetected. Pentheus, on the verge of launching a military
expedition to arrest the band, suddenly cannot resist the opportunity to see the forbidden. He agrees to do all Dionysus
suggests, dressing himself in a wig and long skirts. The effeminate Pentheus, stripped of his masculinity and authority, is
revealed as a vain, boastful and lecherous creature. Once in the woods, Pentheus cannot see the bacchants from the ground, and
wants to mount a tree for a better vantage. Dionysus miraculously bends a tall fir tree, puts Pentheus on top, and gently
straightens the tree. At once the maenads see him, and Dionysus orders them to attack the vulnerable ruler. With rolling eyes
and frenzied cries the women attack, bringing Pentheus down and dragging him to the ground. As he falls Pentheus reaches out
for his mother's face and pleads with her to recognize her son. But Agaue, driven mad by Dionysus, proceeds to rip her son to
death.
At the palace the chorus is exultant and sings the praise of Dionysus. Agaue returns home with Pentheus's head in her hands.
She is still deluded and boasts to all about the young lion she hunted and beheaded. Old Cadmus, who knows what has
happened, sadly approaches his daughter and draws her mind back to the palace, her family and finally what she is holding in
her hands. Agaue begins to weep. Cadmus remarks that the god has punished the family rightly but excessively. In the end,
Dionysus finally appears in his true form to the city. He banishes Agaue from Thebes and ordains that Cadmus and his wife
will turn into snakes, destined to invade Greek lands with a horde of barbarians.
Some Important Themes:
The Nature of Theater:
As the last work of his life, Euripides chose to write a play that discussed, among other themes, the origin and nature of his
own art. The Bacchae deals with the different relationships of theater to various aspects of society, including its relationship to
art itself. First, Euripides asserts the centrality of theater to Dionysian ritual. The rites alluded to in the play were replete with
masked dancers, choral performances and processions of citizens in costumes. Dionysus, the god of the mask, offers his
worshippers the freedom to be someone other than themselves, and in doing so, the chance to achieve a religious ecstasy
through theater itself. Second, Euripides comments upon the relation of the individual self to the theater as spectacle and
performance. In the beginning of the play, Pentheus is an external spectator and onlooker, gazing upon the bacchic rites with a
removed, disapproving gaze. But when offered the chance by Dionysus, he moves from the margins to center stage of the
drama himself. But Pentheus cannot navigate the dangers of the move, and loses control, losing himself to the role he wishes to
play. He emasculates himself, loses his original identity as the rational sovereign, and exposes himself to the drama and its
consequences—in his case, death. Third, Euripides wants to comment upon the play as an art form. He masterfully both draws
the audience's attention to the artifice of the play, to its conventions and techniques, while at the same time asserting the
seductive power of that very artifice, both over the characters in the play and over the audience itself.
Duality:
One of the principal moral messages of the play extols the importance of maintaining fundamental balances in one's social and
natural life, and Euripides demonstrates this principle in the structure and content of the The Bacchae. The play is sprinkled
throughout with oppositions, doubles and pairings that can be organized into three categories. First, Euripides establishes a
number of pairings between and even within characters: Dionysus takes two forms on stage, Pentheus serves as his double, and
they switch roles in the course of the play. Cadmus and Tiresias are a pair, and the bacchic chorus and the mad women of
Thebes provide a contrasting set. Second, there are formal dualities, including the chorus versus the main action of the drama,
and the events recounted versus the events enacted. Third, thematic dualities feature strongly. The wild mountain is contrasted
with the walled city, and the mortal denies—albeit futilely—the divine. Men face off against women, and the irrational does
battle with the rational.
EURIPIDES, HIPPOLYTUS
Aphrodite, goddess of sexuality, appears at the beginning and talks about how she is offended by Hippolytus who only gives
time (honor) to the virgin goddess Artemis. – “He scorns the nuptial bed and takes no notice of marriage” Aphrodie decides to
punish Hippolytus for his arrogance against god – “for the errors he has committed against me I will have vengeance on
Hippolytus on this very day.”
- Her punishment is by making Phaedra, the wife of his father, fall in love with Hippolytus
- Phaedra is supposed to suffer from her incestuous passion for Hippolytus
- Aphrodite predicts that Hippolytus will be killed by his own father, Theseus
Hippolytus and Attendant
- Hippolytus worships Artemis
- Attendant questions why Hippolytus only worships Artemis and is not equally honorable to all gods – “the law is to hate
what is proud and not philon to all.”  He is worried about H since he refuses to worship Aphrodite
- H says that god of sexualiy does not impress him and therefore he wont worship her – “No god who is miraculous by
night pleases me.”
Chorus – sings of Phaedra and her suffering and distressed complexion – “her psukhe is tied down to her bed”
Nurse and Phaedra/ chorus
- Phaedra is clearing suffering from some anxiety and the nurse keeps on inquiring what it is that is bothering her
- Chorus comes in and wants to know the reaons for P’s distress  urges the nurse to try harder and find out why she’s so
ill
- Nurse mentions how if Pheadra dies now, then her own sons will not receive any of Theseus’ estate and a bastard son,
Hippolytus, will get all glory.
- Followed by an exchange of short lines between Phaera and the nurse
 Phaedra finally confesses that she is in love with “The Amazon’s son, whoever he may be.” : The Amazon’s son =
Hippolytus-
The nurse is shocked “Women, this is unbearbable, I cannot bre to live.”
Chorus sings to Phaedra “You are destroyed, now that you have brought your evils to light.”
Phaedra’s speech
- Her suffering was from trying to hide her shameful love in silence
- “I hate those women who are moderate [sophrones] when they talk, while in secret they carry on reckless deeds.”
- She thinks death is the best option so that she wont disgrace her husband or her own sons
Nurse tells her to face her love
- It’s just that the “passion of Kypris has struck you” – many people are in love, you should not die because of it
 P is still worried about how she is going to affect the good kleos of her city and home
- Nurse says she has charms in her house that can soothe P’s love
- P is scared that the Nurse might say something to Hippolytus
Phaedra overhears the conversation between Hippolytus and the Nurse  devastated
- The nurse has betrayed her in breaking her promise of not telling H
Hippolytus/ Nurse
- Hippolytus is very angry at the nurse for telling him the awful news about Pheadra
- Hippolytus’ speech
 he speaks of his hatred of women – “it is clear from the following how great an evil a woman is” “I can never satisfy
my hatred for women.”
 Angry with Aphrodite’s evil plot - He feels polluted simply by hearing of the incestuous passions
 He promises to keep his silence and not ell anyone
Phaedra complains about her plight and the fate of women. She is very upset with the nurse for telling her secret. She is
worried that he will tell what happened and that she will be disgraced. The nurse said that she was just trying to help. Phaedra
tells her to leave her alone, that she will deal with things herself. She decides that for the sake of her children’s kleos and to
spare her home of shame she must die. But she would make someone else suffer along the way.
The chorus explains how she hung herself from the rafters of her wedding chamber to rid her phrenes of grief. Theseus gets
home and the chorus tells him that his wife has killed herself. Theseus talks about how terrible the fate of his household is.
Theseus discovers a tablet hanging from her wrist. The note says that Hippolytus raped her. Theseus then asks his father for
one of 3 promised prayers: He prays that his son will not survive the day. The chorus begs him to take it back, saying that he
would soon know he was making a mistake, but Theseus refuses and says that he will also banish him so that if Poseidon does
not follow through his son will still have to wander the world as a stranger to all lands. Hipp. comes in. Theseus accuses him of
the said offenses and banishes him. Hipp. Defended himself by saying he was a virgin, but he did not disgrace Phaedra by
telling his father about her crush on her step son. He was banished without a trial. Later a messenger brings word that Hipp. is
close to death after being in a chariot/ocean wave/sea monster accident. Theseus asked to see his son so that he could tell him
that he was being punished for what he did to Phaedra. The goddess Artemis comes to see Theseus. She said that she came to
show his son’s just phrenes so that he could die with good kleos. She told him everything tha thad happened between the nurse,
Phaedra, and Hipp. Her words made him feel ashamed of himself, but she said he can still have forgiveness because it was all
the plot of Kypris. Theseus apologizes to Hipp. artemis says she will avenge his death by taking a mortal who is close to
Kypris.
PLATO, PHAEDO
General overview: Phaedo is one of Plato’s later dialogues where he uses Socrates as a sort of mouthpiece for his own
theories—particulary the “theory of forms” which represent four arguments for the immortality of the soul (psukhê). The story
of Socrates’ final hours are told through Phaedo (narrator) to Echecrates, a Phliasian who wishes to hear about the
philosopher’s death. Phaedo recounts the scene at Socrates’ prison-where he was questioned about death amongst other things
by two men: Simmias and Cebes.
Summary:
Phaedo tells Echecrates that Socrates’ death was delayed because the day before his trial marked the beginning of an annual
pilgrimage (theôria) to honor Apollo and Theseus (for saving 14 youths from death in Crete). This season is marked by the
garlanding of a ship and cannot be “polluted by public executions”. When the ship returns Socrates must die (Nagy notes
Theseus represents the Athenian State which has implicated Soc.) Phaedo recalls feeling both happy and sad—and that Soc.
appeared blessed and fearless at the hour of his death.
The story begins when Soc. unemotionally sends away his wife, Xanthippe. Cebes then asks Socrates (for Evenus the poet)
why he is “putting Aesop into verse, and also composing a hymn in honor of Apollo” and Soc. answers b/c his dreams told him
he should make music (mousikê) and he usually interpreted this to mean to practice philosophy but to be safe thought he should
also compose a hymn in case that is what the gods wanted. Cebes then asks Soc. about suicide and fearing death—and how
there is a seeming contradiction in that philosophers’ welcome death but do not advocate suicide. Soc. says we have no right to
harm ourselves because we are possessions of the gods. Cebes then asks why we should want to die if our masters, the gods,
are great and Soc. responds that he is certain he will find greater gods and friends in the after-life and that it is easier to obtain
truth and knowledge when one’s body is separated from one’s soul (which is the definition of death) because bodily needs
distract the mind from obtaining absolute truths (and Simmias agrees). Cebes agrees with a lot of what Soc. has to say about
death and the soul but wonders about whether the soul actually exists after death. Soc. answers this by turning to the theory of
forms—beginning with the Argument from Opposites.
Arg. Of Opposites: Everything has an opposite and there are intermediate processes by which things go from one form to their
opposite. The same is true for life and death and the cycle is perpetual—we do not remain dead but return to life after some
time. He notes that if this were not the case then all things would be dead.
Arg. Of Recollection: After the opposites arg., Cebes brings up this argument for the immortality of the soul and Simmias asks
for clarification on this argument. Socrates argues that learning is a matter of recollecting the knowledge we lost through the
process of being born. This recollection is gained through proper questioning—the fact that we had certain knowledge at birth,
and that know things, such as an ideal of equality, to be true suggests that our soul existed before we were born.
Argument of Affinity: The third argument in the theory of forms which distinguishes things that are immaterial, invisible and
immortal (i.e. the soul) from things that are material, visible and mortal (i.e. the body). Again, the body is seen as something
that can detract from the process of seeking truth—and Soc. argues that those who try to live their lives detached from earthly
cares will experience a better afterlife amongst other divine beings while those who are overly concerned with earthly cares
will remain as ghosts, bogged down by material concerns.
After the Argument of Affinity is laid out Socrates is silent for a while but then urges Cebes and Simmias to not be shy about
raising objections to his arguments because Socrates likens this important discussion a swan’s song they sing before they die.
Simmias suggests that the soul is to the body as attunement is to a musical instrument—and that the attunement can only exist
while there is an instrument (i.e. a body). Cebes raises concerns that while the soul may be long-lived and even out-live
bodies—he is still not convinced of its immortality. Socrates responds to Simmias first and argues that his theory of
attunement conflicts with the argument of Recollection which states that the soul existed before the body (and can thus exist
w/o it). Socrates response to Cebes is more complex and leads into the fourth and final argument of the theory of forms. This
argument involves the discussion of unchanging and invisible Forms as the causes of all things in this world. All things possess
what qualities they have only through participation in these Forms. The Form of Life is an essential property of the soul,
Socrates suggests, and the soul must be alive. Socrates concludes with a myth about what happens after we die, saying that we
are all brought to a place of judgment, from whence we are led by a guide to the other world. Those who have lived an evil life,
attached to the flesh, will have to be forcibly dragged away from this life to their proper place, whereas those who have done
good will happily be led to their destination.
He then explains his belief that the earth is spherical and in the middle of the heavens—it is also ginormous so what we see is
only a tiny part. The true surface of the earth, he argues, is far above us so we are like creatures living at the bottom of the sea
who assume they are on the surface of the earth and that the sea is the sky. Similarly, we think we’re on the true surface of the
earth but in reality there is a far more pure and beautiful earth of which we are mostly unaware. He then discusses the true
earth and the beautiful, pure, and knowledgeable things and people that reside there. Those who have led a good life are sent to
the true surface—evil people are sent to Tartarus never to return while those in between spend some time in the underworld to
make up for their sins and then return to the earth.
After finishing this myth Socrates says some good-byes, takes a bath and peaces out by drinking some hemlock.
PLATO, THE APOLOGY
Plato’s The Apology is an account of the speech that Socrates makes in his defense at his trial in the city of Athens. He is being
charged for not recognizing the gods that are recognized by the state, inventing new gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens
with his philosophy. Despite its title, Socrates’ speech contains no apology and is simply an attempt to defend himself and his
conduct
For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very plain, conversational manner. He explains that he has no experience with the law
courts and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed: with honesty and directness. He explains that
his behavior stems from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi which claimed that he was the wisest of all men. Recognizing his
ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he knows that he
knows nothing.
He believes that wisdom [sophos] and justice [dike] are intertwined; i.e. those who claim to be knowledgeable about worldly
affairs are not dike since it is only the gods who truly know everything about everything. By admitting that he knows nothing,
Socrates becomes sophos through his dike. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considered it his
duty to question supposed "wise" men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities earned him much
admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the people he embarrassed. He cites their contempt
as the reason for his being put on trial.
Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily responsible for bringing Socrates before the jury. In a famous
passage, Socrates likens himself to a gadfly stinging the lazy horse which is the Athenian state. Without him, Socrates claims,
the state is liable to drift into a deep sleep, but through his influence--irritating as it may be to some--it can be wakened into
productive and virtuous action (ll 30e-31b).
Dike alone is also quite a central theme in The Apology. In his defense, Socrates says, “I made up my mind that I would run
the risk, having law [nomo] and justice [dike] with me, rather than take part in your injustice because I feared imprisonment
and death” (l. 32c). His conception of dike is further embodied in line 28b, when he explains why he does not fear death
because, “...a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider
whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong [doing dikaia or not] acting the part of a good man or of a bad [kakos].”
Socrates is found guilty by a narrow margin and is asked to propose a penalty. Socrates jokingly suggests that if he were to get
what he deserves, he should be honored with a great meal for being of such service to the state. On a more serious note, he
rejects prison and exile, offering perhaps instead to pay a fine. When the jury rejects his suggestion and sentences him to
death, Socrates stoically accepts the verdict with the observation that no one but the gods know what happens after death and
so it would be foolish to fear what one does not know. The Apology ends with him warning the jurymen who voted against
him that in silencing their critic rather than listening to him, they have harmed themselves much more than they have harmed
him.